Recently, several NASCAR drivers have expressed their desire for an increase in practice time. The sport’s governing body, during the 2020 season that took place amid the Covid-19 pandemic, decided to significantly reduce the duration of practice sessions. This decision was extended to the upcoming seasons with the aim of easing the additional financial burden on teams. However, this decision was met with a negative response from both fans and teams.
One of the main concerns raised by teams regarding this decision is that they can no longer gather enough data to effectively improve their cars’ performance before race day. Jimmie Johnson, a seven-time Cup champion and owner-driver of Legacy Motor Club, has now come out in favor of an increase in practice time. He believes that the current practice sessions are not long enough to make significant changes to the cars.
Johnson emphasizes that smaller teams are the most affected by the lack of practice time. He points out that larger teams have the financial resources to make up for limited practice time, but smaller teams, newer teams, and new drivers do not have the advantage of gaining valuable knowledge about their cars through more track time.
Currently, practice time for a Cup race on a regular race day is only 20 minutes. Johnson proposes that NASCAR double this time to approximately 45 minutes. He believes that this would greatly improve teams’ efficiency in races. Johnson also mentions that teams are currently taking risks to address any issues during the race.
Last week, a former NASCAR Cup champion from 2012 also expressed the same demand. He urged the governing body to provide more practice time for teams, stating that it would improve the quality of the races. Increasing practice time could be a beneficial decision for NASCAR, as it would bring more advantages than disadvantages.
