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NASCAR’s New ‘Fastest Lap’ Rule: Will It Finally Fix the Next Gen Racing Struggles?

David Castro by David Castro
February 5, 2025
in Motorsports
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0
NASCAR’s New ‘Fastest Lap’ Rule: Will It Finally Fix the Next Gen Racing Struggles?

Feb 2, 2025; WInston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; The helmet of NASCAR Cup Series driver Ty Gibbs (54) rest on his car before the last change qualifying race for the Clash at Bowman Gray at Bowman Gray Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images

For years, NASCAR fans have been sounding the alarm—the Next Gen era has sucked the excitement out of racing. Stage racing, once introduced as a way to manufacture drama, has instead turned superspeedway racing into a predictable slog. Fuel-saving strategies, pack racing limitations, and a lack of incentive to actually push hard have turned some races into a glorified parade until ‘The Big One’ inevitably happens.

Now, NASCAR is trying something different—an initiative backed by Comcast’s Xfinity brand that will reward the fastest lap of the race with an additional point across all three national series. It might sound like a small change, but according to Dale Earnhardt Jr., this tweak could fundamentally alter race strategy, playoff positioning, and on-track aggression.

A Blast from the Past: How Brand Incentives Once Fueled NASCAR’s Competitive Edge

Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t just give his stamp of approval to the new rule—he took fans on a trip down memory lane, reminding everyone that this isn’t the first time NASCAR has experimented with lap-based incentives.

“So, I love this; this is perfect,” Dale Jr. said on The Dale Jr. Download. “In the 1998 and 1999 Xfinity Series seasons, MCI, I think, was the brand or the company. There was a company that had a $10,000 bonus for whoever won the fastest lap in the race. You had to be leading the race for this lap to count… I have all of those MCI fastest lap awards hanging in my garage at home right now.”

While the MCI Fastest Lap award didn’t impact the championship, it created a new layer of strategy—teams wanted that bonus, and drivers had to find ways to push when it mattered.

Now, NASCAR is bringing back a similar concept, but with real championship implications.

The Seismic Impact of a Single Point

On paper, awarding one extra point per race might seem like a minor adjustment. But Dale Jr. isn’t buying that narrative. He points to recent playoff battles where a single point made all the difference—most notably, Kyle Larson losing the regular season title to Tyler Reddick by just one point.

“So this is a point that’s out there for these guys to try to strive to accumulate,” Dale Jr. explained. “And you could win multiple of these, right? That could really make a difference in seeding for the playoffs or making the playoffs.”

Considering that this new points rule expands the available playoff points by 36 over the course of a season, teams will undoubtedly start strategizing around it. Could we see late-race pit strategies shift to focus on securing a single lap over track position? Will teams engineer short-run speed specifically to target this bonus?

What Needs to Change? Dale Jr.’s Major Fix to the New Rule

While Earnhardt Jr. loves the concept, he also sees room for improvement. His concern? The current format could allow drivers to “game the system” by running a fast lap in clean air rather than in real race conditions.

His suggestion? Tie the fastest lap point to merit-based racing.

Rather than just awarding it to the fastest lap at any time during the race, he proposes a tweak that would ensure the lap was earned in competitive circumstances—forcing drivers to actually race for it, rather than logging a fast lap in a strategic vacuum.

Will NASCAR’s Fastest Lap Rule Deliver the Action Fans Have Been Craving?

While NASCAR isn’t touching stage racing or overhauling the Next Gen car, this new rule could be the most significant shift in strategy since the playoff format was introduced. The fastest lap point isn’t just a small gimmick—it has the potential to force teams to rethink their entire approach.

  • Will it create more drama on-track? Possibly—if teams start chasing fastest laps, we could see more aggressive racing at different points of the event.
  • Will it bring back strategic diversity? Likely—crew chiefs will have to decide whether to set up their cars for short bursts of speed or long-run consistency.
  • Will it impact the playoffs? Absolutely—history has already proven that one point can make or break a championship bid.

Now, it’s up to the drivers, teams, and NASCAR itself to determine whether this rule becomes a turning point—or just another footnote in the long-running debate about the state of the sport.

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