Despite a new rules package for the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, the sanctioning body will retain a group qualifying format for all races outside of Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.
With a formula that has reduced horsepower from 750 to 550 for tracks over a mile in length, there was a pervailing sentiment that NASCAR may consider returning to traditional single-car time trials.
The new package also includes increased downforce and drag elements, meaning that qualifying will now spotlight the same drafting techniques expected to be front and center on Sunday afternoons.
NASCAR's president of competition, Scott Miller, says the sanctioning body enjoys positive television ratings from its qualifying broadcasts and wants to keep that show entertaining.
"If you look at the television ratings, our qualifying shows are the second best numbers we get only to race day," Miller said. "We don’t believe single-car qualifying is going to get that done."
Miller also doesn't expect drafting to have that sizeable of an impact under the shorter duration of a qualifying session.
"If you look at what’s happened on-track with cars, I don’t think a 30-car draft will be quicker than two-to-three cars," Miller said. "We don’t know yet, and competitors don’t know, if maybe they should trim the car out for lowest drag and if that's faster than a three-car draft.
"There are lots to learn."
Miller did say they sanctioning body would remain flexible if any changes became necessary.
"We’ll adjust if we need to," Miller said. "We won’t stick our heads in the sand."
Even though the general principles remain the same for group qualifying, there have been some adjustments to the time allocated to the procedure.
The first session of group qualifying will be shortened by 5 minutes to 10 and there will be 5 minutes between each session instead of 7. This was done for television purposes.
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