Bob Pockrass pinpoints NASCAR’s ‘non-appealable’ hammer following the expanded scope of existing rulebook

NASCAR made a few changes to its rule book on Friday, and renowned journalist Bob Pockrass took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to reflect on the “non-appealable” aspect of one of those updates.

A NASCAR driver must enter every regular season, point-paying race to become eligible for the postseason. But what happens if they fail to do so?

The new rule says that if a driver fails to enter a race for non-medical reasons and receives a playoff waiver, they will lose all playoff points that they might have gathered until that point in the season or will in the future. They will enter the playoffs with a baseline maximum of 2000 points.

“One thing interesting in this rule: NASCAR’s decision to grant or decline a playoff waiver request and subsequent loss of playoff points is final and non-appealable,” Pockrass wrote on X.

Needless to say, this gives more clarity on cases like Kyle Larson’s from last May. Larson, who missed the Coca-Cola 600 due to his delayed entry in the 2024 Indianapolis 500, was ultimately handed a waiver, allowing him to continue his chase for the championship.

“Essentially our decision-making was, although we had the inclement weather in Indianapolis as well as Charlotte, Kyle made every attempt to get to Charlotte,” explained Elton Sawyer, Senior Vice President of Competition, NASCAR. “He was standing in the pit box with his helmet on ready to go. Unfortunately we had weather in Charlotte as well, and were unfortunately not able to get the race going again. That’s how we landed on our decision.”

That’s not the only change that was made on Friday. As per reports, NASCAR also revamped its Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP) for the 2025 season, which is scheduled to kick off with the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on February 2.

NASCAR rewrites its Damaged Vehicle Policy

Previously, any vehicle unable to continue racing due to an on-track incident was towed back to the garage and ejected from the race.

According to the newest adjustment to NASCAR’s Damaged Vehicle Policy, teams will be allowed to tow their cars to the garage for repairs following a crash; they won't be sent out of the race outright.

The teams can take as much time to get their cars up and moving again. Notably, the seven-minute (eight for Atlanta) limit for repair work on the pit road remains unchanged.

There have been a few changes to rules overseeing NASCAR’s race lineups as well. From now on, a special entrant, i.e., a 41st car, will be allowed to compete alongside the existing contenders under what they call an Open Exemption Provisional.

“Should a driver and team be granted an Open Exemption Provisional, they will not be eligible for points, prize money, or any other benefit of their finishing position,” reported CBS News in a recent story.

NASCAR’s first-ever Open Exemption Provisional has been granted to Helio Castroneves, a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, who is expected to make his NASCAR debut in the 2025 Daytona 500 under the banner of Trackhouse Racing.