What is the difference between a lead lap car and a lapped car in NASCAR? Everything you need to know

During a NASCAR race weekend, not every participating team that joins the field has equal performance levels - from outright car pace to driver skill. As a result, competing race cars pull away from each other, with the best team creating a gap at the front of the field.

This is where the terms "lead lap car" and "lapped car" come into play. In a nutshell, the former term describes cars running within a lap distance from the leader, while the latter refers to the pack running a full lap behind the leader. What’s more to these two? Let’s find out.

NASCAR lead lap cars

Lead lap cars are those within a lap distance from the leader. So when a leader passes a backmarker, a car at the end of the field, the latter becomes a lap down and is marked as a lapped car, denoted by "-1." The more laps the car is lapped by, the higher the number will be.

The average number of lead lap cars at the end of the race depends on the track and how easy it is to make a pass.

Speedway tracks tend to see the leader lapping backmarkers as much as three times or more, while road courses like the Chicago Street Race would likely only have one or two lapped cars running a single lap down.

One of the biggest advantages of staying a lap within the leader is avoiding the blue flag with yellow diagonal stripes. When a lapped car gets this flag, the driver has to yield when the leader and lead lap cars are about to pass, compromising the car's racing line and losing some time in the process.

NASCAR lapped cars

Lapped cars are those running a full lap behind the leader. NASCAR has no limit to how many times a car can be lapped during a race.

However, when that happens, the lapped cars' race completely changes. They are expected not to race hard, especially when the leader or any lead lap cars are in their vicinity, to prevent unwarranted crashes.

There was an instance in 2014 when Joey Logano was taken out by Morgan Shepherd, who was more than 10 laps down on the leader, at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Logano had strong words to share during a post-race interview against the 82-year-old now-retired racing driver.

Differences in Caution Procedure

Apart from the blue flag with yellow diagonal stripes, NASCAR has different caution procedures for lead lap and lapped cars. Under a yellow flag, lead lap cars are given the option to pit first, while lapped cars are "waved around" the track to rejoin at the back. This allows different strategies to play in such as staying out or going in to the pit lane hoping for a fast pit stop.

But perhaps the most significant rule for lead lap and lapped cars is the "Free Pass" rule, also known as the lucky dog rule. It allows the lapped car closest to the lead lap pack to regain a lap, during a caution period.

Lead lap and lapped cars undergo different caution procedures - Source: Imagn

Despite NASCAR’s efforts to keep racing close, it seems lead lap and lapped cars won’t go away from the sport anytime soon as fans continue seeing them every race weekend.