NASCAR announces qualifying tweak

The running order for qualifying is determined by a draw, which usually favours some drivers over others due to the changing conditions on the track during the session, which can take sometimes up to two hours to be completed.

Until now, this draw included those drivers who needed to qualify on speed to make the race due to their car being outside the top 35 in the owners standing.

They ended up all mixed in the running order to make their attempts, some taking the benefit of better track conditions, usually those at the end of the queue having a better chance of making the field on Friday afternoon.

To try to give all these drivers a more level playing field, NASCAR will put them in the order one after the other following the last of the guaranteed drivers.

"We are modifying the way in which teams not locked into the races qualify in the three national series," said NASCAR Vice President of competition Robin Pemberton. "Beginning this year in all three of our national series, the teams that are not locked into the starting field will qualify at the end of their respective qualifying sessions."

NASCAR also announced that teams will be allowed to lease tyres from Goodyear for private testing purposes, setting a limit of 200 tyres per year for every Sprint Cup Series team. Last year, teams had to either run outdated tyres or run other brands at non-NASCAR sanctioned tests.

The governing body confirmed as well that they are studying the possibility of setting at higher minimum age for drivers to compete in the Sprint Cup Series. The current limit is set at 18, but NASCAR wants to move it up to 21 years of age to encourage young drivers to compete more in the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series.

Currently there are no drivers under 21 competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Ganassi's Reed Sorenson is the youngest driver in the field and turns 22 just a few days before this year's Daytona 500. Slight changes to the pit-road rules were also announced.