NASCAR unveiled a bunch of competition changes ahead of the 2019 season. One of the topics was qualifying. With a new aero package set for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2019, would NASCAR go back to single car qualifying?

See, with the “drafting package” if NASCAR didn’t make any changes, then qualifying would be chaotic. There’s a reason as to why the four combined annual races at Daytona and Talladega went back to single car formats.

But, NASCAR announced on Monday that they’re not changing how they do things to set their fields. Despite having a new package, teams will still be qualifying in groups and that drafting will be allowed.

The only single car formats will be used at Daytona and Talladega still.

Even with this, NASCAR doesn’t think we’re going to see a ton of drafting.

“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,” Scott Miller, VP of Competition said on Monday. “If they trim the car out for lowest drag, is that faster than a three car draft?

There was a minor adjustment though as the qualifying rounds will shorten again. The first and second rounds will each be 10 minutes in length and the final round five. Also, the time period between rounds will shorten as well from seven minutes to five.

So, in theory, if everything goes to plan, qualifying will only take 35 minutes.

With the rules package and shortening the rounds, I do think we will see a good amount of drafting. Why wouldn’t teammates find each other on the race track and pull each other around? It will give them higher speeds and get them closer to the front of the field. With shorter rounds, it means more cars on the track early and often. You don’t have time to allow other teams to team up and wait it out until the end.

What I see happening is that the teams will all go out together early and try to get a clean lap. That could create mayhem in trying to pair up but also find real estate on the track to lap down clean laps. Then, after everyone lays down a lap, the other teammate who was leading the charge will then go back to the draft and allow the other teammate who drafted the first go around to lead. After those sequences are done, whomever is near the cutline will get more help on another run. After all, Goodyear has said that tire fall off will be minimal, so in theory, lap times shouldn’t drop much if at all.

My Take

While the traditionalist part of me doesn’t like that qualifying will be set by help with teammates, not on true single car speed alone, the new part of me doesn’t mind it either. If the races are all being ran under a drafting package, why not set the field that way too?

Strategy is going to come into play more than speed in qualifying now. That will make things even more interesting. What if only one car from one manufacturer makes it to the third and final round. He’s a sitting duck.

NASCAR mentioned that they’re in the “entertainment business.”

This will be entertaining for sure.