NASCAR insiders take issue with unnecessary rule change ahead of 2025 season

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season is almost here. At the Daytona 500, we will get to see a new rule put into action. NASCAR has introduced an Open Exemption Provisional, a safety net for one driver, to gain a 41st starting position if said driver fails to qualify traditionally.

For the Daytona 500, Helio Castroneves and Trackhouse Racing have secured one of these OEPs. That means, should Castroneves fail to qualify on speed or in the Duel races, he will still make the field.

Motorsports journalists, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, have their thoughts on the new rule. The two discussed it earlier this year on The Teardown podcast.

“I really see both sides of this,” Bianchi started. “When I first heard this I was like, really, is this really necessary? And I immediately thought of Fernando Alonso at the Indianapolis 500 and what that meant, and how the drama surrounding that. Of this Formula One champion coming over, trying to qualify for this race, and he didn’t do it. It was this huge storyline, it put a lot of attention, and it made IndyCar look better.

“Because here’s Fernando Alonso, coming over, and he failed to qualify. It’s like, woah, this isn’t easy. This isn’t just turning left and mashing the gas. … I understand the thinking and I don’t like the fact, if it does happen I think it’s going to be weird that Castroneves is in the Daytona 500 and theoretically both Truex and Jimmie Johnson could miss the Daytona 500 this year. … That’s a weird thing.”

As for Gluck, it isn’t something that he is really excited about. It just doesn’t feel necessary to make a rule for basically one race in the season.

“So, first of all, building on the point that you just made there, I looked up and literally the only, since qualifying returned after the pandemic, the only race that anybody has been sent home from is the Daytona 500, as you mentioned. … So, it’s really about the Daytona 500,” Gluck explained of the new NASCAR rule. “That’s what it seems like, right? This is trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. And to me, it’s also detracting from part of what makes the Daytona 500 special.

“The Duels are fun and it’s exciting to see, the reaction of who made it in, and you know, oh my gosh, this person did this on the last lap of the Duels and this person did this. Qualifying as well, oh this person just locked in a spot. The emotion, the excitement, or on the other hand, the heartbreak, the setback, you missed it. It’s part of the buildup to what makes the Daytona 500 NASCAR’s biggest race.”

No one would expect a driver to be given a spot in the Indianapolis 500. So, why does NASCAR want to do that with the Daytona 500? In an effort to grow the sport and bring in new drivers from outside of NASCAR, is the sport selling itself short?