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NASCAR updates uncontrolled tire rule after Homestead-Miami

Brian Jones Profile Picby:Brian Jones•03/26/25•

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NASCAR Tire
Jason Allen-Imagn Images

NASCAR added wording to its uncontrolled tire rule after the Homestead-Miami Cup Series race. Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports shared a photo of the rule layout and said, “if you have an opening next to your pit that you can still be penalized.”

The new wording says, “Regardless where the tire ends up, removed tire that rolls from the inside half of the pit box to the outside half of the pit box is a penalty.” NASCAR also indicated that tires in the green shaded areas of the adjacent pit box mean no penalty, while the tires outside the adjacent pit box mean it’s a penalty.

NASCAR last updated its uncontrolled tire rule in 2019

The last time NASCAR made changes to the uncontrolled tire rule was in 2019 when it decided to no longer use the standard of an “arm’s length” from a crew member to determine if teams should be penalized. This was done after complaints from competitors.

“After discussions internally and with competitors and teams, NASCAR will adjust how we officiate the uncontrolled tire rule to focus on preventing a safety hazard rather than concentrating on the subjective “arm’s length” criteria,” Elton Sawyer, then-NASCAR vice president of officiating and technical inspection, in a statement at the time, per NBC Sports. “To be clear, tires must still be returned from the outside of the pit box in a controlled manner.”

Denny Hamlin sounded off on NASCAR in 2019 for the uncontrolled tire rule after his team was penalized for the fifth time that year. “I don’t know what they can change, but I would like to see a change,” Hamlin said. “I think rules have to evolve and this is not about us in particular. I made a comment and it has 3,000 likes, 500 retweets, 300 comments, so it touches the fan base. These are people that aren’t Denny fans; they just don’t get it. If they don’t get it at home, then it’s probably not a rule that needs to be in place in the Cup series because you can’t explain it to them.”

The next time the NASCAR Cup Series drivers will see the racetrack is on Sunday when they compete in the Cook Cout 400 at Martinsville Speedway. The race will start at 3 p.m. ET and air on FS1.