NASCAR Rules and Regulations

NASCAR, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, is the largest and most watched brand of auto racing in the United States. The Sprint Cup is the primary series of races sponsored by NASCAR, but the organization also oversees the Nationwide Series, the Camping World Truck Series and the NASCAR Local Racing, among others. Each division has its own set of NASCAR rules and regulations, and rulebooks are only available to official participants.

NASCAR Points System Rules

According to NASCAR rules and regulations, points are given to drivers at the end of each race based upon their order of finish. In the Sprint, Nationwide and Camping World series, bonuses are awarded for the driver that won the pole position and the one which lead the most laps.

Safety Related Rules

Following a series of highly publicized and occasionally fatal crashes in recent years, NASCAR rules and regulations now call for a series of special safety features to be built into the cars. These include seats that provide rib-cage protection, special safety harnesses, alterations to the chassis of the car, the placement of special barriers around the track and the use of restrictor plates to reduce speed at some of the faster courses.

Sprint Cup Qualifying Rules

The cars that are in the top 35 places in the standings will automatically qualify for each race in the Sprint Cup Series. Seven additional spots go to the fastest-running cars in qualifying that don't earn an automatic bid, while the 43rd and final position is usually held under the "Champion's Provisional."

Champion's Provisional

The Champion's Provisional is a rule that allows a former NASCAR series champion who has not qualified for a Sprint Cup race to compete in the race while starting from the 43rd position. Each champion may use this provisional up to six times each season.

Cautions and Other Flags

Each race starts with the waving of a green flag and ends with the waving of the familiar black-and-white checkered flag. Yellow flags indicate the race is being run under caution, red flags mean that the race has been temporarily halted and black flags indicate that a particular car or cars are to be penalized for an infraction on the track.

Lucky Dog Rule

The Free Pass or "Lucky Dog Rule" is the name of the NASCAR regulation that allows the most recently lapped car to return to the end of the longest line of cars during a caution, effectively regaining his lost lap. However, a driver can only get the Free Pass if he is not the cause of the caution and there are more than 10 laps remaining in the race.