Pre-race inspection will be the same for a dozen title contenders, but NASCAR officials will need extra time to verify the champion in its three national series this weekend.
On the latest “Hauler Talk” podcast, NASCAR senior director of racing communications Amanda Ellis outlined how post-race inspection will work for the Championship 4 in the Craftsman Truck, Xfinity and Cup series at Phoenix Raceway.
RELATED: Phoenix weekend schedule
In addition to the regular checks on body measurements and weights, the champion’s vehicle also will undergo a full engine teardown that can extend the inspection process to about three to four hours. (It usually takes about 90 minutes for NASCAR to clear the race winner.)
For Cup, the champion’s engine will be checked by Sunday evening. With the Truck and Xfinity races ending under the lights, the engine inspection is completed the following morning.
“To add several hours to what is already a pretty long day would be really putting both teams and officials on a time constraint of how long they had been working, and you want people to be fresh in that role,” Ellis said. “Because the Cup event essentially kind of ends the weekend, obviously, you want to be able to know who your champion is on Sunday evening for a lot of reasons.
“That’s truly the last step, when you think about crowning a champion officially, is the completion of the engine teardown.”
Just as with last week’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville, NASCAR also will maintain an expanded staff at its remote race control in Concord, North Carolina. Managing director of communications Mike Forde said officials would be assigned specific channels to monitor for the entirety of each race, just as at Martinsville.
“We will have pretty much the same staff, maybe different humans, but the amount of people will be pretty large and pretty much the same,” Forde said. “So I’m sure the Championship 4 drivers and their teammates, they’ll have a scanner dedicated to (monitoring) those channels in the off-site race control, and they’ll be able to relay that information if necessary to the race control in Phoenix Raceway.”
On-site race control in Phoenix will remain the same, with NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell likely present for all three championship races.
Forde also said pre-race inspection would remain the same. NASCAR once pre-certified the Cup contenders’ cars at the R&D Center in Concord but now has the tools at track with its traveling optical scanning station.
Ellis also detailed the title celebration schedule, which includes expanded media obligations and a nationally televised trophy presentation. NASCAR also mics each champion for the duration of the celebration with family members and teammates.
“We capture all of those conversations that have been really nice to have,” Ellis said. “That is not always released per se to the public, but we do typically provide that content to the respected teams, and they get to have a chance to keep all that for their memory and celebrations that they might have.”
NASCAR orders more than 100 bottles of champagne for the weekend — and will have grape juice on hand for a potential underage champion (such as 19-year-old Connor Zilisch in Xfinity).
“There’s a specific place in each run of show that we truly stop to do a champagne celebration,” Ellis said. “A big part of the fun element on the stage is the champagne spray. And I did hear a rumor that one particular driver plans to bring their own champagne. So, it could be a long night.
Other topics covered by Forde and Ellis during the 39th episode of “Hauler Talk,” which explores competition issues in NASCAR:
— The suspension of Sam Mayer from the Xfinity season finale at Phoenix for wrecking Jeb Burton after the checkered flag at Martinsville.
— How NASCAR determines whether a car receives the beneficiary status when involved in a caution.
— A new tire for the Cup finale at Phoenix.
Click on the embed above to listen or search for “Hauler Talk” wherever you download podcasts to hear it on your phone, tablet or mobile device.
Nate Ryan has written about NASCAR since 1996 while working at the San Bernardino Sun, Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA TODAY and for the past 10 years at NBC Sports Digital. He is a contributor to the “Hauler Talk” show on the NASCAR Podcast Network. He also has covered various other motorsports, including the IndyCar and IMSA series.