A couple of weeks ago, the Chairman and CEO of NASCAR --Brian France-- called into the SiriusXM NASCARRadio's "Tradin' Paint" show in an attempt to calm the nerves of fans who were worried about the sport's future.
With both ratings and attendance down, France told hosts Chocolate Myers and Jim Noble that NASCAR was looking for areas where it could reduce costs for its teams, while still maintaining a strong completive balance.
It now appears that one of the areas where NASCAR will attempt to reduce costs is on pit road equipment.
While some higher-spending NASCAR teams, such as Joe Gibbs Racing, have spent big bucks to develop advanced pit guns that allow its tire changers to improve the speed of their pit stops, this equipment won't be allowed to be used next year.
That's because NASCAR plans to mandate a standard pit gun beginning in 2018, which will be manufactured by Paoli, according to a report by JeffGluck.com.
Teams have been pouring money into R&D for pit guns. But that?ll end in 2018 when NASCAR mandates a common gun. https://t.co/Zc73ssDlPU
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) October 16, 2017
After inquiries were made regarding this potential rule change, NASCAR seemingly confirmed the move by releasing the following statement:
"NASCAR is working on a number of initiatives to enhance both the performance and safety of our sport. One of the many competition initiatives considered is the future of pit equipment. We will provide an update on some of the initiatives at the end of the 2017 season. In the meantime, our focus remains on the exciting championship battles that are playing out across all three national series."
Cup Series drivers will be in action again on Oct. 22nd when teams visit Kansas Speedway.
NASCAR statement on pit stop guns: https://t.co/0W48eVCotK
— Racing News (@RacingNewsCo) October 17, 2017