NASCAR has made a slight modification to its “hot pass” credential system for its Nextel Cup series for the 2004 season. Beginning with the Feb. 6 Budweiser Shootout and extending for the remainder of the 2004 season, the “hot pass” rule will remain in effect until one hour after track activity has completed. When the system was implemented at the beginning of last season, it required media and spectators to vacate the garage and pit road 30 minutes before and 10 minutes after any track activity unless they had a “hot pass” distributed by NASCAR or an annual credential or “hard card.” “If you think about everything that happens at the conclusion of a Cup race – 43 teams moving equipment, pushing it up on the lift-gates and rolling all of that stuff into the trucks – it takes a lot more than 10 minutes to get that done,” Nextel Cup series director John Darby said. “This is a lot more comfortable feeling to allow the teams to work through this process without interference. “Beyond that,” he said, “it’s about the inspection process. Our inspectors need to do their jobs. We won’t have to worry about who is in the garage and who isn’t.” Hot passes are limited to working personnel including drivers, officials, crew members, the working media and emergency and safety workers. The new policy was designed to improve safety in the pits and in the garage for spectarors, drivers, crews and working personnel.(ThatsRacin.com)(1-7-2004)
