To reduce costs in the Craftsman Truck Series, NASCAR is introducing new design rules for team fire suits, effective next season.
According to a memo sent to teams on Tuesday, the following guidelines will apply:
Behind-the-wall pit crew members must submit a uniform fire suit design. These suits cannot feature sponsor branding and must adhere to the provided guidelines.
Garage crew shirts are fully at the team’s discretion, and sponsorship branding is allowed.
. Colors can be chosen by the team.
. The design must be consistent across the organization.
. Sponsor logos are not permitted.
Including logos for Craftsman, Sunoco, Goodyear, and NASCAR is encouraged but optional.
For behind-the-wall pit crew members, teams must submit a standardized fire suit design for approval. These suits cannot feature any sponsor branding and must follow the general design parameters outlined in the memo. Teams have the flexibility to choose the colors for these fire suits, but the design must be uniform across the entire organization. While it is not mandatory, NASCAR strongly encourages including logos for Craftsman, Sunoco, Goodyear, and the NASCAR bar logo as per the guidelines.
In contrast, over-the-wall pit crew members will still have the freedom to incorporate sponsor branding into their fire suits. However, the design must be finalized and submitted for approval at the start of the season and used consistently throughout the year. This approach ensures that teams have the flexibility to represent their sponsors while maintaining some degree of uniformity.
As for garage crew shirts, NASCAR has not imposed any design restrictions. Teams are free to design these shirts as they see fit, including the use of sponsor logos and branding.
The primary objective of these changes is to discourage teams from producing custom fire suits for individual races, a practice that can be both costly and unnecessary. By adopting generic fire suit designs for behind-the-scenes personnel, NASCAR hopes to reduce expenses across all teams. However, this rule could pose challenges for smaller teams that rely on second-hand or hand-me-down fire suits from previous seasons. Such teams may find it less cost-effective to comply with the new regulations, potentially adding to their financial burden.
