NASCAR reduces damaged vehicle pit penalty

NASCAR officials have tweaked a few of its rules going into this season, including the one that cost Matt Kenseth his playoff position last season.

Under last year's Damaged Vehicle Policy, the penalty for a team sending more than six members over the wall was an immediate disqualification from the race. Kenseth suffered this fate at Kansas Speedway when he was involved in a wreck and the No.20 team sent more than six members over the wall. The result was Kenseth's elimination from the playoffs.

In a bulletin sent out Wednesday, a revision to the policy states a team who sends too many crew members over the wall will now be subject to a two-lap penalty, meaning the team can continue competing in the event.

In another DVP tweak, the time limit has been extended from five minutes to six.

Additionally, NASCAR announced that the first-round qualifying time has been reduced to 15 minutes on intermediate and short tracks. It had been 20 minutes the last few years.