COT height tolerance change

NASCAR will give teams a half-inch tolerance instead of a quarter-inch on the minimum height requirement of the rear of the car during post-race inspection at car of tomorrow [COT] races, Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby told reporters Thursday. #16-Greg Biffle was outside the quarter-inch tolerance after a fifth-place finish at Bristol, but NASCAR won't penalize him because of the lack of benefit to the car to be that low. Darby also said that although it was procedural measurement with the car of tomorrow, it was never specified in the rulebook. He says NASCAR will continue to explore the minimum height of the rear of the car before making a steadfast rule. Darby also said that the minimum right-side weight was changed from 1,650 pounds to 1,700 pounds. As far as the problems some teams had with broken exhaust pipes, Darby said he expected that to be fixed. "The teams have been very weight conscious through this process," Darby said. "Most of the exhaust pipe failures that we saw were pipes that were constructed out of material that was much thinner than the pipes on yesterday's car were. It should be an easy fix for the teams.