Andrew Ravens Thu, October 22, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC · 3 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NASCAR 's yellow line rule keeps drivers from passing below the double yellow line at the bottom of the track at Talladega Superspeedway . The same rule applies at Daytona International Speedway and EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta.
It could come into play again in Sunday's YellaWood 500, the eighth race of the 10-race Chase in the Cup Series, the top level of American motorsports .
The double yellow line marks the edge of the racing surface, with the apron below it. A driver who drops below the line to gain a position can be black-flagged. A driver who forces another car below the line to block a pass can also be penalized.
Officials make the calls on judgment. A driver who is forced below the line, or who goes there to avoid a crash, is not supposed to be penalized.
A black flag cannot be served after the checkered flag. In last-lap cases, NASCAR has instead moved the penalized driver to the back of the lead lap.
NASCAR added the rule at Daytona and Talladega in 2001. It was meant to stop drivers from using the apron to pass, a move that had led to cars spinning through the infield grass and triggering large crashes.
The rule is still enforced in 2026. In the July race at EchoPark Speedway, Bubba Wallace was penalized on the last lap for passing below the line. He was scored 29th, the last car on the lead lap, instead of second.
One early test came in April 2003 at Talladega. With four laps left, Dale Earnhardt Jr. dropped below the line in Turn 3 as he passed leader Matt Kenseth .
NASCAR ruled that Earnhardt Jr. had not improved his position below the line because his nose was already ahead of Kenseth's. Jim Hunter called it a judgment call. Earnhardt Jr. won the race.
The rule decided another Talladega finish in October 2008. On the last lap, Regan Smith passed Tony Stewart below the line and crossed the finish line first.
NASCAR ruled that Smith improved his position below the line and was not forced there. Stewart was declared the winner, and Smith was scored 18th.
"You cannot improve your position any time you go below the yellow line," Hunter, then NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications, said at the time.
The October 2020 race at Talladega produced several rulings on the final lap. Matt DiBenedetto was penalized for forcing William Byron below the line while defending the lead. He was credited with 21st instead of second.
Chris Buescher was penalized for forcing Chase Elliott below the line. Denny Hamlin went low to avoid a crash, was not penalized and won the race. Hamlin, a two-time Talladega winner, is still in the title fight heading back to Talladega this week.
"I do sincerely believe we need the rule," Scott Miller, then NASCAR's senior vice president of competition, said after that race.
Not everyone agreed. Earnhardt Jr. called for NASCAR to drop the rule after the 2020 race, while Ty Dillon defended it. Dillon argued that removing the line would lead to more blocking and bigger wrecks, according to NASCAR.com .
The Cup Series races at Talladega on Sunday, Oct. 25.
Source: Sports
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