2014 NASCAR Coca-Cola Cup Series (Johnsonverse)

The 2014 NASCAR Coca-Cola Cup Series was the 66th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 43rd modern-era Cup season. The season began at Sonoma Raceway, with the Toyota/Save Mart 350, followed by a two-week stop at Daytona International Speedway with the Coca-Cola Unlimited, Budweiser Twin 125's, and the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Los Angeles Times 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway.

This season was the final year of broadcasting for both the Johnson Industries-owned ESPN family of networks (though it has continued to air races occasionally) and Turner Sports. ESPN had covered the second half of the Coca-Cola Cup season since 2007, while Turner Sports ended a thirty-one year relationship with NASCAR on TSS and later TNT. For 2015, their portions of the season were divided between Fox Sports and NBC, with WBC expanding their lineup of races.

This season also marked the first season of the Strictly Stock Car (SSC), which replaced the fourth-generation car used from 1990 to 2013.

Tony Stewart and Stewart-Haas Racing claimed the drivers' championship and owners' championship, while Chevrolet won the manufacturer's championship over Dodge; in a shocking upset, Ford only managed a single points win, while Toyota only won the Spring Unlimited, the first Budweiser Duel, and several qualifying heats and B-Mains. In one of the largest rookie classes in recent history, Jeffrey Earnhardt was named Rookie of the Year.

Schedule
The final calendar was released on October 15, 2013, comprising 43 races, as well as two exhibition races. The schedule also includes two Budweiser Duels, which are the qualifying races for the Daytona 500. The main change was the removal of Kentucky Speedway, long considered the worst track on the circuit, in favor of the new Walt Disney World Speedway, a fifth restrictor-plate track on the schedule.

New Car
For more, see Strictly Stock Car (Johnsonverse).

A new car, known officially as the Strictly Stock Car (SSC), was introduced in 2014. Visually, the car is the same as the fourth-generation car used from 1990 to 2013, as car rules had been tightened in 1990 to ensure the cars look like their street-faring counterparts. The changes are mainly internal, with such as crash-absorbing foam in the driver's-side door, moving the driver's seat slightly towards the center, and a larger fuel tank to cut down on fuel mileage races.

Rules changes
Beginning this year, NASCAR eliminated traditional single car qualifying in its top 3 series for all races except the Daytona 500, the Mudsummer Classic, and non-points events. Qualifying will now be done with heat races. Qualifying will consist of all entered cars in 4 heat races. The first and third races determine the inside row, while the second and fourth races determine the outside row. Starting positions in heat races are based on practice times. On the day before the race, a B-main race is held, with the top three finishers moving on to the main race. A system involving groups of cars being released at five-second intervals was used at Sonoma Raceway, Riverside International Raceway, and Watkins Glen International in 2013.

In addition, results would once again list the model year of the cars.

NASCAR introduced the Lend-Lease Program (not to be confused with a World War II-era program of the same name), allowing one-off and local entries into races. These homegrown entries often use cars straight from the showroom, as well as older car models, since there are no rules mandating that Lend-Lease teams use the SSC; the rules forbid the use of hatchbacks, vans, minivans, SUVs, pickup trucks, convertibles, cars with a rotary engine, hybrids, electrics, open-wheeled cars like IndyCars or Formula 1 cars, Daytona or Le Mans Prototypes, Whelen Modified cars, dirt stocks, super stocks, mini stocks, supercars, exotics, really old cars (the rulebook specifically calls out the Ford Model T and any AMC cars except AMC Javelins that had run in NASCAR in the 1970s), steam-powered cars, horse-drawn chariots (a rule added after an amusing incident at the 2015 Southern 500 where a driver attempted to enter a replica Roman chariot drawn by a horse, which was rejected on animal welfare grounds; the incident quickly became an internet meme, with many fans jokingly calling for a "NASCAR Chariot Series"), race horses in general, anything remotely resembling a go-kart (several ignorant drivers tried entering go-karts with nitrous bottles attached so they could remain competitive; all were rejected on safety grounds), drag racers (again, ignorant drivers have tried entering ex-NHRA and NASCAR Nintendo Racing Series cars, all of which were rejected for having absolutely no handling to speak of at speed, and having an unfair aerodynamic advantage), and anything remotely resembling a potential lemon. For example, at the Daytona 500, one entry was a 1990 Ford Thunderbird driven by Bill Elliott, who managed to take the car (still wearing its original colors, which caused some confusion since this meant there were two cars numbered 9 in the race; the WBC broadcast cleared the confusion by using the old Melling Racing number font for Elliott, while Kasey Kahne used the modern Evernham font) to a 6th-place finish. In another example, a two-car team using Plymouth Superbirds (one of them having been driven by Richard Petty) entered the Aaron's 499; one car driven by Kyle Petty was involved in the "big one", while the other, driven by Cale Yarborough, who owned the team, cruised to a 4th-place finish; Yarborough felt he could have won the race had he replaced the engine, as it was still the same Plymouth engine built in 1970. Despite criticisms regarding the use of first-generation Aero Warriors, NASCAR has done nothing, with Tim Johnson saying he loves the variety of cars.

Other changes
NASCAR restructured the penalties and appeals system allowing penalties to be more consistent. The appeals process also makes NASCAR's basis for issuing the penalty public at the first appeal instead of the last. After a six-hour delay at Chicagoland, NASCAR will now make the Air Titan available at all Coca-Cola Cup Series races and accompanying races at no extra charge. The Air Titan has also been improved to Air Titan 2.0 shortening track drying time even further.