Double-file restarts will make NASCAR much more intriguing
Jeff Owens
Jeff Owens has been covering NASCAR since 1991 and began covering the circuit full time in 1993. He has been with Street & Smith's Sports Group since 1998.
NASCAR made one of the best moves it has made in a while Thursday by implementing double-file restarts among the leaders.
The move, which begins this weekend at Pocono Raceway, should spice up the competition and make things more exciting during Sprint Cup races.
For years, double-file restarts have only been allowed at the beginning of races and when lapped cars are allowed to line up to the inside of the leaders.
That creates two big problems: One, it allows lapped cars to get in the way of drivers battling for the lead or trying to run down the leader. Though drivers a lap or more down have a right to try to get their lap back, racing the leader to do it is no longer necessary with NASCAR’s Lucky Dog rule.
Second, allowing lapped cars to line up at the front of the field, mixing it up with lead-lap cars, gives the leader a big advantage, allowing him to pull away from the field.
That is particularly true at the end of races, when there are no double-file restarts, and the field takes the green flag single-file. Too
often the leader just pulls away, racing virtually unchallenged to the checkered flag.
We’ve seen way too much of that this season.
Under the new rule, that won’t happen nearly as often. Now, the drivers in third and fourth and even farther back will have a much better
chance of chasing down the leader and challenging for the lead.
It also may create more daring moves and more exciting side-by-side battles for position, especially late in the race.
With attendance down, TV ratings declining and many fans disgruntled with NASCAR’s new car and the product on the track, NASCAR needed to make a move to spice things open and generate some excitement.
This could do it no matter where they are racing.
Though some drivers don’t like it, this is a move many fans and the media have been calling for, especially after seeing a thrilling all-star
race under the same rules.
NASCAR listened to its fans and made a bold move to help improve the competition on the track. For that, it should be applauded.
It sure makes this weekend’s race at Pocono a lot more intriguing.
