Cup drivers get briefing on double-file restarts during prerace meeting
LONG POND, Pa. – In one of the longest drivers meetings in recent history, the 25-minute session included a detailed explanation of the new double-file restarts rules that go into effect today in the Pocono 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway.
The new restart rule lines up the field after caution with the lead-lap cars in double file ahead of lap-down cars, the free-pass car and the penalty cars.
Among the points made by Cup race director David Hoots in the prerace drivers meeting:
• These procedures are for the entire race. There are no special rules for the final 10 laps or 20 laps.
• Just like before, drivers are lined up by the way they come off pit road. If a lead-lap car pits after the first lap the pits are open, the driver starts with the lap-down cars in the position he comes off pit road among the lap-down cars.
• The leader must make his choice with one lap prior to the restart whether he wants the inside or the outside lane. The rest of the lead-lap cars will line up with those in odd positions on the inside (third, fifth, seventh, etc.) and even positions on the outside (fourth, sixth, eighth). The leader will be in control of the field and restart the race whether he is on the inside or the outside.
• The No. 2 starter cannot beat the No. 1 starter to the start line. Hoots said NASCAR knows there will be times where the leader might spin his tires and that would be considered when deciding on penalties. Drivers cannot go three-wide before the start line. It was recommended that if a driver thinks he beat the No. 1 start to the line, he should give the spot back without penalty.
• With one lap to go before the restart, if there are any lap-down cars ahead of the leader, those cars will be waved around the pace car and they will line up at the rear of the field. NASCAR plans to have the emergency vehicles off the track at that time so drivers can quickly catch the rear, although they still need to be cautious for safety workers. These wave-around cars cannot pit before they take the green.
• The pace car will go a little slower than its 70 mph pace to allow the drivers to get in the correct position.
• Drivers that know their cars are slow and want to “lay over” – let all the cars past them when the green flag comes out – they must drop to the rear of the field one lap prior to the restart.
There was one little bit of humor in the meeting.
“Can you still have a quickie yellow,” one crew chief asked about the times when the lead-lap cars and the lapped cars all pit at the same time.
“I don’t think we’ll still have a quickie yellow,” Hoots said. “We might have a quickie headache.”
