NASCAR creates 50-foot zone for leader to restart race
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR has created a 50-foot area for the leader to restart the race instead of giving the leader the option of not accelerating until reaching the starting line.
In the past, NASCAR had set of double-red lines on the wall, typically coming out of Turn 4, and drivers had the option of starting in the vicinity of the lines or anytime before reaching the flagstand.
NASCAR now will throw the green flag if the leader is 50 feet past the double-red lines and has not mashed the gas. A single-red line on the wall will signify the end of the restart zone. There will be no penalty for a driver who fails to restart the race in the zone, but the driver would certainly be in danger of getting run over by the cars behind him. Restarting before the double-red line would be a pass-through penalty as in the past.
Last year, drivers kept restarting closer to the flagstand instead of the vicinity of the red lines.
“Things change from time to time, and we’re getting to where we wanted to talk about it and the teams wanted to talk about it,” NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said. “We talked to the drivers and the teams, and this is a start of what we think would be a solution to some of the restarts.”
The rule will go into effect for the Budweiser Shootout tonight at Daytona International Speedway and the length of the zone could change.
“We want to stay as consistent as we can,” Pemberton said. “We know that there might be situations, whether it be road courses, 2 1/2 miles, five-eighths miles [tracks]. Our goal is to have a zone that can go almost everywhere we go. We’ll see.”
