Double File Restarts? I say go for it.

I have to admit that I’m looking forward to seeing double file restarts starting this weekend at Pocono. I think it brings the sport back towards its Saturday night local track roots. As soon as the free pass rule was adopted for safety reasons, getting rid of the lapped cars lining up on the inside for restarts only made sense. It lets the leaders battle for the lead and the lapped cars battle for the free pass – both without hindrance from drivers on different agendas.

I think what excites me most about the new format is simply that NASCAR was willing to make a change mid-season based on input from fans, team owners, and drivers alike. Whether it will help the racing or simply put that much more of a burden on the underdogs remains to be seen, but NASCAR can’t make progress without first making change. If they simply maintain the status quo, they will never know what might have been.

I’ve read input from people who are both for and against the change. Drivers especially seem uncertain about whether or not they like the idea. If you are the leader of the race, you want to see the lapped cars inside you. Most of the time the leader clears the first lapped car easily but second place doesn’t, giving the leader an immediate advantage. With this new rule, you have the second place car starting on your outside (or inside, depending on where you choose to restart.) Advantage lost.

Another aspect of this that I think we will start to see, as crew chiefs adapt to the change, will be strategy calls for the cars that are a lap down. It used to be that if you were a lap down and did not pit under caution that you could restart the race in front of the leader. With the new format, cars on the tail end of the lead lap are automatically waved around. Will we see some crew chiefs leave their drivers out and pray for a quick caution before they have to pit for tires and fuel, or is it better to have fresh tires and fight for the lucky dog spot? If anything, it may help the poor souls who start the round of green flag stops only to have the caution come out before the field cycles through.

All in all, I think that it will at least make it more interesting for awhile just to see how everyone adapts to the change. How many drivers will be black flagged for passing before the start/finish line until they remember that they can’t pass on the restart anymore, not even to the right? How many extra caution laps will they have to run under each yellow to get the cars all lined up in the right position?

I guess only time will tell us if NASCAR made the right move or not, but I’m looking forward to 500 miles at Pocono to give us a glimpse into the future. Okay, so maybe I’m not looking forward to 500 miles at Pocono. But hey – at least I will be watching the restarts before getting bored and turning away from the TV until the next caution.