NASCAR changes the rule on single-file restarts

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Single-file restarts will be implemented in the final 20 laps instead of the final 10 during events in all three of NASCAR's top-tier series during the 2009 season, officials said Thursday at Daytona International Speedway.

The rule was changed to give lead-lap drivers a better chance to go for the victory instead of having to contend with lapped traffic on the inside as they do on double-file restarts that have been the norm, according to NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp.

"We just felt that for the cars that had earned their way up to the top during late stages of the race, it will give them a better opportunity to compete for the win," Tharp said. "So instead of a single-file restart with 10 to go, that will now be with 20 laps to go. The beneficiary rule is still intact as it was; there is no beneficiary inside of 10 laps."

The beneficiary is the first car not on the lead lap, which during the rest of a race is given its lap back when a caution flag comes out.