DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Add one more thing to the already-long list of things NASCAR crew chiefs stress over ever week. Actually, make that three more things -- a trio of attempts at a green-white-checkered finish.

NASCAR's new multiple overtime rule has done more than just create surprise winners, generate frantic finishes, and wreck race cars. It's also having a tangible effect on race strategy, as crew chiefs plan not just for the scheduled distance, but also for the possibility of up to a dozen more laps depending on how many green-white-checkered attempts it takes to complete the event.

"It's always under consideration," said Alan Gustafson, crew chief for Mark Martin, the defending champion of Saturday night's event at Darlington Raceway. "You may not adjust what you're going to do, but you do run the scenarios through your head. That's always under consideration when you make your decisions in the race."

Crew chiefs have had plenty of experience making those decisions already this season, where half of the 10 races -- Daytona, Atlanta, Martinsville, Phoenix and Talladega -- have been pushed to extra frames. That preponderance of green-white-checkered attempts has forced teams to prepare for them in advance, even though there's no guarantee that they'll actually happen.

"We do," said Denny Hamlin, when asked if his No. 11 team game-planned for a green-white-checkered finish during the latter portion of a race. "A lot of times you'll take four tires on your second-to-last stop, knowing that you're going to take two or none on the last. You used to maybe take two, and know you were going to take four at the end. It definitely changes peoples' strategy, and anyone who says it doesn't is telling you a lie."

And yet, it's like strategizing over an unknown. Trying to reduce the likelihood of a finish under caution, NASCAR amended its green-white-checkered rule prior to this season to allow for a maximum of three attempts. That can mean three extra laps, like at Phoenix. Or eight extra laps, like at Daytona and Martinsville. Or 11 extra laps, like at Atlanta. Or 12 extra laps, like at Talladega, which left many of the contenders motoring on fumes, and at least raised the specter of the leaders running out of gas and someone coming up from the middle of the pack to win.

"It raises three more water hazards you have to get over," Gustafson said. (Continued)