Almost two full years after the rule was amended, NASCAR drivers are still voicing concerns about the policing of restarts during races.
The subject came up during the Sprint Cup Series’ pre-race drivers’ meeting Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway, three days after Ryan Blaney was penalized for jumping the restart during the Aug. 19 Camping World Truck Series race at BMS.
Prior to the beginning of the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2013, NASCAR eliminated the rule that stated the second-place car could not cross the start/finish line before the race leader on a restart.
However, the race leader is still the “control car,” meaning the second-place car can’t take off before the leader in the restart zone located before the start/finish line.
“We wanted to really put it in the driver’s hands where the leader starts the race,” Steve O’Donnell, Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, told NASCAR.com Monday. “The second-place car in this case, if we don’t believe they’ve jumped the restart, can beat the leader to the start/finish line.
“Obviously, some questions have come up. We’ve reviewed each of the calls we’ve made and feel confident based on the technology we’ve used to make those calls that they were the right calls. But anytime there’s dialogue with the industry, we’ll continue to monitor that. If we don’t have to change it, we’d like to keep it consistent throughout the year, but we always review each and every call for each race.”
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In the NCWTS event, Blaney was penalized for jumping the start on Lap 38. Although he was the race leader, officials ruled Blaney re-started before he was in the restart zone.
The subsequent pass-through penalty put the Brad Keselowski Racing driver one lap down. Blaney managed to bounce back from the penalty, however, and won the race.
“I had to kind of compose myself there,” crew chief Chad Kendrick admitted afterward. “I was trying to tell (Ryan) on the radio, ‘Don’t worry about it, alright, it’s done, over.’ I was pretty upset about the call.”
Blaney said Cole Custer, running second and lined up to his inside on the restart, “didn’t maintain caution car speed at all.
“As soon as the caution car pulled off, he stopped pretty much,” said Blaney. “And I maintained (my) speed. He was going to try to get a run, just like everyone tries to do, which is what you have to do on the bottom if you want to have a shot at it. And I wasn’t going to give him that run; I wasn’t going to let him start creeping forward. So I went as soon as I got to the mark, maybe a half a car length early. It made it look worse than it was with him being so slow for sure.
“But I’m pretty sure you have to have a warning. From every restart I’ve seen with people maybe going a little bit early I’ve seen ’em get a warning. That honestly shocked me when they black-flagged us with no warning. When it wasn’t five car lengths before the line or anything, when it was something really small like that, it kind of surprised me. Luckily it worked out for us.”
Two Sprint Cup teams have been penalized this season for either jumping the start or passing before crossing the start/finish line on a restart. Two penalties have also been handed down in the XFINITY Series for similar infractions while the penalty has been called seven times in the NCWTS.
MORE: Herman Unplugged: Talking restarts, quiet Harvick
Joey Logano, winner of Saturday night’s Irwin Tools Night Race at BMS, said he had spent “a lot of time” with officials recently, “trying to understand what I can and can’t do … understand where their head is at and what they’re thinking when you look at a restart.”
“You’ve got to understand the rules,” the Team Penske driver said.
If it Ain’t Broke …
NASCAR XFINITY Series teams competing this weekend at Road America will run the same tire code used at the road course since 2013. The tire was previously used this season at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio.
Wet weather tires will also be available should conditions require their use, which was the case during last year’s event.
Likewise, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams will run the same tire code used since ’13 for the series’ stop at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The tire has previously been run on the right side at Martinsville in ’13 and ’14.
MORE: Complete schedule for Road America and Canada
Testing, 1-2-3
NASCAR Sprint Cup teams wrap up their 12th open test of the season Wednesday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
According to HMS officials, 10 teams are set to take part in the test — Joey Logano (Team Penske), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Hendrick Motorsports), Kyle Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates), Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing), Clint Bowyer (Michael Waltrip Racing), Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing), Trevor Bayne (Roush Fenway Racing), Ty Dillon (Richard Childress Racing), Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing).
Dillon, Larson, Bayne and Bowyer were slated to take part in a two-day Goodyear tire test at the 1.5-mile track, site of the season-ending race, on Monday and Tuesday.
Three tests are scheduled for remainder of year, at Kansas (Sept. 14-16), Phoenix (Oct. 12-14) and Auto Club Speedway (Oct. 27-29).