KANSAS CITY, Kan -- The restart zone at Kansas Speedway is demarcated by yellow paint on the walls with two red stripes at the leading end and one red stripe at the end. It's still a hot zone for NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers as they prepare for Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 some (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).
Jamie McMurray, who was bumped from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup after the Challenger Round, said he thought the expanded restart zone worked out well at Charlotte.
"The one thing that I like that Charlotte did is they painted it across the race track," McMurray said. "So, when you were a guy further back in the pack, you could tell when the leaders were there so you have a pretty good idea of when they were going to go. Some of the tracks, Indy is probably the worst track because of how long the straightaway is and the fact that you're literally just going straight. You can't tell where the restart zone is."
The restart zone at Kansas this weekend is 180 feet. It had been only 70 feet at Dover in the past, but was increased to 140 feet for the Oct. 4 race there as the rule evolved. The sanctioning body lengthened the restart zone for the 2015 season's remaining races post-Dover, generally taking pit road speed (in Kansas' case, 45 mph) times four.
Carl Edwards added that restarts and track position will be crucial in Sunday's race. And Kansas is crucial in the Contender Round as tumultuous Talladega looms as the last race in this leg of the Chase. The top eight drivers move on to the Eliminator Round after next week's CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega.
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"This race can be really tough because the restarts are going to be insanity," said Edwards, who enters Sunday's race at sixth place in the standings, nine points behind Charlotte winner Joey Logano.
Fellow Chase driver Ryan Newman isn't as concerned about the restart zone itself. Newman sits on the Chase bubble in ninth place after Charlotte.
"I don't really worry about it," Newman said after Saturday's second Sprint Cup Series practice session. "I don't usually see them."
It is the leaders under the most scrutiny on restarts as Brad Keselowski found out at New Hampshire when he was black flagged for jumping the restart while Greg Biffle was leading.
WATCH: Keselowski black flagged after restart at New Hampshire
But some of the impetus for any rule changes on restarts was concerns about cars bunching up mid-pack as the leader waits, gaming the restart for any possible advantage. McMurray says that’s why it's a key concern when drivers can’t see the restart zone.
"You're kind of basing on your spotter; and when you spotter says 'Go,' that's not when you go because it's delayed depending on where you are in the pack," McMurray said. "But, I think some of what you saw last week was because it was expanded a little bit and guys were just anticipating that. But I thought it worked out really well."