MORE: Explaining the 'overtime line' | Full Sprint Unlimited results
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A partial field got a trial run at the NASCAR season in Saturday night's Sprint Unlimited. The sanctioning body's revised overtime rule got the same treatment.
The exhibition marked the first use of the new overtime format, with a late caution period pushing the race four laps past the scheduled 75-lap distance. The crash-thinned field made it past the new overtime line painted on the backstretch after the green flag flew for the restart, meaning that a yellow flag anytime thereafter would have ended the race.
The fateful caution flag didn't happen until after the white flag had unfurled, with a multicar tangle in Turn 1 ultimately stopping the action -- the same result had the former green-white-checkered overtime rule been in place.
The net result: Not much difference in the final outcome.
"The procedure is probably, it really wasn't any different at that point," said Danica Patrick, who finished 11th as one of six drivers snared by the race-ending wreck. "I mean, we took the white (flag) and then the accident happened, so nothing different would've happened if we were in the old situation.
"I don't think it'll end up making a humongous difference. I mean, the likelihood of having a lot of accidents within the first corner, they're not super-high. I don't know. I think it'll be fine. I don't think we'll really notice a huge difference."
NASCAR's competition department made the changes in the interest of safety, potentially reducing the chances of making multiple overtime restart attempts. Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on Twitter after the rules alterations were announced that the competition changes were the direct result of collaboration between NASCAR and the drivers' council that formed last season.
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But the new rule also strives to add some clarity to the ruffling of restart feathers from last October's Sprint Cup Series event at Talladega Superspeedway, where two crashes as cars were getting up to speed threw the finish into disarray. The crash notwithstanding, Saturday night's conclusion was far cleaner.
"I think it was OK. I get what they're trying to do," said Greg Biffle, who wound up 10th after catching a piece of the final wreck. "They're trying to prevent people from changing the outcome of the race and make that mark back there, and that makes sense. It'll take us a little bit to get used to that, but I understand it."
The balance of the 36-race season will tell the rules change's story. After one dry run in a non-points event, for some it remains an open-ended question.
"I guess in this day and age, we always judge everything on the fans' reaction," said Martin Truex Jr., another crash victim who ended his night in 13th place, "so I guess we'll wait and see what they say about it."