DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Martin Truex Jr. says he's bullish about the prospects of a possible "choose cone" rule in high-level NASCAR events, saying it would add another element of driver strategy.
Truex, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points leader, made the remarks in between Friday practices for Sunday's Bojangles' Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM) at Darlington Raceway.
The rule, which has been used at some weekly tracks in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, is being discussed to determine double-file restart orders for NASCAR's national divisions. The rule allows drivers to have lane choice, picking the high or low lane on either side of a cone in the middle of the track to form the restart order.
"Yes. I think it'd be a great rule," Truex said. "I go back to Michigan 1, and we had the car to beat by quite a bit. I mean, we were so fast. We passed the leader three or four different times. We got off on pit sequence and we were like fourth or fifth, and every single restart on the last four or five restarts of the race, I think we got the bottom lane, and every time we'd lose two or three spots. It absolutely takes you out of a shot to win.
"It completely took our chance away to win there, so having the cone rule and picking the outside, we might have five wins right now, and that's happened at a few race tracks this year."
RELATED: Larson foils Truex in overtime at MichiganIn that June race at Michigan, Truex led 62 laps through the first three-quarters of the 200-lap race, but faded to a sixth-place finish. Using a cone rule would mark a significant shift in the complexion of late-race restarts, but would also potentially eliminate the gamesmanship in waiting for an advantageous restart spot when exiting pit road like at Bristol.
Truex says he's not a part of the drivers' council that regularly meets to discuss matters concerning competition in particular and the sport in general, but that he frequently hears positive feedback from his peers.
"I think it's a good thing," Truex said. "I think the drivers are all in favor of it because you can kind of control your destiny a bit more, so typically when we can do that, the fans in NASCAR kind of vote the other way, so we'll see how it goes but I would definitely be in favor of it."