CHICAGO — From suggesting they need to start enforcing the rule to increasing the size of the restart zone, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers offered a variety of suggestions Thursday as to how NASCAR officials could end questions surrounding restarts in the premier series.
 
The issue resurfaced in recent weeks, and came to light again during last week’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

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This much is clear — many of the 16 drivers that comprise this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field all of which were assembled in downtown Chicago Thursday for Chase Media Day said they felt there was still much uncertainty surrounding how NASCAR officials police the call.
 
“If you do the restarts by the book — the way they say to go at it — you’ll get passed by about four guys every restart, so nobody really knows what to do,” Joe Gibbs Racing driver Carl Edwards said.
 
“The restart is neat because it gives you an opportunity to get an advantage. It is tough and it’s a dynamic part of the race. It’s just where do you draw the line? Can I go 50 feet early or 100 feet early? If the leader doesn’t go, can I just go and beat him into Turn 1? I don’t know exactly what’s allowable.”
 
Restart zones are areas located before the start/finish line and are marked by lines painted on the track’s wall. The race leader may “start” the race at any point once his car has passed the first line of the two lines.
 
However, those behind often try to lay back and time their start to coincide with the leader’s so that they are already going faster as they enter the zone, thus gaining an advantage as the field heads toward the start/finish line.
 
To combat such moves, the leader will sometimes accelerate just before entering the zone, as Matt Kenseth did at Richmond.

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“The first thing you’ve got to do is make the restart box bigger,” four-time series champion Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports) said. “I mean, we’ve been asking for this for a long time. It’s too small. We went from having it be way too big to now it’s way too small. So that’s No. 1. …
 
“Here’s what happens, the box is so small, the guy who’s in second place has and advantage. They can anticipate the start because they know you’re going to start in that box. Of course a driver is going to want to get any edge they can, they’ve earned that right being the leader and the leader is supposed to start the race. That’s why guys are jumping.
 
“The other side of it is, you’ve got to call it. If somebody deliberately jumps, you’ve got to call it … it’s got to be a black-and-white decision. To me, they have the technology to see it and make that call and when they don’t make the call, they’re going to get beat up on it.”
 
Michael Waltrip Racing driver Clint Bowyer agreed, saying that while officials do a good job, attempting to let drivers police the issue isn’t working.
 
“I really believe we have a rule and I understand their intent of not wanting to get involved with that,” he said, “but that’s not a good answer.
 
“Call them (on it) — whether it’s me or anybody else and if you do that once I won’t do it again.”

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For some, it’s simply a part of racing, another situation to be dealt with accordingly.
 
“If we go back to the way it was and the leader is the leader and he got a better jump or somebody else got a better jump, if you’ve got a better car, you better race him back and pass him,” said Ryan Newman (Richard Childress Racing). “It’s not the end of the world.
 
“Way too much is getting talked about something that means so little. I mean, it means a lot in the moment, but in the grand scheme of things, we don’t need to micromanage that.”

Atlanta Test Added to Schedule
 
Atlanta Motor Speedway will host a single-day Goodyear tire test Tuesday, Oct. 27 as well as a two-day open test for Sprint Cup Series teams Oct. 28-29.
 
The test replaces the session originally scheduled for the same dates at Auto Club Speedway. That test, however, called for a two-day Goodyear tire test and single-day open test for teams.
 
The Sprint Cup Series competes at Martinsville Speedway later that weekend (Oct. 30-Nov. 1).
 
The Return of Multi-Zone
 
Sprint Cup, XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series teams will run the same tire combination this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.
 
The right-side tire is a multi-zone tread piece, with the inboard two inches of tread built for endurance and heat resistance while the outer 10 inches is built for traction. The tire selection was confirmed at a tire test held July 13-14 at the 1.5-mile facility.
 
It marks the first time teams in the Camping World Truck Series will run the right-side tire at Chicagoland, although teams used it at Texas earlier this year.