Cheaters, beware: NASCAR cracking down on restarts – SportingNews.com

For the first race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR will begin taking a closer look at restarts.

It comes as no surprise there might be a bit of, shall we say, gamesmanship involved in the process of getting cars back to racing speed when coming off caution. Driver complaints are being answered, starting with Sunday’s race at Chicagoland.

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As is its wont, NASCAR came down hard with its response. A race marshal will monitor camera images from the zone to make sure no one takes off before the races leader hits the gas.

It’s no small problem, especially since passing during races has declined.

“Put it simply, if you do the restarts by the book, the way they say to do it, you get passed by about four guys every restart,” Carl Edwards said ahead of the race. “So nobody really knows what to do.”

Now, they do.

NASCAR: “Drivers, it’s your responsibility to restart correctly. This is your warning.”
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) September 20, 2015

“I hope they bust somebody and if it’s me, that’s fine, because we’ve talked about it plenty of times and they need to lay their foot down and take charge of what’s going on on these restarts,” Joey Logano told USA Today. “Hopefully, they do.”

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Drivers have long complained about restart cheating. Since NASCAR went to a two-wide alignment for restarts in 2009 there has been a steady stream of calls for stronger enforcement. So in response to a jumper last week at Richmond, NASCAR decided enough was enough.

The change is particularly significant for Sunday’s race, which is the first of the 10 Chase competitions.

Like the cafeteria line at school, drivers know someone will jump ahead and have been prepared to respond.

“If you’re the leader, and the second-place guy is two car lengths behind you because they know when you’re going to go and those guys get rolling towards you before you get going, I’m not going to be third before I get to Turn 1,” Matt Kenseth told media members.

“The leader has to take some liberties to look around him and see what his competitors are doing because he is the leader and he should not be at a disadvantage.”

There are red marks on the track’s outside wall to designated the acceleration zone. Starting this week, proximity won’t matter — floor it before the zone, pay the price.

It’s a good move by NASCAR to prevent cheating on restarts. Now, race officials must be diligent and consistent through the 10-race Chase.

“You try to make it as black-and-white as possible, but restarts are important and everyone’s always going to try to get an advantage,” Denny Hamlin said, “but I am a believer that the leader should have the advantage.”