Michael McDowell thinks a bad conversation took place this week.
“What I don’t understand is why you’re not talking about (Kyle) Larson and (Joey) Logano,” McDowell said of the takeover discussion that continues from Richmond Raceway. “They should have been penalized for their laxity. Clear as day. They were both a car length behind; both should have been penalized. there is no doubt.
The conversation focused primarily on Denny Hamlin skipping the overtime restart at Richmond – Hamlin was the control car and admitted he rolled before getting to the line that designates the start of the zone. reboot because he didn’t want to lose his advantage in seeing the others. late.
NASCAR made no decision to penalize Hamlin, saying it was “terribly close” after initially reviewing the restart. Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, admitted that Hamlin left early and added that it was a decision that would have been viewed differently if it had happened earlier in the race.
Earlier this week, Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Josh Berry and Ryan Preece stressed the need for the leader to maintain his advantage on restarts. Neither driver felt Hamlin necessarily did anything wrong.
Saturday at Martinsville Speedway, the conversation continued with other Cup Series drivers. McDowell, like Berry and Preece, seemed unfazed by what happened.
“Because the leader should have the advantage,” the Front Row Motorsports driver said.
McDowell pointed to other forms of motorsport, where the leader can restart wherever he wants. He pointed out how restarts work in the NTT IndyCar Series and Formula 1. However, in NASCAR, McDowell said it’s about entertaining the field in two or three widths and putting on a show at the end of the race.
“I’ve been listening to a little bit of different podcasts, Race Hub and social media, and I think for fans it’s probably a little confusing because there’s a hard line (at the track),” McDowell said. “For me, that wasn’t the case. I think if you are the leader, you should have the advantage in all circumstances. There should never be a situation where the leader does not have the advantage during a restart. Do we need to change the line, the framework, the rules, all these things? I don’t know. I just don’t want to deprive the leader of the opportunity to win the race by putting so many parameters around everything.
“I’m a fan of the leader who goes when he wants and there is no box. Whether it’s right in the middle of the back or right in front.
Two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch acknowledged that if Hamlin’s jump had occurred earlier in the race, it likely would have been reviewed and overturned. But Busch said NASCAR is inclined to let things go at the end of a race.
“We look at bumps and runs, dumps and runs,” Busch said. “A guy openly takes out another guy and gets the win because he’s not going to strip him for a rough ride or whatever. I have the impression that it’s their mentality, a bit of not wanting to be involved in a finish that deprives a victory.
NASCAR implemented a restart zone in 2009, the same year double-file restarts were introduced. Previously, the race leader lined up on the outside of the front row with the cars overtaken on the inside. It was at the discretion of the leader to restart the race between turn 4 and the start/finish line.
The restart zone is clearly defined on each circuit. There are also orange neon markings on the top of the exterior wall to aid driver visibility and usually, in blue, “GEICO Restart Zone” is painted on the wall.
“I’m not surprised by this call,” Ross Chastain said. “I’m not surprised by the movement, by the cars involved at the front of the peloton. I’m not saying I’m going to do the same thing, because if everyone leaves early, there’s no benefit. The advantage is therefore to do what your competitors alongside you and behind you do not expect. I don’t expect all the restarts to go into turn 3 this weekend. But there are two lines for a reason and we all know it.
“The scary thing is when do the reactionary calls change. When is it a penalty at the end of the race or on lap 10 or 30 or 300? Being the first guy to get called out for running the same distance earlier would be tough to swallow.
A driver taking his chances in the restart zone is nothing new, and Kyle Larson said everyone does it, especially at the end of a race. Hamlin wasn’t the first driver Larson saw going before the restart zone.
“It’s always been a game,” he said. “I don’t really know how I necessarily see it. I can see all sides of it. There are lines on the circuit, so this might be your line that you have to follow. But also, as a leader, you have to have total head control, and the zones are so small that the leader, most of the time or at least half the time I feel like, is at a disadvantage because that this area is so small and easy to predict and when they will leave.
Larson would like to see NASCAR return to a larger restart zone. An expanded restart zone (by 50%) was something that NASCAR briefly implemented early last season, which gave the leader more time to decide when to hit the gas. This made restarts less predictable.
“I think it helps the leader, and you see less plays outside the zone,” Larson continued. “I think you get more strategy in the zone, which is fair. But Fontana, everyone behind (Joey) Logano, tried to predict when he was going to go, and he just waited until the end of the zone, which was legal. And they all crashed, and then NASCAR thought it was a zone length issue when it was really just a competitor issue.
“I would just like to see the area a lot bigger; even bigger than it was or than it was early last year because then I think you get these – I hate to call them games – strategic moves within the area. I think you would see fewer early departures if the zone was longer.
The debate will likely continue, as will questions from drivers about what is legal and what is not. But for Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, there appears to be consensus that NASCAR will closely monitor restarts, and no driver is likely to try to get away with something like Hamlin did, as As Austin Cindric said, “all I know is you” It would be really stupid to try to take the plunge this week.
