As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Pocono Pennsylvania for Sunday’s Pennsylvania 500, NASCAR has added a new element to the racing; double file restarts
Double file restarts, where the leader has lane choice and third place must always start on the inside, have historically only been used for non-points paying events, but NASCAR is expected to change the procedures for restarts to point paying events in an attempt to increase competition.
The current restart procedure puts cars a lap down on the inside forcing those on the lead lap to try and pass them in order to then try and catch the leader. With the institution of the free pass or ‘Lucky Dog’ rule allowing the first car a lap down to get back on the lead lap however, the old double file restarts aren’t needed according to many drivers.
Teams were distributed bulletins last weekend at Dover outlining the new procedure and all indications are that NASCAR will use the procedure beginning this Sunday.
Not only will NASCAR have a new restart procedure this weekend, but the Sprint Cup Series will have a new points leader as well.
Tony Stewart took over the points lead after last weeks Dover outing and his second place finish. It’s the first time since 1992 that an owner-driver has held the points lead. On November 15 of that year, Alan Kulwecki took over the lead when he won the championship at Atlanta by 10 markers over Bill Elliott.
“Everybody respected Alan because he was an owner/driver and because of what he was able to accomplish,” Stewart, who was 21 years old in 1992 said. “But for me, his success came before I was really a diehard NASCAR guy. I was still Sprint Car and Midget racing at that point, and I wasn’t able to keep up with all that he was doing because we were racing the same days Cup was racing. At the same time, it’s pretty cool to have your organization mentioned with his organization.”
Stewart now leads Jeff Gordon by 46 points after 13 races into the season and six top-five finishes and a series high nine top-10s.
As the team heads to Pocono, Stewart hopes to add another accomplishment becoming the first owner-driver in 375 races to win a Sprint Cup race. It’s something Stewart has done here before winning the Pocono 400 in 2003. According to Stewart the key to getting around the three-turn 2.5-mile speedway is knowing that each corner has its own challenge.
“Turn one is probably the easiest of the three – you drive it in kind of deep and then try to float the car through the corner. You go down the backstretch and into the tunnel turn and it’s basically one lane. It’s flat and very line-sensitive. You’ve got to make sure you’re right on your marks every lap when you go through there,” Stewart said. “Then you’ve got a short chute into turn three. It’s a big, long corner and it too is very line-sensitive. Add the fact that we’ve got a straightaway that’s three-quarters of a mile long after that, and it’s very important that you get through the last corner well. You need to come off the corner quickly so that you’re not bogged down when you start down that long straightaway.”
Should Stewart score the victory Sunday it would be the first since Ricky Rudd won at Martinsville in 1998. If he doesn’t win though there’s no reason Stewart won’t continue the success the team has enjoyed so far this season, and more importantly position himself to become the first owner-driver champion and match Kulwecki’s since 1992 triumph.
The rest of the field should probably cast an eye towards Stewart in terms of the championship as well. Twice before in Stewart’s 10-year career when he’s taken over the series points lead, in 2002 after the 30th race and 2005 after the 21st race, he’s gone on to win the championship.
“It’s been a dream season for us up to this point, and you hope that you don’t wake up tomorrow and all of a sudden realize that we’re just getting ready to go to Daytona or something and it’s all been a dream,” Stewart said. I’m proud of our entire organization. We probably all lost bets that at this point we would be this far along. But it’s a good bet to lose, I guess.”
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