NASCAR’s Select Selection Rule, Explained


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Photo: Jared C. Tilton (Getty Images)

As you have seen NASCAR the last few years you are probably no stranger to the series foreign rules en complex procedures that seems to gather year after year. Now, starting with this weekend’s double header at Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR has implemented a whole new policy: choose the rule for cone.

Those of you who regularly attend your local filth and shorttrack events, you already know what I’m talking about. A safety cone is often brought to restart at these smaller events, but NASCAR now only brings it into play permanently.

Quite simply, the cone – or, in the case of NASCAR, a light-colored V-shape painted on tracks – gives drivers the opportunity to choose in which lane they want to start at restart. On almost all tracks there are at least two routes: top and bottom. And at almost every track, one of those windows has the most preference over the other.

Once upon a time, drivers didn’t really get a word on where to restart; it is a reboot with duplicate file based on their position on track. The lead driver was generally given the choice of his or her front lane, with the driver taking second place. The rest of the cars would then be in order behind their line.

However, with the voting rule, drivers can vote elk job. At today’s cup game, you’ll probably see that most drivers at the front of the pack choose the front track, because that’s where the grip is. Drivers who normally start over will be more likely to choose the opposite lane in the hope that it will give them a little extra impetus in position than that they can adopt an alternative strategy.

The voting rule was used once this season during the All-Star race at Bristol Motor Speedway as something of a test drive. Most drivers have been wearing a pick-me-up rule for years, being made to understand that it will be a regular feature.

It definitely adds another piece to the strategy, ‘Joey Logano said NASCAR on NBC. “INmore importantly, it didn ‘t all stop at the end of the pit road and let a car pass, because for one it is not safe to stop at the end of the pit road for everyone who jumps over the wall and cars so swings.

“That is not racing. The goal should be in front of every car in front of you, not leaving one at the end of the pit lane so you can have the outside lane or the inside lane. ‘

Of all NASCAR’s recent attempts to make racing more exciting (some of you might call it “gimmicks”), the voter rule is one that actually makes sin and has a history in stock car racing. Stages, playoffs – I can take them or leave them. But the choosing rule? It was awesome at Bristol, and it will make racing a hell of a lot more naturally exciting.

The voting rule will apply to all remaining 2020 races, except road races and superspeedways.

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