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Ten Things To Watch For In The Daytona 500

By Brian Thornsburg

Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 22, 2015; Daytona Beach, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) and Joey Logano (22) lead the field during a restart during the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 22, 2015; Daytona Beach, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) and Joey Logano (22) lead the field during a restart during the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports /

The Restart rule

NASCAR Officials have announced a new restart rule this week that will not only reduce the number of attempts from three to one, but also institute a restart line that will vary depending on what track the race is at. This restart line, which is NASCAR’s latest attempt to over police a race, will be used to determine when a G-W-C attempt will be official and when an attempt won’t be official.

It apparently works like this. If the pack can have a clean restart without an accident and reach this new overtime line, the field will be frozen, and the finishing order will be determined by scoring loops.  If the pack does not reach the overtime line before an accident however, the attempt will be considered invalid, and the field will be lined up again for another Green-White-Checkered attempt.

While this is an interesting solution to NASCAR’s safety concerns during the closing moments of a race, the vagueness and complicated wording used to describe this rule is sure to anger fans and make them even more unhappy with the racing product than they already are. Not only that, the confusing wording of the rule could very well lead to a controversial finish in this year’s Daytona 500.

Next: Daytona's Bizarre Past?

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