NASCAR today announced two competition procedure changes that it will implement ahead of the Playoffs in all three national series.

Starting with this weekend’s races at Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR will incorporate the ‘choose rule’ into the restart procedure for all national series races except those held on road courses and superspeedways (Daytona and Talladega). The rule made its NASCAR national series debut during the NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway last month. As drivers approach a designated spot on the track, they must commit to the inside or outside lane for the restart. The rule will add strategy and is especially important on those tracks that have a distinctly dominant lane on restarts; the drivers will have their choice of track position or the preferred lane as the race returns to green flag conditions.  

“I think so,” Denny Hamlin said of adopting a choose cone for Cup races earlier this season. ‘Guys stopping at the end of pit road is just kind of ridiculous. We’re trying to merge into traffic and guys are literally just stopping. Something or at least give us some options there. It’s not that hard, they do it at every local short track.”

Joey Logano agreed then and does now too. He said in May that games were being played on pit road during pit stops is incredibly stupid and sometimes even all for not when a car in front of you ends up getting penalized for speeding or an infraction to where they end up going to the back and you end up moving up to the spot that you didn’t want.

“You don’t have luck being involved whether you see guys hitting their brakes at the end of pit road which No. 1 isn’t very safe and No. 2 you try and line yourself up sixth and the guy in front has a speeding penalty and you now line up sixth and in the wrong lane and think ‘man I really blew it,” Logano said. “That happens out there. So many times everyone is trying to play a game. Just put a cone out there and say go left or right. It’s simple. It’s an easy thing to do. I think it’s the right time to do it because there’s already plenty of change going around. I’d love to try it. I’d love to have it in our sport.

“Do it everywhere, every track. It doesn’t matter.  It’s necessary in today’s world or racing.  That’s my opinion, and I think we can all do it because I know (Ryan) Blaney and I did it when we were like nine years old racing Bandolaros and Legends cars and we can handle it.  I’ve been saying it for years.  I’ve had the conversation multiple times, please, please.  I think it’s necessary.”

His Penske teammate of Ryan Blaney doesn’t necessarily agree with the “everywhere” part but he does think that it needs done at certain tracks.

“I’d love the choose cone,” Blaney said of the idea. “At certain tracks I think it would be really neat.  Maybe you don’t do it everywhere, but some of the places where it’s maybe dominant on one lane for the restart at least, you could kind of maybe have some people take a chance.  I’d like to see it.  I thought it’s a neat idea, for sure.  We may not have it everywhere, but I wouldn’t mind it being in place.”

In Darlington, Martin Truex Jr. noted that he had a top three car but was always restarting in the bad lane and falling back. With it being so hard to pass, he never could make up enough ground. Same for Kevin Harvick. He noted that he’d lose 3-4 spots on each restart because he was in the wrong lane and it cost him a win as well.

The drivers all say that this new horsepower package is a big reason as to why one lane is better than the other.

“I just think with the 550 package when you come to race tracks like here (Atlanta) and Charlotte and those types of places there is definite lines that are better than others, and you’re gonna go to Martinsville and there’s usually a lane there better than any other one,” Logano continued. “No matter what track you go to they’re gonna have a dominant lane.  What’s that worth?  Put a choose cone there and that’s kind of a fun game at that point?  Are you willing to give up two rows to start in the preferred lane?  I don’t know.  That’s a fun thing.  It’s something for us to work on, that’s for sure.  You’d have to study it.  Do you take the risk and move up three rows and you take the shot of maybe finding a hole.”

Blaney, also said that this horsepower package is a big reason for this.

“Especially on the 550s you’re gonna have, it’s a lot of the pushes and things like that and what you get,” Blaney said of this horsepower package and the restarts. “There are tougher places than others.  (Atlanta) it’s hard for the top lane to get rolling.  It’s just kind of how the pavement is and it’s just slick compared to the bottom so you have jumble ups.  The 550s have always been wild, but the choose cone, I think, is a great option that we can think on. I think it would be really neat.”

Michigan this weekend, is going to be a place where this new rule will certainly be used and amplified.

“At the end of the day, Michigan is about track position,” said Clint Bowyer. “If you lose that track position, it’s a fight to try and get back up there. You look at the restarts, they are wild. We are four-wide, gouging, trying to get every spot you can. If you’re going to gain spots, that’s where you’re going to gain the majority of them. Throughout the fuel run, you might gain one or two. Keeping the track position, I think, is key all day long.”

His Stewart-Haas Racing teammate of Aric Almirola agrees.

“We’re seeing restarts get crazier and crazier at tracks that we go to,” Almirola said of restarts this year. “There’s no one track that they’re crazier at than the other anymore because that is the most opportune time to pass cars, besides on pit road. Pit road is the easiest place to pass but, once you line up for the restart, there’s opportunity to gain three, four, five spots in a lap, and there’s no other opportunity to do something like that throughout the run.

“I feel like restarts are definitely the time to gain or lose track position, so you have to be on offense and defense at the same time. Michigan is very wide and you want to be aggressive and go take spots away, but you can easily give up four or five spots that are really hard to get back once we get single file.”

He says Michigan is very line-sensitive on restarts too and that the outside lane is usually the dominant lane.

“The inside lane – the cars on the inside usually lose sideforce, they lose the air on the side of their car and they are very loose down there in turns one and two on the restart,” Almirola continued. The outside lane usually has the momentum and is the preferred lane going through (turns) one and two on the restarts.”

In addition, beginning with the Daytona Road Course event, NASCAR will now use three competition-based performance metrics to determine the starting lineup – including the Busch Pole Award in the NASCAR Cup Series and the Cometic Gaskets Pole Award in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series – and pit selection order for each race, replacing the random draw procedure that has been in place for a majority of races since NASCAR’s return to racing at Darlington Raceway in May.

NASCAR will reward both season-long and single-race performance to determine the lineup and pit selection, using owner points position and the finish and fastest lap from the most recently completed race.

The metrics will be weighted and averaged to establish the starting order. Points position will be weighted at 35%; finishing position at 50%; fastest race lap at 15%.

“I am,” Logano said on if he’s excited for this move. “It makes sense. It’s maybe a little bit more confusing than what I would have gone with. 

“If they end up going with the process that has been talked about here, just for the race fans I feel like it’s confusing, but, outside of that, so it’s fair and I guess that’s all that matters. 

“It’s fair and I’m sure that’s probably what the fans care about the most.  If all of us competitors can agree that it’s a fair way to set the lineup, I don’t think any fan is really gonna care how it happened as long as we all feel like you earned your starting position, just like we used to.  You used to earn your starting position by qualifying.  Well, now you’re going to earn your starting position by three different ways, whether it’s lap time or finishing points position – those type of things.  You’ve earned every one of those spots, so although it’s confusing it’s fair.”

When the Playoffs begin, Playoff cars will fill the top starting positions. For instance, in the Round of 16, the top 16 starting positions will be Playoff cars; in the Round of 12, the top 12 starting positions will be Playoff cars; and so on.

“Considering feedback from teams, drivers and fans, NASCAR has implemented these changes to enhance competition as we approach the Playoffs,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition. “We received nothing but positive comments from the drivers on the choose rule following the All-Star Race, and felt it was an important addition to the restart procedure. The random draw has served us well during the return to racing, but it is important that starting lineups are based on performance as we approach the Playoffs. The entire industry is aligned on implementing a competition-based system to determine the starting lineup and pit selection order.”

Brad Keselowski says he’s pretty happy about this change but wishes maybe NASCAR tried it out in the Xfinity Series or Truck Series first.

“There are parts I really like about it,” said last weeks winner. “There are parts I don’t so much like about it.  I really would like to get some reps on it and then take it from there.  I was probably a little more hopeful that it would go to a lower series first and they could work the bugs out, but that’s okay.  I don’t know what I don’t know and that’s what makes me most nervous.”