What can be done to fix overtime?
Last Sunday (Feb. 19) treated viewers to a story that they have become all too familiar with at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, as an intense battle for the lead in the closing laps was ruined by a spin and a late caution.
Twelve extra laps and two subsequent overtime restarts junked half the field, only for the race to end under caution anyway. By the end of the race, the finishing order had no resemblance to the running order after lap 200.
Kyle Busch, who was the leader when overtime began, was not a happy camper as another chance at Daytona 500 glory slipped out of his fingertips.
The same story is told almost every year. It’s the biggest race of the season, and the ‘give’ in give and take goes out the window in the closing laps. The drivers go out guns blazing with nothing to lose on overtime restarts, and the viewers are usually left with a glorified demolition derby that decides the winner.
It’s outright embarrassing. The NASCAR Cup Series is the pinnacle of stock car racing, yet time and time again, the drivers cannot make it two laps without wrecking at the end. Even worse that it comes in the Daytona 500, the one day of the year where NASCAR has a reach beyond its diehard fanbase. What message does it send to casual viewers when NASCAR’s Super Bowl ends with a great display of ineptitude?
Overtime – the rule that has led to many of these finishes – was first implemented in 2004. But overtime itself isn’t the culprit, as these types of finishes have only become the norm in the last few seasons. So what went wrong, and what can be done to fix it?
Ending races at the scheduled distance, while a solution, would not be a popular one; there’s a reason why this was done away with in the first place. What should be experimented with, however, is bringing back single-file restarts in the final 10 laps.
Overtime finishes in the 2000s decade rarely devolved into chaos because the drivers restarted single file and they only had one attempt at finishing the race under green. Double-file restarts have absolutely contributed to the mania at Daytona and Talladega, because these endings are all a matter of which line gets the best push. And if one line of cars is moving in the wrong direction, the drivers get impulsive and impatient.
With single file restarts, the drivers wouldn’t have to worry about pushing the car in front with all their might. Instead, the game turns to sizing up runs while running in line in order to make passes on the outside.
Sure, it’s not a 100% foolproof system, but it would significantly diminish the number of races that end like this, which is something that the owners and drivers alike would appreciate. It’s worth a try.
What is Austin Hill’s future at Richard Childress Racing?
If there is one word to describe Austin Hill at superspeedways in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, it would be sensational. In seven races at Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta Motor Speedway since debuting in Richard Childress Racing’s No. 21 car, Hill has put up the following results:
- Won (Daytona)
- Runner-up (Atlanta)
- Crash, led the most laps (Talladega)
- Won, led the most laps (Atlanta)
- Led but ran out of fuel with two laps to go (Daytona)
- Led the most laps (Talladega)
- Won, led the most laps (Daytona)
He’s been a factor to win in all seven superspeedway races at RCR, a feat that is even more impressive when considering the lottery that superspeedway races can turn into.
Hill has not scored a Xfinity Series win at a track that doesn’t rely on drafting help, but he came close a few times last season with runner-up finishes at Circuit of the Americas and Texas Motor Speedway. He’s fresh off of taking home rookie of the year honors in 2022, and he absolutely has the room to improve for 2023.
RCR also has decisions to make down the road, as its current Cup Series lineup of Austin Dillon and Busch won’t be going anywhere. The team could expand to three cars in the future, but RCR has been a two-car team since the start of 2018.
If Hill makes a great leap in performance this season, RCR should considering expanding the Cup program for Hill in either 2024 or 2025 (otherwise, someone else will). And given his prowess at superspeedways, Hill, at the very minimum, should be driving for RCR at Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta for years to come in the Cup Series.
Cole Custer won the Xfinity race a year ago. Is he the favorite once again?
Cole Custer is back in the Xfinity Series for 2023, and he started off the year by scoring his first ever top-10 finish at Daytona in a NASCAR national touring series. Xfinity now heads to Auto Club Speedway this weekend, a race that Custer won a year ago while running a part-time schedule for SS-Green Light Racing.
With two Xfinity wins at Auto Club and a dominating performance fresh on everyone’s mind, he’ll be the driver to beat once again.
What gives Custer a leg up over the rest of the competition this year is that he won’t be racing against Noah Gragson and Trevor Bayne, the two drivers that gave him a run for his money in this race a year ago.
But given these circumstances, the pressure on the No. 00 team this Saturday (Feb. 25) will be enormous. Custer was demoted from the Cup Series, and with Gragson, AJ Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs – drivers that won 20 of the 33 races last season – all moving up to Cup, it is Custer’s perfect opportunity to shine. If he dominates and comes away with a trophy, he’ll have established himself as an early title contender. But if he is an absolute no-show on Saturday, everyone’s hands will collectively draw closer to the panic button.
Which drivers have the best chance of dethroning Chevrolet in the Cup race?
Chevrolet is the one word that can describe Auto Club in the last decade-plus. Nine of the last 14 races at the track were won by the manufacturer, and Busch, who was responsible for three of the five wins by Toyota and Ford, is back in a bowtie this season.
The debut of the Next Gen car did not hinder Chevy’s dominance either, as Kyle Larson won the 2022 race while the bowties collectively led 164 of the 200 laps.
Any spoilers in the race will likely come from the Toyota camp. Martin Truex Jr. won in dominating fashion in 2018, while Denny Hamlin has the most laps led (147) of active drivers at Auto Club without a win. 23XI Racing also acquired Tyler Reddick in the offseason, who dominated last year’s race with RCR before losing a tire.
In contrast, Ford’s lone win at Auto Club since 2009 came in 2015. Team Penske has been stout at the track despite the drought, however, as Joey Logano finished runner-up in 2019 and was one of the best cars in last year’s race. Furthermore, Ryan Blaney was the second-best car behind Alex Bowman in 2020.
All signs point to Chevy dominance once again this weekend, but these five drivers have the best chance of pulling off an upset.
About the author
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly columns include “Stat Sheet” and “4 Burning Questions.” He also writes commentary, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Can find on Twitter @stephen_stumpf.
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Sorry, Joey Logano won that race, not the “declared” and “decided” winner by NASCAR. Fans endured long hours at the track and the at home folks had to endure the insane number of commercials. FANS DESERVED a RACE TO THE END. And both times this past weekend they were denied the thrill of why they were sitting there for hours on hours, a potential nailbiter outcome and a clearly decisive winner. One of the NASCAR representative goons made a statement as to “how” THEY decided the winner. Laughable at best, pathetic at worst.
I’ve always disliked the GWC/multiple-restarts at the end of a race. It usually takes away the good finishes some drivers have earned by running a good race, and arbitrarily awards those finishes to less deserving drivers as the finishing order is reshuffled in the chaos that ensues.
It is most noticeable at RP tracks but it occurs at every track when there is a GWC. To me it’s unfair to the competitors in the name of entertainment to the fans. If there must be a GWC finish, then a single file restart would be a much better compromise. It would lessen the chaos and give the guy that should have won the race a better chance of keeping the win than allowing someone to steal it.
There is a reason that races used to end under caution. It is the fairest way to end the race, entertainment be damned.
The way I look at it is that the ticket says the event is 500 miles or whatever length. If the Indy 500 can finish under yellow so can the NA$CAR embarrassments.
NASCAR overtime needs to be completely ended at the big super speedways. The 500 was a travesty! Let them race to the finish line. They’ll all have time to slow down if there’s a huge crash back behind them! Good grief.
Single file restarts aren’t the answer, if they’re going to keep the green/white/checker. At least not at the “plate” tracks. Considering that it takes a lap to get up to speed at plate tracks, one of two things will happen. You’ll either have a single file race for the last two laps, as it’s almost impossible to pass without a push. Or you’ll still have big wrecks, because the only one way to pass at plate tracks, is with a big push from one or more other cars.
I’m not sure what the answer is, but I don’t think single file restarts is.