Did I hear they painted lines on the race track for the start zone. What a brilliant idea. The TV guys thought of that weeks ago.
NASCAR will increase restart zone for remaining races UPDATE: The restart zone for this weekend's NASCAR races at Dover International Speedway will double from 70 feet to 140 feet, according to NASCAR. The sanctioning body will also lengthen the restart zone for the 2015 season's remaining races post-Dover -- the exact increase will be determined by an at-track basis. The restart rules have not changed. Drivers will still line up double file, with the leader being the "control car," meaning the second-place car can't take off before the leader in the restart zone located before the start/finish line.(NASCAR.com)(10-1-2015)
UPDATE: In response to drivers' concerns over restart rules and the ostensible growing tendency of drivers to break them, NASCAR announced this week a doubling of the length of the restart zones. In feet, the length of the restart zone has been set at two times pit road speed. At Dover, where pit road speed is 35 mph, the restart zone measured 70 feet. Now it's 140 feet, and most drivers felt the expansion will restore, appropriately, some of the advantage the race leader should have. "To lengthen that box, I think is a great move," said six-time Sprint Cup champion #48-Jimmie Johnson. "I'm hopeful that they lengthen the box and bring it closer to the start/finish line. I think it will slow down some of the three- and four-wide into Turn 1 scenarios we have had. It will be less distance to get speed built up closer to the start/finish line and I think we will maybe control that space a little bit better. We should have better side-by-side restarts, which is what everybody is after. And then, obviously, the goal here is to give control back to the guy that has earned it - to the leader. That's what happens, and I'm in favor of it. It's a good call, and I am excited to see how it plays out."(NASCAR Wire Service)(10-4-2015)