Lapped cars to the back for restarts

[jcmark611]

And lead lap cars will be the only ones allowed to pit the first lap that the pits open.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-bernard-outlines-oval-restart-procedure/

Mike Hull, managing director for Target/Ganassi Racing, e-mailed his concerns to competition VP Brian Barnhart, as did Tim Cindric, the president of Penske Performance, and Panther Racing owner John Barnes.

“We simply told Brian that the owners supported the double-file restarts but in the meeting in November we had agreed to follow the NASCAR model,” said Hull.

[rodneyh]

So with all this shuffling and two rounds of pit stops, this should add what? another 10 laps to the already long cautions

[jcmark611]

So with all this shuffling and two rounds of pit stops, this should add what? another 10 laps to the already long cautions

It's really pretty simple. Again, if NASCAR can pull it off with almost twice the number of cars and do it in less laps than the average IndyCar caution, why can't IndyCar?

[Race Dork]

I don't like it. Say a driver is lapped, then seconds later the yellow comes out. If there are 22 cars on the lead lap, that driver just went from needing to pass 1 car to get back on the lead lap to having to pass 22. Plus, just because the leader passes somebody, thus giving them a buffer, why should everybody else that's on the lead lap suddenly get to drive by that buffer when the yellow comes out.

Why must they over complicate yellow flags? I say if you're going to close the pits, do it only for as long as it takes the leader to take the yellow flag. Then let everybody pit the next time they cross the line and come back around. Don't muck with the natural order. Double file them as they sit, then drop the green and let them have it.

And raise the pit speed limit!

[Swaze]

I hate to say it but with all of these new rules screwing lapped cars........you almost have to have a "lucky dog" rule.

I know people are going to freak about the mere mention of "lucky dog" rule but if the series is going to make all of these new rules that end up hurting the lapped cars they gotta do something to at least make things semi-fair for the lapped cars. Yes the "lucky dog" rule is ridiculous in principle but oddly enough it is effective and keeps competitive drivers in the race (who were lapped because of bad luck like a flat tire).

Maybe Randy can call it the آ،Olأ©! and have the guy in the flag stand bust out a red matador flag.

[TKG26]

STUPID! ...... You work your butt off to pass a back marker to gain advantage and they a yellow is called. You just lost that advantage and wasted effort and the poor guy that was down a lap by only one car is now down a lap to the entire field!

WHY? WHY???????????????????????

Pit closed rule to me should be so simple. Yellow is called, pit is closed,pace car collects leader, pit is open, leader leads the pack into the pits.

[TimmyZ1]

I hate to say it but with all of these new rules screwing lapped cars........you almost have to have a "lucky dog" rule.

I know people are going to freak about the mere mention of "lucky dog" rule but if the series is going to make all of these new rules that end up hurting the lapped cars they gotta do something to at least make things semi-fair for the lapped cars. Yes the "lucky dog" rule is ridiculous in principle but oddly enough it is effective and keeps competitive drivers in the race (who were lapped because of bad luck like a flat tire)..

That bad luck is called racing. Bad pit stops, flat tires, body damage enough to destroy your chances of winning but not enough to take you out of the race are like fumbles in football, hanging sliders in baseballs, poor shift changes in hockey. Are they automatic losses? No but to many or just one and they really hurt your chances of winning.

On the main topic, I have no use for 90% of the crap NASCAR has forced onto the racing world but 2 wide restarts are fine with me and when they first introduced it last year I was like we really could use this in the ICS.

[FTHurley]

WHY? WHY???????????????????????

Because they want more than 17 people to watch IndyCar racing.

[The Stickman]

I don't like it. Say a driver is lapped, then seconds later the yellow comes out. If there are 22 cars on the lead lap, that driver just went from needing to pass 1 car to get back on the lead lap to having to pass 22. Plus, just because the leader passes somebody, thus giving them a buffer, why should everybody else that's on the lead lap suddenly get to drive by that buffer when the yellow comes out.

Why must they over complicate yellow flags? I say if you're going to close the pits, do it only for as long as it takes the leader to take the yellow flag. Then let everybody pit the next time they cross the line and come back around. Don't muck with the natural order. Double file them as they sit, then drop the green and let them have it.

And raise the pit speed limit!

Then that driver should stay out and not pit. They will be ahead of the lead lapped cars and wil get a wave around.

[FTHurley]

My only misgiving (aside from a general fear of change) is that I still think moving the "go" line up to someplace between the exit of the final turn and start/finish solves 75% of the problem right there. I would have liked to see them try that for a few races to see if it made things a ton better without anything more radical.

[Gomer Simpson]

I don't like it. Say a driver is lapped, then seconds later the yellow comes out. If there are 22 cars on the lead lap, that driver just went from needing to pass 1 car to get back on the lead lap to having to pass 22.

Yep, this is officially complete and total BS.

Plus, just because the leader passes somebody, thus giving them a buffer, why should everybody else that's on the lead lap suddenly get to drive by that buffer when the yellow comes out.

Complete, contrived BS.

Why must they over complicate yellow flags? I say if you're going to close the pits, do it only for as long as it takes the leader to take the yellow flag. Then let everybody pit the next time they cross the line and come back around. Don't muck with the natural order. Double file them as they sit, then drop the green and let them have it.

That would just be too easy and logical. We can't have that.

Huge

[Gomer Simpson]

My only misgiving (aside from a general fear of change) is that I still think moving the "go" line up to someplace between the exit of the final turn and start/finish solves 75% of the problem right there. I would have liked to see them try that for a few races to see if it made things a ton better without anything more radical.

Again, a common sense approach. We can't have that.

The more that I think about this, the more that I think that screwing with the order of cars is probably the single biggest sin you can commit in racing. Nobody, nobody has any business moving cars around on the track unless it's done through the normal course of racing.

Thank God they aren't implementing these rules until after Indy this year. I don't think I can stomach to see it happen there. Hopefully somebody will come to their senses between now and 2012. How would the '95 500 had played out if this crap were in place?

[devowood]

Randy... This sucks.

[tweezer]

we keep getting one step closer to nascar

[millrace]

I don't like it. Say a driver is lapped, then seconds later the yellow comes out. If there are 22 cars on the lead lap, that driver just went from needing to pass 1 car to get back on the lead lap to having to pass 22. Plus, just because the leader passes somebody, thus giving them a buffer, why should everybody else that's on the lead lap suddenly get to drive by that buffer when the yellow comes out.

Why must they over complicate yellow flags? I say if you're going to close the pits, do it only for as long as it takes the leader to take the yellow flag. Then let everybody pit the next time they cross the line and come back around. Don't muck with the natural order. Double file them as they sit, then drop the green and let them have it.

And raise the pit speed limit!

Excellent post. You nailed it.