Following the last two restarts of Saturday’s nights Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway, there were questions surrounding both of them and whether they were legal.
The first one saw race leader Brian Scott, who had led over 200 laps, restarting within 15 laps to go on the inside of Brad Keselowski. It looked like Scott spun the tires, which allowed Keselowski to get the better restart. At the line, Keselowski was a nose ahead of Scott, though the restart was deemed legal.
A caution flew shortly after setting up a second restart with Keselowski as the leader and Scott in second. Depending how you view it, Keselowski went before he got into the “restart” box. Though looking at other camera views, it could look as though Keselowski went as soon as his front bumper touched the first line. That allowed Keselowski to get the jump and run away from the field to take the win.
“Some restarts and some questionable calls got us at the end,” Scott said after the race. “I’m going to have a talk (with NASCAR) and figure out what the rules are. I thought they were pretty black and white.
“I don’t know if anybody else saw the same thing but he jumped the start on the last one, which didn’t even give us a chance to race for it in Turn 1.”
Keselowski felt that restart was legal based on NASCAR’s calls in the past.
“Based on what NASCAR has said before when it comes to restarts, if it is more than a fender you are in trouble,” Keselowski commented. “I knew I wasn’t more than a fender in front of him. If I beat him, I beat him by an inch or two or whatever it might be, but I know I didn’t beat him by a foot or two. Going by what NASCAR has set as the precedent I felt like I would be okay. I think that is still the precedent.”
Restarts are something that has been a question this year as there are restarts that have been deemed illegal. Back at Dover earlier this year in the Sprint Cup Series, Jimmie Johnson was deemed as jumping the restart ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya. However, Johnston stated afterwards that Montoya simply didn’t go.
“Unfortunately, it’s in the tower’s hands at that point,” Johnson said after the race. “The tower can choose to decide if it was a legal start or not. I didn’t know if he broke or spun (the tires).
“I just don’t know. I’m running half-throttle down the frontstretch waiting for him and he doesn’t come. My vision is so limited inside the car, I’m really a sitting duck. They decided to call me on it. I totally disagree with the call.”
Restarts are one of those areas that fall into the hands of the officials to call legal or not legal and Keselowski says sometimes, it’s not as simple as it looks.
“There are lines on the wall but they aren’t an exact science,” he commented. “There are a lot of variables which makes it very difficult to police. I sympathize with NASCAR in trying to do just that. It is almost racing’s version of pass interference, judging the restart. What you might call pass interference another person might not and what one person calls jumping a restart another person might not.
“I don’t feel like I did but I can tell you that there are a lot of different techniques in the restart zone. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses and we were able to capitalize on those tonight.”
With Saturday’s night race being pivotal in determining who qualifies for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, one can only hope that questionable restart calls don’t come into play in being a deciding factor.
