Jimmie Johnson may not like the call that dropped him from first to 17th in Sunday’s race, but under the current parameters, NASCAR’s call was the right one, and it was consistent with the decision the sanctioning body made in black-flagging Elliott Sadler in last year’s Nationwide Series debut at Indianapolis.
With 19 laps left in Sunday’s race at Dover, Johnson restarted from the second spot to the inside of race leader Juan Pablo Montoya, who appeared to spin his tires in the restart zone near the exit of Turn 4, defined by red lines on the wall.
Johnson edged ahead of Montoya before the cars reached the end of the restart zone, and by the time the cars reached the start/finish line, Johnson was two car-lengths ahead. NASCAR assessed a drive-through penalty to the No. 48 Chevrolet, and Johnson went from the lead to a lap down.
Tony Stewart, who had an excellent view of the proceedings, said that, in general, the restart zone favors the second-place driver, even though the leader has lane choice.
“The zone we have to restart in is not very conducive to being leader-friendly,” Stewart said. “Most of the time the guy that’s second has a huge advantage and most of the time will lay back and roll the start and play it to his advantage.
“There can be some adjustments made to the restart zone. My opinion, if you lengthen that restart zone and give the leader more flexibility of where they pick the restart up at, it takes away that opportunity for the second-place guy to take advantage of the restarts.”
The opinions expressed are solely those of the author.
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