“The track at Loudon has always been slick on restarts,” Busch said. “And with double-file restarts, you have to keep in the back of your mind — even in Saturday's practice — you have to have a car good on a long run, but now you're going to have all these restarts, you might want to focus a little bit on short runs, as well,” Busch said.

Drivers also are weighing the value of starting on the inside or outside, which varies from track to track. Consecutive restarts on the inside lane cost Dale Earnhardt Jr. dearly at Loudon.

“I like the double-file restarts, but, man, if you are on the inside, you are going to lose a couple of spots every time,” said Earnhardt, who finished 13th after running consistently in the top ten for most of the race. “We were on the inside the last three, and we lost the opportunity to run in the top five, got shuffled back to just inside the top ten.”

The pressure to protect track position multiplies exponentially under the new system, sometimes with disastrous results. On a restart on lap 175, Earnhardt restarted third, spun his tires and lost momentum. Martin Truex Jr. checked up behind him. Kyle Busch, behind Truex, did not, and contact between the cars of Busch and Truex ignited a massive wreck in turn one.

Jeff Burton was an innocent victim of the melee, finishing 31st and dropping to 16th in the Cup standings. Nevertheless, from a spectator's standpoint, Burton acknowledges the value of the new format.

“I don't think the fans want to see wrecks, but they want to see more aggressive racing, so that is the product of that,” Burton said. “You can't change something without there being some kind of negative consequences, and this (the wreck) is an example.

“We drive the cars, and ultimately the responsibility lays on us. But this does put another wrinkle in there for us.”

by Reid Spencer/Sporting News