NASCAR Drivers Council still looking at choose rule

Choosing which side to start and restart can make a difference

One of the changes Denny Hamlin said the Drivers Council discussed last year was the choose rule. That's what is used at short tracks.

The premise is that as drivers cross the start/finish line a lap before a restart, drivers have the option to choose if they want to start on the inside or outside lane. On a track where one groove is significantly better – think the bottom lane at Martinsville – the leaders will all select the bottom. At some point, a driver who could be just inside the top 10 might take the outside lane to have the opportunity to restart in the second or third row. It creates a risk vs. reward scenario and a way to add more intrigue to restarts.

"I know we talked a little bit about cone choose rule on restarts for some tracks,'' Hamlin said of the Drivers Council. "That didn't come forth this year. I know several of us were hoping so, being that there was such a disadvantage at some racetracks such as (you) happen to come off pit lane in the wrong lane, you're not going to win the race, and that's not necessarily fair.

"I think giving the drivers a choose rule would be something good to look forward in the future, but overall it's status quo on the way the stages went. The cars are relatively the same, so there's good momentum that we need to build on from last year." NBC Sports