NASCAR to issue "stern communication" about cleaning up restarts

NASCAR’s Elton Sawyer said drivers in all three series will receive “stern communication” this week about cleaning up restarts.

Sawyer, NASCAR's senior vice president of competition, made the comments on Tuesday morning on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The response came when asked about how NASCAR viewed the multi-car crash on a restart in the Xfinity Series race Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which didn’t result in any penalties or warnings.

More NASCAR

Prime Video sets premiere date for Larson ‘Double’ documentary

Road course ace van Gisbergen set for Truck Series race at Watkins Glen

The RACER Mailbag, April 22

The crash occurred coming to a lap 71 restart. Those who got the worst of it were in the middle to back of the pack, such as Justin Allgaier and Parker Kligerman, when the field stacked up behind front-row leaders John Hunter Nemechek and Chandler Smith.

New Hampshire is a racetrack with a long front straightaway, which Sawyer noted played a part. In his view, there are more variables at play when NASCAR competes at tracks with long straightaways instead of a traditional tri-oval.

“If you think about that, there are two long lines the front row has established,” Sawyer said of New Hampshire. “So, if you’re the second row, third row, fourth row, you’re looking through the windshield of your car and through the back glass and windshield of the car in front of you. Therefore, there is a lot going on just with that dynamic.

“I will preface this with I don’t think either race - the Cup race or the Xfinity - that our guys did a very good job on restarts. We’ll start there. As we unfolded and looked through the SMT data and just the optics, it felt like it happened maybe in the second or third row where cars were laying back.

“So, as we get into Pocono this weekend, there will be a very stern communication line to our drivers in all three series that laying back is not going to be acceptable as we go into the final stages of our regular season and as we go into the playoffs.”

If a driver were called for a restart violation, it would be a black flag and a drive-through penalty. However, Sawyer believes once the communication is made that NASCAR is looking more closely at restarts, it will curve what drivers have been doing.

“Our guys have done a great job this year with that,” Sawyer said. “It just feels like it’s starting to get a little sloppy, so we need to get that cleaned up before we head into the playoffs.”

All three national series are in action this weekend at Pocono Raceway.