NASCAR looking to alter how races end in time for Thursday's events

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series director John Darby told me Wednesday that the probability of seeing a rule change allowing multiple Green-White-Checkered flag finish "is great.''

Darby spoke with drivers and team officials today asking for their feedback on adjusting how the races end in light of Saturday's Budweiser Shootout ending under caution.

Now, the rule change doesn't mean every race will end under green. Races can still end under caution.

Let me explain:

In the Drivers meeting before each event, a NASCAR official says that the race may conclude with ONE attempt at a Green-White-Checkered finish. If the leader takes the white flag (beginning the last lap) and the caution comes out, the race will NOT be restarted.

What will change is that is that NASCAR is looking at making multiple attempts for a Green-White-Checkered finish as long as the caution comes out before the leader takes the white flag  to begin the final lap. Once that happens, the race is over.

"Could we have multiple (restarts at the end)?'' Darby said. "Yeah. We might have to run the first lap five times, but once the leader takes the white, we can't restart.''

Darby said he's talked to drivers in all three series to ask them their opinion on the matter.

"So far everybody's been, that's cool,'' Darby said

Darby said the rule change "is a truer definition of a green-flag finish. The Shootout is a perfect expample. It's hard to say you've made every attempt to finish under when the pace car is bringing the field around the race track for a lap and a-half under a caution flag. What makes that happen is the one attempt and the possiblity of the caution coming out on the first lap. Most places we go it very rarely happens that way. You can look back and pick races where, yes, it's very confusing the competitors. With all the freezing the field stuff, they forget they need to run that last lap (NOTE: I heard spotters telling drivers at the end of the Shootout they still had one more lap to run and not to pit).

"If everybody understands that once you take the white flag, then the race is going to be completed on that lap. It's easier. It's less confusing. The biggest part of it is it more closely resembles an honest-to-God green flag finish.''

So, I'm sure someone is asking what happens if they have to make multiple attempts at the finish, what about the teams relying on fuel strategy and will NASCAR allow all teams to pit together to add a bit of fuel to resume the end. Here's what Darby said:

"It's the same change when we first installed the Green-White-Checkered. We went from a situation where the entry blank says 500.25 miles that's what we're going to run to, oh by the way, we may have a Green-White-Checkered. Even in today's world, the teams have figured it out. Forget about what we're going to, look at what we have. Green-White-Checkered doesn't simply mean we're going to add three laps. We could be going under caution for six laps, cleaning up the incident to get back to that Green-White-Checkered. Do you have to plan on making sure you've got enough fuel in the tank? Yes.

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