Should NASCAR Change the Overtime Rule?

The ending of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, June 30 featured five overtimes. Drivers such as Kyle Larson ran their racecars out of gas, others such as Kyle Busch ended with their racecars wrecked and others such as Zane Smith earned good finishes. Joey Logano also stretched the fuel in his racecar to outlast the competition en route to a trip to victory lane.

Yet five overtimes also weren’t glamorous. For four straight attempts, drivers were unable to complete one green-flag lap back to taking the white flag.

As such, should NASCAR change the rule on the number of overtime attempts in a race? Wyatt Watson and Mark Kristl answer that in this week’s 2-Headed Monster.

It’s Not Broken, Don’t Fix It

A rare occurrence does not mean we need a change in the rule about the number of overtime attempts in a NASCAR race.

Admittedly, the chaos of the five overtimes at Nashville Superspeedway was not pretty. The number of wrecked racecars and the ultimate rundown on the leaderboard was unexpected. Covering it at the racetrack became increasingly more challenging because there were comers and goers. Just when someone entered the picture as a storyline for having a stout finish, such as Busch, they seemingly ran out of fuel, wrecked out or lost positions on a restart to another person who began to make headlines, such as Smith.

But that should not necessitate a change in the rule book.

To begin with, NASCAR ought to treat its drivers like professionals. All drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series are at least 18 years old. Everyone in the field dreams of winning and no rule is going to negate that desire. If anything, restricting the number of overtime attempts could cause injuries and become more expensive – more on that later.

The current rule for overtime is the leader must cross the line to receive the white flag and then the next flag ends the race. It is incredibly simple, something that other aspects of NASCAR are not. What’s easier to explain, the overtime rule or the playoff system with all the playoff points, including those from the regular season?

Essentially, overtime must have one green flag lap. That’s it. Then all hell can break loose. And other than road courses, on all other racetracks, laps are completed in less than a minute. All drivers need to do is race cleanly for less than 60 seconds. At Bristol Motor Speedway, laps are often completed in just over 15 seconds. So…