Quote:
Originally Posted by ChetC
That's not how it works. If you're lapped by the 1st place car, you'd have to pass him/her twice to get the lead but you are not a lap down to positions 2-14 unless they pass you as well. You are still racing them for position. You only go a lap down to lead cars which lap you.
The old way was; if you're running 15th, passed by the leader and a caution comes out, 14th starts at the tail and you start between first and second where there's a good chance you'll bottle up 2nd on back allowing the leader a bigger lead than he had before the caution, or perhaps you'll tangle with 2nd or 3rd taking them out of the race because your car didn't come up to speed as quickly as the top 5 cars AND you have to race all the way around the track to catch 14th again or he'll lap you too.
The "new" way is; if you're running 15th, passed by the leader and a caution comes out, you start tail of the field behind 14th who you can race for position on the restart. Meanwhile, up front the leaders can go game on and get after it again without worrying about running over your slow behind.
Putting lapped traffic to the tail for restarts is the standard at probably 85% or more of the racing we cover. It makes for far better racing through the field on restarts.
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If that was the case, this wouldn't be the worst idea in the world, but that is not how the rule reads and I believe you are wrong. It doesn't allow lapped cars to get a "waive around". They become a lap down and are not on the same lap as the end of the line cars that were not lapped. It leaves very little incentive to stay on the track as you are unlikely to be racing for anything after being lapped and a caution comes out.