NASCAR changes placement of overtime line, effective immediately

The line, which signals the point at which no additional overtimes will take place once the race leader crosses it, has typically been located on the backstretch of tracks or entering the Turn 3 area.

“NASCAR has been looking at the overtime procedure for quite some time,” Steve O’Donnell, executive vice president and chief racing development officer, said in a statement. “After many discussions with key figures throughout the industry, we recognize that having the start-finish line serve as the standard overtime Line position will benefit the race – and, most importantly, our fans.

“We are implementing this immediately, starting with this weekend’s races at Watkins Glen International.”

Overtime comes into play if a caution flag is displayed before the race leader has taken the white flag in the race, signaling the start of the final lap.

In overtime, the leader must reach the overtime line (now the start/finish line) under green-flag conditions following the restart. If the leader does that, the next flag end the race.

If the leader does not reach the overtime line under green, that will force an additional overtime.

“We really evaluated it internally and thought it was the right thing to do,” NASCAR vice president of competition Scott Miller said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “We’re just moving forward with it, it’s not really a rule change. We chose where the overtime line would be, now we’re just choosing another location for the overtime line — as simple as that.”

 Click on image to watch video of the rule change: