NASCAR Preview: How Double-File Restarts Could Ramp up Aggression Levels in Chicago

The 2023 Cup Series race at the Chicago Street Course was much different from what it is expected to be this year. Rain had delayed the race’s start and low visibility had shortened its length, providing a less-than-ideal experience for the audience. A big change that NASCAR had to implement then was single-file restarts. But this year, double-file restarts are back on the board.

This will be seen as a welcome move by many drivers. One among them is Justin Haley, who was recently on NASCAR’s “Around The Track” segment. He crossed off the idea of double-file restarts spelling mayhem on a narrow track like the Chicago Street Course and said, “I don’t think any of us are cautious. It’s just going to provide more room to improve your position.”

That said, he did admit that things could get aggressive. He continued, “We’re going to be as aggressive as ever. Unfortunately, the walls are a little closed this weekend as they usually wouldn’t be. But, yeah, we’re going to be aggressive. We always are.” The promotion’s move to implement this change comes as a surprise considering it viewed last year’s single-file restarts as a win.

Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition, even had moves in place to replicate the restart procedure from Chicago in the 2023 Indianapolis Road Course race considering its effectiveness in facilitating clean racing. However, he was also aware that the fandom has long enjoyed double-file restarts and it could work against the system to clutter that up unless needed.

NASCAR veteran Kyle Busch on why double-file restarts won’t work at Chicago

After last year’s race at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), there was a flurry of opinions flying around on single-file restarts. Double-file restarts were leading to cars piling up on the Turn 1 corners of certain road courses such as COTA and Indianapolis. Tired of this, Kyle Busch expressed his thoughts that NASCAR had to consider the idea of moving to single-file restarts on such courses.

Pinpointing the then-yet-to-be raced on Chicago Street Course, Busch told the press, “Who knows what the hell is going to happen there? If somebody gets turned sideways in one corner, it’s going to be a track block. That’s going to be interesting. Single-file for Chicago, I think there’s no question that you can’t go without it. You have to go single-file.”

Chicago’s streets not having run-off areas like COTA or the other road courses is yet another reason to question double-file restarts. With the chance of driving around pile-ups at a minimum in Chicago, the possibility of roadblocks is high. Ultimately, aggressive moves in the turns could lead to multiple red flag displays.