Then, you’re left doing what you would have been doing without the new rule changes: waiting for a second yellow flag in order to level the difference between you and everybody else on the lead lap. In the old system, if you pitted just before a yellow and got caught a lap down, you’d have to pass your way up through the leaders and then catch another yellow, because there’s basically no way to make up an entire lap under green flag conditions. Or, if everybody in front of you pitted and you wound up the first car in line (i.e at the back of the lead lap), you’d get a wave around, just like I think they’ll do if you’re first in line but at the tail of the lead lap under the new rule.

You are right that you can get screwed by one (or two, or just a handful) of lead lap cars staying out, then you get put behind all the other lead lap cars. That is worse, but I think it’s a relatively small cost in order to make sure that the lap down cars don’t screw up restarts, like in the case that you have the leader, then four lap down cars, then 2nd, 3rd, 4th, like what happened a lot before (I distinctly remember this happeneing at Kansas last year, because Pressdog and I talked about it right after the race). I’d rather that the leaders have a shot at changing position, especially late in the race.

Really, I don’t think that this rule change requires an adoption of the “Lucky Dog”. I don’t think it’s all that different from the way it would have been without putting all lap down guys to the back of the pack. If somebody catches a bad break, there are still ways to get your lap back, but under certain circumstances, it might be a little tougher than before. Under other circumstances, it’ll be exactly the same as before. I’m really not too stressed about this at all. I’m willing to see what happens.

That strategy also does not work for the lapped drive that is mid-pack and behind somebody on the lead lap that decides to not pit (to get the lead, on alternate pit strategy, etc).

A questioner in Robin Miller’s Mailbag this week wrote about the very same concern, as follows:

“…if you use this new method and you go a lap down your day is over. You’ll never end up on the lead lap unless you happen to pit out of sequence before a yellow happens. If you were just lapped and the yellow comes out, they move you to the back a lap down. Now instead of only having to pass the lead car, you have to pass everyone again and hope that another yellow doesn’t come out or its back to the back again.”

Miller’s answer:

“No, you can still get your lap back because when the leaders pit first, you will stay out, get back on the lead lap and then be waved around to the rear of the lead pack.”

Does that sound right? If that is the way it would work, then our concerns may be for naught.