NASCAR's double-file restarts debut at Pocono

LONG POND, Pa. (AP) -- It didn't take long for drivers to get some experience with NASCAR's new double-file restart rule.

Denny Hamlin's car sputtered into the garage two laps into Sunday's Pocono 500 with a broken fuel pump, bringing out the first caution of the afternoon. Another caution came out nine laps later after Hamlin lost power again, apparently because of the same problem.

No worries. The restarts got off without a hitch, drivers falling in line according to the new Sprint Cup series procedure.

NASCAR debuted the revamped restarts at Pocono in an effort to add more competitive spice and give into fans clamoring for more excitement. The most obvious change: the race leader has the option to restart on the inside or outside, with the second-place driver pulling alongside.

"If fans like it, if it adds something to the race for them ... it's a win-win," said David Reutimann, who finished third. "I'm sure they'll refine it and make it better, but it worked out pretty good."

A restart on lap 118 gave fans a taste of what they sought.

Carl Edwards, leading at the time, led the field around the track single-file until cars started into two rows after Edwards went high around the final turn.

Jeff Burton, second at the time, pulled alongside of Edwards inside and the remaining cars followed suit in order. The field rocketed from the starting line in a crowded pack, and fans in the grandstand roared their approval as cars went three-wide around the first turn under green.

Most leaders appeared to choose the outside lane on restarts.

Edwards, who finished second behind winner Tony Stewart, suggested a slight change by allowing the leader to restart in his own row once green comes out. That would mean the second-place driver would have the option to restart high or low.

"Other than that, it was great fun," Edwards said.

Jeff Gordon finished fourth but admitted his team had to work on restart strategy.

"That double-file restart, boy, I tell you, it killed us," Gordon said. "Aero-wise, my car was good in clean air. ... It was a handful with the dirty air."

There was more uncertainty than buzz at the drivers meeting.

Gordon, Ryan Newman and Elliot Sadler were among the drivers who peppered race director David Hoots with questions in a scene that looked like crowded driver's education classroom. Racers and their crews sat elbow-to-elbow as Hoots went over the rules in a monotonous voice while an interactive video played on two TVs.

"We understand there's going to be a little bit of a learning curve," Hoots said.

A frenetic finish caused by the double-field restarts at last month's All-Star race helped convince NASCAR to move to the "leaders first" procedure for points races, too.

"It's no different from the initial start of the race, except that we're going to have to do it over and over again," Hoots said.

HAMSTRUNG HAMLIN

Another week, another setback for Denny Hamlin.

A fuel pump problem that sent Hamlin to the garage two laps in saddled the No. 11 Toyota the rest of the afternoon. He also went to the garage 13 laps in, apparently for the same issue.

Hamlin finished 38th in the 43-car field, 22 laps off the lead lap. He tumbled from seventh to 12th in the points standings, clinging to a one-point advantage over 13th-place Mark Martin.

The top 12 drivers make the season-end Chase for the championship.

The previous week at Dover, Hamlin, in second at the time, blew a right-front tire and slammed hard into the wall just past the halfway point of that race. The bad finish sent him from fifth to seventh in points.

The fuel pump issue Sunday spoiled what has otherwise been a nice run for the 28-year-old Hamlin at Pocono, where he has five top-10 finishes in six races, including two wins.

IN THE PITS

Other top drivers had a tough day on pit road at the Tricky Triangle, though it didn't set them back too much in the points race.

Jimmie Johnson started the painful pit parade on lap 104 when he was penalized for being on pit road when a yellow flag flew. The red light was on at the entrance for pit road -- meaning it was closed -- when Johnson arrived at his stall, so he was sent to the back on the restart.

His No. 48 Chevrolet slipped from third to seventh on the final lap after running out of fuel on the third turn.

"It was funny trying and wondering who was going to go, and when," said Johnson, who stayed third in the points standings.

Ryan Newman was penalized for speeding on pit road twice. He was also hampered by a bad spark plug that forced him to pit six times over a span of two cautions at mid-race.

Yet he still finished fifth to extend a streak of top-10 finishes to six. Newman moved up one spot in the points race to fourth, past Kurt Busch.

"It felt like I was driving an old car and troubleshooting it at the same time," Newman said about his spark plug issue. "A good run for our guys to be able to fight back through that."

Busch had a water pump issue with his No. 2 Dodge that forced him to miss 17 laps before returning on lap 148.

LUGNUTS: Rookie Dexter Bean debuted on the Sprint Cup circuit at Pocono with a mistake heading into the pits on lap 46 after running over the "commitment cone" that marks the boundary to pit road. He braked hard, sending puffs of white smoke into the air. ... Car owner Richard Childress was recently elected to the board of directors for the National Rifle Association. ... Marcos Ambrose finished sixth for his second top-10 finish of the season. He finished

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