Four weeks into the new double-file restart rule and the drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series seem to have mixed emotions on the new policy. While fans seem to agree the new restart policy has created much more exciting racing throughout the event, some of those behind the wheel knew double-file restarts would make things tougher on the competitors and for some that has been more than obvious.

Saturday night at the Chicagoland Speedway, Richard Childress Racing’s Jeff Burton was once again collected in someone else’s mess. The driver of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet was taken out when Scott Speed slid across the track and into the right front of Burton’s car. The incident ended his night early and sent him home with a 37th–place finish, dropping him two spots to 17th in points. Burton partly blames the double-file restarts for his latest string of bad luck.

"Double-file restarts four weeks in a row and I have been in wrecks four weeks in a row,” a clearly frustrated Burton commented after being taken out late in the race. “I know it is exciting to watch and I am sure it is exciting to talk about but my perspective right now isn't really good. It has been four weeks that wrecks happened in front of us and we have been in four of them. I am about done with them."

While other drivers were praising the idea of double-file restarts, Burton has always been a bit reserved about the policy. After NASCAR announced the rule change in Pocono, the veteran knew drivers would have to step up their game.

“For the fans, I think the double file restart is great. For us, I think it is going to increase the workload quite a bit,” Burton explained. “A lot of guys complain about having to race the lapped cars but there is an advantage of doing that too. If you aren’t quite as good as you need to be the first part of a run and you have the lapped cars next to you, you can kind of hold up the cars behind you a little bit until you car gets going. That’s not going to be an option any more. It is going to put, as hectic as restarts are now, it is going to increase that two-fold because the people you are going to be racing are faster. The reason the cars are a lap down is generally because they were too slow to stay on the lead lap. Now you are going to be racing people that are fast and it is going to make it a lot harder. It is going to make it way more competitive.”

Jimmie Johnson essentially lost Saturday night’s race in Chicago because of a botched double-file restart late in the race. Yet, the three-time defending series champion feels the racing is intensifying with the double-file restarts. As the season progresses and drivers become more comfortable with the new format they seem to be more willing to take chances they may have passed up previously.

“I think we're all getting more comfortable with it,” Johnson said following Saturday night’s LifeLock.com 400. “The car, you can actually lean on each other and really make bumper-to-bumper contact on the straightaways. And it's like a short track at 190 mph. It's great but we're all getting more and more comfortable with it and pretty soon we're going to have some big pile-ups.”

Race winner Mark Martin understands the point of the new policy, and Saturday night he adjusted to the circumstances. Clearly the dominant car of the evening, Martin was shuffled back to fourth while others fought like wolves for the top-spot. The veteran simply bided his time and made his move to the lead when chaos ensued.

“The double file restarts, and I don't mean this coy, but seriously when you think about double file restart, what's exciting about that?” Martin asked in the post-race press conference. “What's exciting about it is you take the guy that probably earned a spot and you mess him up. That's kind of what it is a little bit, right?  It kind of happened tonight.”

“I didn't expect anything any different when it was implemented,” Saturday’s runner-up Jeff Gordon added. “50% of the guys out there are gonna like it, 50% of 'em are gonna hate it. It's not for us. It's for the people in the grandstands and the people at home. That's what it's for."

Unfortunately for Jeff Burton, the double-file restarts have messed him up four weeks in a row now. Like it or not, this is what NASCAR has put in place and those that are not fans of the new policy will simply have to adjust.

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