Does anyone know anything about this "you can't get gas twice if you are the lucky dog" rule? I have never heard of it. It seemed like they called for debris when they thought Johnson was getting the free pass and then needed some way to make sure Robby didn't get it. (Though I must say I am a Robby fan so I may be biased.) Thoughts?

You are only allowed to take fuel on the one pit stop where you are awarded the lucky dog. I think it used to be you could pit multiple times when you got the lucky dog, but Ryan Newman pitted a bunch of times during the caution and wound up wnning on fuel mileage so they changed the rule to only one stop.

Thanks! I had not heard of that rule but I guess it makes sense.

Yeah, basically the rule is they'll give you a break, but not a total advantage. Since the lucky dog always starts in the same place, regardless of whether or not they pit, the lucky dog could keep coming in for fuel every lap under caution and not lose any track position (and they wouldn't gain anything by staying out, even if they don't pit and another lead lap car does, the lead lap car is ahead of them on the restart).

At Dover a few years ago, Ryan Newman won a race because he topped off on fuel every lap after getting the lucky dog, and ended up being the only driver who could make it all the way on fuel.

So if you're tail-end-charlie and are not the free pass recipient you can top off but if you're tail-end-charlie and are the free pass recipient you can't top off. How does this make any sense?

^^^^ Since when does Nascar try to make sense out of their rules.

MrGarabaldi - 06 October 2008 08:37 AM

So if you're tail-end-charlie and are not the free pass recipient you can top off but if you're tail-end-charlie and are the free pass recipient you can't top off. How does this make any sense?

did you read Jaywag's post, Baldi? it's bad enough they're giving away free laps... giving them an advantage over the rest of the field is just stupid.. they saw and corrected that. Robby knew that.. he tried to pull a fast one and got caught, plain and simple.

Finished in the top 10 so everything is moot.