What is a wave around in NASCAR? All you need to know about the rule that helped 16 drivers at once in Darlington

During NASCAR's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Speedway, Brad Keselowski experienced a spin after his right rear wheel nut came loose. Consequently, a caution was introduced on lap 139 to clear the debris. As the front runners pit for fresher tires, the wave-around rule came into play, with 16 drivers taking the opportunity to unlap themselves. Here's a breakdown of how the rule works.

When under caution, the first car that fell a lap behind gets a free pass to unlap themselves. The driver overtakes the field for a lap around the track, slotting in at the tail end of the field. Similarly, once the race leaders pit during the caution, the other lapped cars get to use the "wave around" rule to get their lap back. However, the option prohibits the wave around cars from pitting during the caution, significantly risking tire and fuel advantage.

At Darlington, Chase Elliot and Chris Buescher opted to pit, while other lapped drivers such as Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric, and Ross Chastain, chose to capitalize on the wave around to regain their lap.

When NASCAR introduced the rule in 2009, it initially sparked concerns about teams exploiting it to unlap penalized cars. In response, NASCAR clarified that cars under penalty would not be eligible for a wave around. However, drivers who fell a lap down from a penalty earlier in the race still managed to benefit from the rule.

Another topic of concern was that drivers would rather wait for a caution to unlap themselves, instead of fighting for it. Nonetheless, the wave around continues to function as it has in the previous seasons.

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Ross Chastain reflects on a top-ten finish at one of his "favorite" NASCAR tracks

Trackhouse racing driver Ross Chastain shared his thoughts on a "warm" race at Darlington Raceway. Despite taking a wave around during mid-race, Chastain battled his way to secure a top-ten finish at the track infamously dubbed as "Too Tough to Tame."

Reflecting upon the same, Chastain shared his thoughts on the post-race Chevrolet press conference, stating (as quoted by Speedwaydigest.com):

"It was a warm one today at Darlington in our Busch Light Fishing Chevy.We worked our way up to the top-15 early in the race with adjustments. We got caught by that one caution in the middle of the race just after we pitted under green. So we had to take the wave around and work our way back up through the field. Phil and the guys made good adjustments and we were able to get up in the top 10 and we finished 7th. Darlington is one of my favorite tracks and I am looking forward to Bristol next weekend,” Chastain said.

Starting down the order at 25th, the #1 Trackhouse driver chased down the field to finish inside the top ten at seventh. Furthermore, Chastain also had good getaways during restarts, ranking fifth, according to NASCAR insights. He currently sits 12th in the standings with 199 points and four top-ten finishes.