The American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award goes to the eligible driver that records the fastest average speed on restarts and finishes the race on the lead lap. A per-race $5,000 award is given to the winning driver, and a year-end $100,000 is given to the driver who wins the most awards during the season. The award is an official NASCAR contingency award sponsored by . The inaugural award individual race award was presented to Paul Menard for his performance at the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on 20 February 2011.