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Why not race back to the line on the last lap? (4-29-08)
By admin | April 28, 2008
Why not race back to the line on the last lap?
By Richard Allen
The last lap of the Aaron’s 499 could have been a spine tingling thriller, but it was not. Instead, the field was frozen when a 10 car crash occurred well behind the lead pack.
At the moment of caution NASCAR freezes the field so that cars will slow immediately in order to create a safer situation for drivers and track safety workers.
For years, cars were allowed to race back to the start/finish line when a yellow flag was displayed. However, during a race in New Hampshire in 2003 the car of Dale Jarrett was sitting in a prone position on the front straightaway with cars racing for the line in an attempt to unlap themselves.
Shortly after that race NASCAR instituted the policy of field freezing. This policy applies to any and all cautions, including a caution that might occur on the last lap.
It did not take long to see that NASCAR had managed to paint itself into a corner with its new policy. The problem came when cautions flew in the last laps of races and fans were deprived of seeing cars race to the finish line. Instead, the winners of races were determined by the running order at the time of caution. It was a bit disappointing to say the least for fans who had paid high ticket prices and traveled long distances to have the outcome of a race be decided by a computer.
In an attempt to remedy the situation NASCAR introduced the green/white/checkered finish system to the Sprint Cup division. The system had been used in the Craftsman Truck Series prior to its inception in the Cup series. However, due to NASCAR’s insistence on a one time only G/W/C restart there still remains the possibility of having the final finishing order of a given race determined somewhere other than the finish line.
So, why not race back to the line on the last lap? Doing so would give fans the opportunity to see what they came to see, an exciting finish. Also, it would take ammunition away from conspiracy theorists who argue that NASCAR picks who it wants to win in the field freezing situations. It seems to be the only way to actually determine the winner of a race.
If the only concern is for safety then there seems to be little to worry about. In the case of Sunday’s race in Talladega safety workers did not get to those wrecked cars any faster just because the field was frozen.
The leaders could have raced unimpeded on their way back around the track and would have slowed down immediately after crossing the finish line. Any wrecked cars and their drivers would not have been in any more danger just because the race was allowed to continue to its rightful ending.
Obviously, NASCAR would have to use their best judgment in some cases. If there were a crash between the lead cars and the finish line it would be imprudent to allow cars to race by at full speed. In an instance such as that NASCAR could throw an immediate caution and freeze the field.
Perhaps such a scenario would be too confusing. Maybe it is not worth the risk but it is very frustrating for fans, and no doubt for drivers as well, to have a race ended on the backstretch because of a wreck that occurred almost a mile behind the lead pack.
NASCAR did its best to allow the race to finish as it should in Talladega. They seemingly ignored the fact that the #00 car of Michael McDowell had spun while coming to the white flag. However, the final pile up forced the sanctioning body to put the caution flag out and thus end the race about one mile prematurely.
The Talladega race could have produced a finish that would have had fans talking for years to come, but instead, there was only an anti-climatic coast to the finish line and a check of the last scoring loop.
Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His weekly column appears in The Mountain Press every Wednesday.
Topics: Articles |
April 29th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Are you that stupid? How many drivers or safety workers do you want to see killed? What if the crash was just past the start/finish line? You want to see the field come around three wide and plow into stop cars. The drivers in those cars may be getting out. The safety workers should be on the track.
I have seen Indycar crashes where the safety crew is rolling to the crash and the cars haven’t stopped.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:43 am
The reason is still safety!! For example, if the wreck had occurred in the 1st turn instead of the fourth turn, last week, it would have been 40 seconds before the leaders got back to the start/finish line. From there, would they have been able to slow down before reaching the crash site? If not, the safety crews couldn’t have been able to get on the track until all the cars had passed again — up to 1:30 seconds. What if one of the cars had been on fire or someone else was seriously injured. I would not have wanted to wait that 1:30 in a burning car just so the leaders could get back to the line. I would want someone to get me out of the burning car NOW!!! If you have to have different rules depending on if the accident occurred on different areas of the track, who would be able to interpret those rules!?!? One consistent rule where if the yellow flag is thrown, freeze the field is the best and safest approach for all involved.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Simple solution
Just do a G/W/C, racing back to the start/finish is stupid
Had they had a G/W/C the finishing positions would have been a lot different, not only would there have probably have been a different winner, all those cars racing back to the front wouldn’t have finished as far down as they did.
There were cars that had ran up front all day coming, that had to slow for the wreck, who simply got screwed
April 29th, 2008 at 10:21 am
[…] Das habe das beste Rennen in Talladega seit langem leider seinem Sahnehäubchen beraubt, sagen die Kritiker. Man hätte ja durchaus bis zur Zielinie fahren können, um dann die Wagen abzubremsen. Halte ich […]
April 29th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Once again we have people sounding like parrots and responding to announcers on T.V.. I am in total agreement with the article above. NASCAR over reacted to one incident and by doing so has made a lot of finishes a complete bore.
I am the last person that wants to see someone get hurt[I used to race stock cars in Monroe WA] so I know the dangers of the sport but at the same time people pay to watch a race and the drivers show up to race, will, at least for the last 15 laps or so! Car racing is a dangerous sport no matter what rules they come up with and the whole point is the drama at the end of a long 500 mile race. I hate the green white checkered finishes because they still usually end under caution and on some tracks the cars can’t get up to speed in 2 laps.
Maybe the fans who agree with NASCARS decision to make the races safer by throwing the caution at the end of a race should watch golf instead of car racing!
April 30th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Refer to Dale Jarrett at New Hampshire a couple of years ago. Racing back to the finish line is just ridiculous to think of. C’mon….
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:05 am
This is just another way NASCAR has gotten worse over the years. First they give us the cookie-cutter tracks and get rid of Wilkesboro, Rockingham, and the Southern 500, then we stop racing to the line WHICH HAD BEEN DONE FOR YEARS WITHOUT TRAGEDY.
Either have unlimited G/W/C or race to the line on the last lap.