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A few simple solutions to some complex issues
By Lee Montgomery, Turner Sports Interactive June 18, 2004
10:32 AM EDT (1432 GMT)
Seems to me that all the criticism leveled against NASCAR lately has come without a lot of solutions from the myriad problems. And to me, that makes the criticism ring a little bit hollow.
I mean, I can sit here and rip politicians or NASCAR or Major League Baseball or whoever, but if I don't offer any solutions, what's the point?
Well, thanks to a few e-mails from some pretty intelligent fans, I was inspired to offer a few solutions.
So, Mike Helton, John Darby and David Hoots, take it or leave it. You know better than me anyway -- or at least you should.
The problem: Calling for a caution.
The solution: Two yellow buttons in the scoring tower. One primary and one backup.
NASCAR took away most of the control for calling a caution after the fiasco at Charlotte in the Craftsman Truck Series race, when the yellow lights came on -- causing leader Carl Edwards to slow -- and then went off.
Edwards got hosed, and while NASCAR later apologized, it didn't completely fix the problem. Hoots or whoever calls for cautions should push one button for a yellow flag. Period. If he accidentally hits it, leave it on and revert to the last scored lap.
(You'll hear more about "the last scored lap" later.)
The problem: Freezing the field.
When Ryan Newman spun on pit road two weeks ago, it created a long caution period while NASCAR attempted to sort out the scoring. Credit: Autostock
The solution: Revert back to last scored lap, until electronic scoring is perfected.
We all knew this would be a work in progress, but if this were school, NASCAR would be held back a grade. If the field can't be electronically "frozen" at the exact time a caution comes out, then NASCAR shouldn't try to interpret where drivers are scored with the "scoring loop" system it now uses.
Either NASCAR knows where everyone is at the exact second the caution comes out, or it doesn't. If it doesn't, go back one lap.
Better to be safe than sorry, right?
"One of my favorite crew chiefs I ever drove for was Larry Howard, out in Arizona," Tony Stewart said. "He called me and said, 'Why do they not just do like every other series and every other race track across the country and when the caution comes out, go back to the last lap?' It's very simple. It's logged in the system. It's bulletproof. I don't know why they don't do that.
"Every race fan across the country understands that rule if they're a true race fan. That's an easy solution for the problem. I would go back to the last completed lap. Everybody knows where they were when they crossed the line. Every series we've run across before we got to NASCAR, that's what we had to race under. It's not something you would need to re-teach everybody."
Makes sense to me.
The problem: The first car one lap down getting a lap back under caution.
The solution: Ditch it.
NASCAR created this rule when it stopped racing back to the line, throwing a bone, if you will, to folks who wanted a way for drivers a lap down to get that lap back.
But this is more trouble than it's worth. As several drivers said, NASCAR shouldn't be in the business of giving anything back. If you lose a lap, you have to race to get it back. This is racing, remember?
The problem: Cars on the "tail end" of the lead lap.
The solution: Line them up in front of the field, with the lapped-down cars to the inside of the leaders.
By the way, why do we say "tail end"? Why not "end"? I've never heard of "tail front."
But I digress. Cars get on the end of the lead lap only when the leader pits under caution, thereby putting some lap-down cars on the lead lap. But those cars are still behind the pace car, and it is unfair to essentially give them back a lap.
On a restart, there is always chaos when end-of-lead-lap cars are in front of a leader. But say there are five cars on the end of the lead lap. Have them line up single-file behind the pace car, with the leader behind the fifth car. The lapped-down cars would be placed beside the leader and not the first car on the end of the lead lap.
That wouldn't totally eliminate chaos on restarts, but it would make it a little easier on the leader.
The problem: When to open pit road.
The caution flag flew for more than a quarter of the laps Sunday at Pocono. Credit: Autostock
The solution: Call me crazy, but why is this even an issue? Open the pits for lead-lap cars the first time the pace car passes the pit entrance. The exception would be any scoring problems.
If there is a scoring issue, revert to the last scored lap, put the cars in proper position and open the pits. If a driver disputes a call and doesn't go into his or her position, penalize him a lap.
"Maybe the race director just comes on and says pit road is open now, and the crew chief can get on the radio and tell the drivers," Jamie McMurray said. "That's happened before. It screwed up people at Martinsville a few years ago when they didn't get the flag out quick enough. I don't know the answer, but it would be nice to have a little bit different method of opening and closing the pits."
Well, now there's answer.
The problem: Human error.
The solution: Revert back to the last scored lap.
The flagman on pit road clearly screwed up by opening the pits the first time by at Pocono when Johnson was leading. Ill-timed, for sure, but why penalize Johnson for a NASCAR mistake?
Why not say, "Oops, we screwed up. But we'll fix it."
See the above solution for more questions. But I'll repeat. Go back to the last scored lap, line up the cars in proper position and ... do whatever you need to do.
The problem: Caution-flag finishes.
The solution: Caution laps don't count in the final 10 laps of a race.
Blown engines like the one suffered by Brendan Gaughan at Pocono, can drop oil on the track. Credit: Autostock
But what if a yellow comes out on the last lap? I feel like a stuck CD: Go back to the last scored lap, line up the cars in proper position ... and go racing for five laps. Another caution? Repeat the process.
If fuel is a concern, and it usually is, make a four-tire pit stop for the lead-lap cars mandatory under the yellow. That would eliminate fuel strategy and put the race in the hands of the crews and the drivers -- the people whose hands it needs to be in.
The problem: Concerns over inspection and alleged "NASCAR fixes."
The solution: Document all inspections and make them public.
Heck, put inspection on TV. I'd be willing to bet folks would sign up on DirecTV to watch it. Or at least a few race teams.
The problem: Drivers who intentionally wreck other drivers.
The solution: Leave it alone, as long as it is on the track and doesn't involve anyone else.
Remember, this is racing, and we want the racing in the drivers' hands, not NASCAR's. If a driver has a problem with another driver, let them sort it out on the track.
If it spills over on to pit road or in to the garage, strip both drivers and teams of any points earned in the race and fine them whatever they would have earned.
If an on-track incident involves other cars, do the same thing. Probably would eliminate any on-track retribution, wouldn't it? Well, that's fine with me.
I was taught that the best way to get someone back was to beat them the next day, the next race. That should be enough.
The problem: Fans who throw things on the track.
The solution: Throw those fans on the track.
As a friend of mine likes to say: Moo-rons.
The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.
A few simple solutions to some complex issues
By Lee Montgomery, Turner Sports Interactive June 18, 2004
10:32 AM EDT (1432 GMT)
Seems to me that all the criticism leveled against NASCAR lately has come without a lot of solutions from the myriad problems. And to me, that makes the criticism ring a little bit hollow.
I mean, I can sit here and rip politicians or NASCAR or Major League Baseball or whoever, but if I don't offer any solutions, what's the point?
Well, thanks to a few e-mails from some pretty intelligent fans, I was inspired to offer a few solutions.
So, Mike Helton, John Darby and David Hoots, take it or leave it. You know better than me anyway -- or at least you should.
The problem: Calling for a caution.
The solution: Two yellow buttons in the scoring tower. One primary and one backup.
NASCAR took away most of the control for calling a caution after the fiasco at Charlotte in the Craftsman Truck Series race, when the yellow lights came on -- causing leader Carl Edwards to slow -- and then went off.
Edwards got hosed, and while NASCAR later apologized, it didn't completely fix the problem. Hoots or whoever calls for cautions should push one button for a yellow flag. Period. If he accidentally hits it, leave it on and revert to the last scored lap.
(You'll hear more about "the last scored lap" later.)
The problem: Freezing the field.
When Ryan Newman spun on pit road two weeks ago, it created a long caution period while NASCAR attempted to sort out the scoring. Credit: Autostock
The solution: Revert back to last scored lap, until electronic scoring is perfected.
We all knew this would be a work in progress, but if this were school, NASCAR would be held back a grade. If the field can't be electronically "frozen" at the exact time a caution comes out, then NASCAR shouldn't try to interpret where drivers are scored with the "scoring loop" system it now uses.
Either NASCAR knows where everyone is at the exact second the caution comes out, or it doesn't. If it doesn't, go back one lap.
Better to be safe than sorry, right?
"One of my favorite crew chiefs I ever drove for was Larry Howard, out in Arizona," Tony Stewart said. "He called me and said, 'Why do they not just do like every other series and every other race track across the country and when the caution comes out, go back to the last lap?' It's very simple. It's logged in the system. It's bulletproof. I don't know why they don't do that.
"Every race fan across the country understands that rule if they're a true race fan. That's an easy solution for the problem. I would go back to the last completed lap. Everybody knows where they were when they crossed the line. Every series we've run across before we got to NASCAR, that's what we had to race under. It's not something you would need to re-teach everybody."
Makes sense to me.
The problem: The first car one lap down getting a lap back under caution.
The solution: Ditch it.
NASCAR created this rule when it stopped racing back to the line, throwing a bone, if you will, to folks who wanted a way for drivers a lap down to get that lap back.
But this is more trouble than it's worth. As several drivers said, NASCAR shouldn't be in the business of giving anything back. If you lose a lap, you have to race to get it back. This is racing, remember?
The problem: Cars on the "tail end" of the lead lap.
The solution: Line them up in front of the field, with the lapped-down cars to the inside of the leaders.
By the way, why do we say "tail end"? Why not "end"? I've never heard of "tail front."
But I digress. Cars get on the end of the lead lap only when the leader pits under caution, thereby putting some lap-down cars on the lead lap. But those cars are still behind the pace car, and it is unfair to essentially give them back a lap.
On a restart, there is always chaos when end-of-lead-lap cars are in front of a leader. But say there are five cars on the end of the lead lap. Have them line up single-file behind the pace car, with the leader behind the fifth car. The lapped-down cars would be placed beside the leader and not the first car on the end of the lead lap.
That wouldn't totally eliminate chaos on restarts, but it would make it a little easier on the leader.
The problem: When to open pit road.
The caution flag flew for more than a quarter of the laps Sunday at Pocono. Credit: Autostock
The solution: Call me crazy, but why is this even an issue? Open the pits for lead-lap cars the first time the pace car passes the pit entrance. The exception would be any scoring problems.
If there is a scoring issue, revert to the last scored lap, put the cars in proper position and open the pits. If a driver disputes a call and doesn't go into his or her position, penalize him a lap.
"Maybe the race director just comes on and says pit road is open now, and the crew chief can get on the radio and tell the drivers," Jamie McMurray said. "That's happened before. It screwed up people at Martinsville a few years ago when they didn't get the flag out quick enough. I don't know the answer, but it would be nice to have a little bit different method of opening and closing the pits."
Well, now there's answer.
The problem: Human error.
The solution: Revert back to the last scored lap.
The flagman on pit road clearly screwed up by opening the pits the first time by at Pocono when Johnson was leading. Ill-timed, for sure, but why penalize Johnson for a NASCAR mistake?
Why not say, "Oops, we screwed up. But we'll fix it."
See the above solution for more questions. But I'll repeat. Go back to the last scored lap, line up the cars in proper position and ... do whatever you need to do.
The problem: Caution-flag finishes.
The solution: Caution laps don't count in the final 10 laps of a race.
Blown engines like the one suffered by Brendan Gaughan at Pocono, can drop oil on the track. Credit: Autostock
But what if a yellow comes out on the last lap? I feel like a stuck CD: Go back to the last scored lap, line up the cars in proper position ... and go racing for five laps. Another caution? Repeat the process.
If fuel is a concern, and it usually is, make a four-tire pit stop for the lead-lap cars mandatory under the yellow. That would eliminate fuel strategy and put the race in the hands of the crews and the drivers -- the people whose hands it needs to be in.
The problem: Concerns over inspection and alleged "NASCAR fixes."
The solution: Document all inspections and make them public.
Heck, put inspection on TV. I'd be willing to bet folks would sign up on DirecTV to watch it. Or at least a few race teams.
The problem: Drivers who intentionally wreck other drivers.
The solution: Leave it alone, as long as it is on the track and doesn't involve anyone else.
Remember, this is racing, and we want the racing in the drivers' hands, not NASCAR's. If a driver has a problem with another driver, let them sort it out on the track.
If it spills over on to pit road or in to the garage, strip both drivers and teams of any points earned in the race and fine them whatever they would have earned.
If an on-track incident involves other cars, do the same thing. Probably would eliminate any on-track retribution, wouldn't it? Well, that's fine with me.
I was taught that the best way to get someone back was to beat them the next day, the next race. That should be enough.
The problem: Fans who throw things on the track.
The solution: Throw those fans on the track.
As a friend of mine likes to say: Moo-rons.
The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.
