interesting article about debris cautions

T

teddybusch

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http://nascar.nbcsports.com/2017/06...en-flag-tracking-trash-for-the-past-16-years/

Research by NBCSports.com of every Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race report since 1990 (the first season in which caution reasons were listed for every race on Racing-Reference.info) shows the 2001 season is when yellow flags for unsafe track conditions became standard practice in race officiating.

Since the 2001 Daytona 500, which marked the first race in a new era of national TV contracts and the most recent race in which a driver was killed in NASCAR’s premier series, NASCAR has averaged nearly 63 debris yellows per season, reaching a high of 85 in 2005.

Compare that to the 11-season stretch from 1990-2000, which produced an average of 15 debris cautions per season with a high of 20 in 1994 and a low of 11 in 1999.

The final yellow was thrown for debris in five of 13 season finales at Homestead-Miami Speedway (and two of the past three) since the advent of the playoffs.
 
Just shows that Nascar knows how to interrupt a good race. It also shows one thing about the period of time with the best growth and that is they let the cars race.
 
I think it also reflects the increases in speed. Debris can cause more damage at higher speeds. I expect debris cautions to drop now that the teams won't be running band-aid cars that had fast and incomplete repairs.
 
I hate missing a lot of the racing. Personally I would rather have the cautions every time they sneezed. They have to get the networks commercials in period. So I would rather have them drop the yellow for stupid B.S. than miss almost half of the race at least. BTW since stages(long cautions) they say the yellows thrown while racing this year are less than one a race, lowest number in 14 years.
 
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Research by NBCSports.com ... shows the 2001 season is when yellow flags for unsafe track conditions became standard practice in race officiating.
Coincides with a new TV contract. Coincides with a new focus on safety after Dale Earnhardt's death. Bill France Jr. isn't here to comment on his rationale.

(Does not coincide with the decline in Nascar's popularity, which first appeared ~5-6 years later.)
 
Coincides with a new TV contract. Coincides with a new focus on safety after Dale Earnhardt's death. Bill France Jr. isn't here to comment on his rationale.

(Does not coincide with the decline in Nascar's popularity, which first appeared ~5-6 years later.)
to me is coincides with TV and to a lesser extent safety. Blatantly when they are out there going lap after lap, I'm nodding off and all of a sudden Mike Joy yell's excitedly "CAUTION "..everybody gets a break. :D
 
A car flying through the stands after a fake debris caution is more dangerous then a piece of rubber flying into the stands
 
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Since the 2001 Daytona 500, which marked the first race in a new era of national TV contracts and the most recent race in which a driver was killed in NASCAR’s premier series, NASCAR has averaged nearly 63 debris yellows per season, reaching a high of 85 in 2005.

Compare that to the 11-season stretch from 1990-2000, which produced an average of 15 debris cautions per season with a high of 20 in 1994 and a low of 11 in 1999.

A total of 11 debris cautions during the entire 1999 season.

Damn, sometimes it seems like we get that many in a single race . . .
 
It seems much worse these days because cars only seem to wreck due to a blown tire after 30 laps or right after a restart. Cars/drivers seem to spin/crash less often, which is fine. I think NASCAR started using bogus cautions to compensate for that.
 
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