Racing Back to the Line

I would like to see them go back to it myself. Communications are better today with the drivers, cars are safer. lots of reasons IMO.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Glad it's gone. I saw too many times a slow or stopped car was almost run over by drivers racing back. Besides the safety issue, it would also revive the nonsense about letting other cars back on the lead lap.
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Yup, and they should do away with the lucky dog.
 
I go with Larry Mac who says it was a knee jerk reaction at Loudon. They let them race the last lap at Dega last year and it worked out great. They can always throw the red if the track is entirely blocked.
 
I am okay with it, but NASCAR should be concise in stating they would throw a red flag if there is serious wreck or blockage of track.
 
Mixed feelings. So many cautions coming out nowadays for single car spins, or a car getting loose, or a car scraping the wall.

Really to me, this all started when Robby Gordon broke the "Gentlemen's Agreement" and raced back to the line at Sonoma in 2003. Then there was the incident at Loudon the same year.
 
I think they need two types of cautions. If the car is out of the racing area and not really in danger, race back to the line and have the caution for that. Then have another (can even use a different color for it so the drives know.) for if it’s one where the person would be in danger of being hit or they need to get to the driver fast(really hard hit or they flip over maybe can fall here?) but that might be hard to do actually who knows.
 
There's no need to race back to the line. These days the chances of a lead change taking place on that particular lap are slightly better than non existent. Is this an idea that Little Larry came up with or was it the big version? Which ever version of Larry it was, he's going to have to dig a lot deeper to find things that will make this a great sport again. Racing back to the line wasn't one of them.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
There's no need to race back to the line. These days the chances of a lead change taking place on that particular lap are slightly better than non existent. Is this an idea that Little Larry came up with or was it the big version? Which ever version of Larry it was, he's going to have to dig a lot deeper to find things that will make this a great sport again. Racing back to the line wasn't one of them.
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I mean maybe during parts of the race sure, but they are sometimes where a lead change could happen on the last lap and the yellow stops a possible good finish.
 
Blaze said:
I think they need two types of cautions. If the car is out of the racing area and not really in danger, race back to the line and have the caution for that. Then have another (can even use a different color for it so the drives know.) for if it’s one where the person would be in danger of being hit or they need to get to the driver fast(really hard hit or they flip over maybe can fall here?) but that might be hard to do actually who knows.
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that's kinda what I was thinking, throwing one for a car that rubs the wall, drives into the pits, kinda dumb, let them race back to the line. Same thing on the last lap, so many times a crash in the back, and 5 minutes and 10 commercials later for a green white checker.
 
I am torn on this one, sure, I miss racing back to the line but safety needs to be priority #1 in auto racing, maybe let em race back to the line it its the lap and doing so will not be putting a driver(s) or track safety works in danger while doing so.

Just my 1.5 cents.
 
I think Larry Mac has been huffing paint fumes. Racing back to the line is stupid and it always HAS been stupid, for multiple reasons, safety being the biggest, but also the ridiculous practice of letting certain cars back on the lead lap while racing others to prevent it. The current system is as safe and fair and as equitable of an answer that we are likely to find. With the scarcity of cautions in the last year or so, the lucky dog has became even less of an issue than supposedly was in the past.
 
Formerjackman said:
I think Larry Mac has been huffing paint fumes. Racing back to the line is stupid and it always HAS been stupid, for multiple reasons, safety being the biggest, but also the ridiculous practice of letting certain cars back on the lead lap while racing others to prevent it. The current system is as safe and fair and as equitable of an answer that we are likely to find. With the scarcity of cautions in the last year or so, the lucky dog has became even less of an issue than supposedly was in the past.
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lack of cautions is all the more reason to bring back racing to the line. The sport needs more excitement, and it kills the road racing
 
kyle18fan said:
Always great when a fans favorite driver gets that lucky dog ..... always sucks when the other guys get one
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Neither means anything to me. IMO, the lucky dog awards something to a driver that didn't earn anything. Kind of like a participation trophy in kids sports.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I don't know if I care either way about the dawg, but at least limit each driver to one per race. Other series get along fine letting lap-down cars stay there.

@StandOnIt , good off-season topic, by the way.
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I second the shout out to SOI as it is a fun topic to throw around. I’m all for racing back to the stripe and if the leader slows down and let’s cars by that is his prerogative.
 
Formerjackman said:
And why is that?
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more reasons. More racing and less slowing down. As it is, they throw the caution, everybody relaxes, drivers, fans, crews. Without that, drivers are going to get up on the wheel, time to make a move if ya can, more strategy can take place, screw a driver out of the lucky dog, or let a team mate in. With that change, get rid of the lucky dog, let them stay out and play the stages for track position.
 
Towmater said:
Neither means anything to me. IMO, the lucky dog awards something to a driver that didn't earn anything. Kind of like a participation trophy in kids sports.
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I agree with you, but an early mistake can put a top driver out of the game for an entire race, fans don't like to go to a race and see their favorite guy tooling around a lap down. Sure, the lucky dog is a silly gimmick but it has a useful purpose. Folks spend a lot of money gearing up and going to a race, the lucky dog can make that experience better.
 
While we are at it I’m in favor of raising pit road speed above high idle and get rid of whatever commitment cone thingy they use too.

Safety initiatives are important but must also be weighed against completion and entertainment value. The CoT was as safe as safe can be and I don’t think we ever recovered from it.
 
kyle18fan said:
I agree with you, but an early mistake can put a top driver out of the game for an entire race, fans don't like to go to a race and see their favorite guy tooling around a lap down. Sure, the lucky dog is a silly gimmick but it has a useful purpose. Folks spend a lot of money gearing up and going to a race, the lucky dog can make that experience better.
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I think from the original idea it has changed. Now besides the lucky dog, they have two stages they know are coming that they can work with besides regular cautions to either get in place for the lucky dog or track position. It's almost a no brainer a leader car gets down and it isn't a big deal with the latest changes. Too easy IMO
 
StandOnIt said:
I think from the original idea it has changed. Now besides the lucky dog, they have two stages they know are coming that they can work with besides regular cautions to either get in place for the lucky dog or track position. It's almost a no brainer a leader car gets down and it isn't a big deal with the latest changes. Too easy IMO
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Stages .... something I can barely bring myself to watch or discuss. Probably the most ridiculous thing to ever hit a race track
 
Too dangerous, let the safety vehicles get out there. All things considered I think NASCAR did a decent job this year not calling cautions so much for ticky-tack stuff like a car brushing the wall or taking a lazy spin towards the infield. Were some of them called? Yeah, just not nearly as badly as before. So you're left mostly with incidents that wind up with expired cars that need tending to.
 
Towmater said:
Neither means anything to me. IMO, the lucky dog awards something to a driver that didn't earn anything. Kind of like a participation trophy in kids sports.
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Some races the most exciting thing on the track is a guy a lap down behind 5 others and he racing to be the first car a lap down. Many times it is the only racing going on.
 
kyle18fan said:
Stages .... something I can barely bring myself to watch or discuss. Probably the most ridiculous thing to ever hit a race track
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And yet every driver that raced went through heat races to get to the main event. I just look at the stage racing as a heat race AND it forces drivers to actually race instead of cruising until the last 50 laps or so.
 
If the track is clear, race back to the SF line. To many cautions thrown near the end of a race for a car brushing the wall or spin off the track into the infield. If a Car is disabled on pit road, close pit road and no caution. They really need to train people to call these cautions.
I for one would like to see no cautions or a red if it is dangerous.
No lucky dog, stages take care of that.
 
jws926 said:
I am torn on this one, sure, I miss racing back to the line but safety needs to be priority #1 in auto racing, maybe let em race back to the line it its the lap and doing so will not be putting a driver(s) or track safety works in danger while doing so.

Just my 1.5 cents.
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I left out "last" so that should read last lap.
 
I'm against it. All it would take is for a driver to hit the wall hard, them be dazed and confused and have their car engulfed in a wall of flames. Seconds are critical in those times.

However, I believe once the white flag falls all bets are off. If a crash occurs on the final lap behind the leaders, finish it under green.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
Biggreen695 said:
I'm against it. All it would take is for a driver to hit the wall hard, them be dazed and confused and have their car engulfed in a wall of flames. Seconds are critical in those times.
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Agreed. By Indycar standards, the emergency vehicle response times are way too slow as it is. Racing back to the caution only extends the response time. Plus, if you undo a safety rule you already had in place and somebody gets hurt from it, the potential for litigation is off the charts. I have vivid memories of Dale Jarrett sitting sideways on the track as cars went buzzing by him at speed. In ARCA, we lost a driver in a similar situation, only in that case the other driver didn't KNOW the caution was out.
 
kyle18fan said:
I see it as an interruption of a perfectly good race.
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My point was that it really wasn't a race if the top cars are on cruise control.
You were just watching cars go round.
Could be part of the reason many fans got turned off.
 
Biggreen695 said:
I'm against it. All it would take is for a driver to hit the wall hard, them be dazed and confused and have their car engulfed in a wall of flames. Seconds are critical in those times.

However, I believe once the white flag falls all bets are off. If a crash occurs on the final lap behind the leaders, finish it under green.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
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You just contradicted yourself.
Car in flames throw the red.
 
Blaze said:
I think they need two types of cautions. If the car is out of the racing area and not really in danger, race back to the line and have the caution for that. Then have another (can even use a different color for it so the drives know.) for if it’s one where the person would be in danger of being hit or they need to get to the driver fast(really hard hit or they flip over maybe can fall here?) but that might be hard to do actually who knows.
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If the car is not in danger, wait until the leaders get back to the line to call a caution.
 
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