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Nascar and Racing

NASCAR Makes Risky Late Caution Call

Posted Sep 20, 2009 11:36PM By Geoffrey Miller (RSS feed)

Filed Under: A.J. Allmendinger, Denny Hamlin, Juan Pablo Montoya, Mark Martin

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A.J. Allmendinger's car sat quiet across the frontstretch of New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the white flag waving as he flipped the car's starter, trying to crank the engine.

Meanwhile, leaders Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin and Juan Pablo Montoya scrambled for position on the final lap through turns 3 and 4 as the flagman prepared to wave the checkered flag. In a flash, it looked like the finish of the first race of the Chase was going to end in a crushing fashion as Allmendinger sat helplessly in peril.

At the last possible second, NASCAR threw the caution to avoid the collision but also provoked a new topic of discussion for the coming week: when exactly is the best -- and safest -- time to put out the yellow flag on a race's final lap?
Drivers were certainly a confused over the matter, but NASCAR stood firm behind their call. According to the NASCAR Scene, the policy observed by the sanctioning body has the objective of allowing the finish to transpire normally as long as they can safely avoid or will not catch the potentially caution-causing danger.
NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton indicated that NASCAR did everything it could to finish Sunday's Sprint Cup race under green-flag conditions.

"We were waiting to see if the 44 car [of Allmendinger] could get going and get out of the way, and we realized there was a potential blocking of part of the race track," Pemberton said. "You know when the cars are going to get there, and you wait as long as you can to try to not affect the outcome of a race. We felt like we had adequate time when we threw the caution."

Pemberton said NASCAR often waits as long as possible throughout a race.

"We don't like the race to end under caution," Pemberton said. "We felt like we gave enough time for safety's sake, and it is what it is. I believe we wait as long as we can. There are times during the middle of the race when a car will turn around and we bide some time to see if it gets going. It happens quite a bit. It just gets more noticed when it's the last lap of the race."
Jeff Gordon probably summed it up best when he described the communication between himself and his spotter -- generally the person who relays information over the radio when a caution waves. Confusion was the name of the game.

"All I know is my spotter was saying there was a car down low on the front straightaway stopped, and I never heard them say, 'Caution,'" said Gordon after his 15th-place finish. "So everybody was still going, and I saw the caution out of the corner of my eye. I said, 'I never heard the caution' and he said, 'That's because it didn't come out until just now' and I was surprised by that."

Interestingly enough, a very similar situation at New Hampshire in 2003 was the last domino to fall in NASCAR's former policy to allow all-out racing back to the start/finish line when the caution waves. In that instance, Dale Jarrett spun in a very similar fashion on the frontstretch and barely avoided a broadside impact as the field raced for position back to the line.

Just weeks later, NASCAR adopted the current policy that freezes scoring at the point of caution and penalizes drivers who didn't slow to a cautious pace.

The idea of letting drivers race back to the checkered flag is certainly one that needs to take precedence in this discussion. And with that in mind, making the decision from the control tower on when to throw a caution flagis a tough one to make.

Most folks would have guessed Allmendinger would have gotten his car at least cranked and rolling down the frontstretch by the time the leaders were crossing the finish line. But sometimes, a hot race car doesn't start immediately after going for a spin -- something that isn't the fault of a driver.

Knowing that, and seeing that the field was bearing down on turn 3 while Allmendinger, NASCAR probably should have thrown the caution a few seconds earlier. Armchair race director decisions are much easier, though, after seeing how the original played out.

Racing to checkered flag makes the headlines, but Sunday's finish was probably a bit too close for comfort for everyone -- especially Allmendinger.

Tags: A.J.+Allmendinger, Sprint+Cup

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