1. Should NASCAR hold the yellow flag when a wreck happens in the middle of a pit cycle?
The finish of the Cup race made almost everything else that happened an afterthought, but there was a source of controversy in a round of green flag pit stops during the second stage where Michael McDowell locked up the brakes in an incident that sent both himself and William Byron into the inside wall.
No caution was thrown, and the two cars nearly collected Ty Gibbs in the aftermath. Both McDowell and Byron were able to drive away from the scene of the accident with some damage, but it took a good 15 seconds for them to do so.
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition, later explained that the yellow flag was held because Byron and McDowell were able to drive away, and that NASCAR wanted to give them the opportunity to do so before throwing a caution since the incident occurred during the middle of a green flag pit cycle.
It is true that throwing the caution for the wreck would’ve trapped a plethora of drivers one or two laps down, and such a scenario would’ve changed the entire complexion of the race. But when it comes to holding the yellow flag, how long is too long?
Drivers should be given a little time to gather their cars before throwing a caution, but there are certain scenarios where the yellow flag has to be displayed. Byron and McDowell both hit the inside wall, and they nearly collected another car while losing control at the entrance to pit road — a busy place where more drivers were getting ready to enter.
Does that mean that NASCAR should immediately throw a caution for an incident that occurs during green flag pit stops? No, and there’s a happy medium between holding and displaying the caution. But when cars are blocking the entrance to pit road or a part of the racing groove and don’t immediately drive away, race control has to bite the bullet and slow the field down.
2. Is NASCAR becoming mainstream?
No, NASCAR is not mainstream — at least not yet.
In the last two years, NASCAR has produced four moments in particular that have transcended the reach of the NASCAR community: Ross Chastain’s Hail Melon at Martinsville Speedway, the Garage 56 car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Cup Series’ trip to the streets of Chicago and, most recently, the three-wide photo finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway between Daniel Suarez, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch.
The series has become innovative…
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