We only live in patches. - H. G. Wells
NASCAR just updated the finishing order. Harvick still wins and Martin is still 2nd but things farther back changed a little. Apparently the yellow was thrown at the time Harvick and Martin crossed the finish line. Apparently racing conditions were perfectly safe up until that point.
We only live in patches. - H. G. Wells
I hadn't really thought about the cars behind the wreck racing throught it. At first I agreed with letting harvick and martin race to the line but in hindsight I agree that the flag should have come out as soon as they start wrecking due to the cars behind the wreck.
On a side note, wasn't that an incredible run the Harvick got in the final half lap. amazing how all of the sudden that car can run down the lead in such a short span.
Chevy's finishing 1-4, gotta love it...
Here's the main problem. I like stock car racing, but I absolutely hate NASCAR and the way they run the sport. They were asking for an accident with this. It's bad enough they still run these stupid restrictor plates and forces the cars into huge packs that have no choice but to bounce off of each other and cause huge wrecks (but hey, wrecks are ratings so who cares if we hurt a few drivers). Then adding a couple of laps to contrive a green flag finish just adds to the mess (psst, it's the Daytona 500, not the Daytona 505).
But that's just the NASCAR way of doing things. From a marketing standpoint they're geniuses, and they've done a great job building themselves to the point they're at. But from a pure sporting point of view NASCAR is crap, it's laughable. Giving a lapped car his lap back simply because a yellow came out? What the heck is that? That's nothing but putting more cars on the lead lap to make a better show for TV. It's like giving the losing team an extra out because a pitch went in the dirt, it's the same kind of randomness. Locking the top 35 in points into the field before qualifying every week - more garbage. Racing is about having the fastest race and the slowest going home. Since when is being 35th in points an accomplishment? You're not a front-runner, you're field filler, you shouldn't be rewarded for that. And don't even get me started on this asinine "chase" that's removed all validity from their championship. NASCAR has totally sold out, it's all about phony, contrived close battles instead of real sport.
So now it's probably clear how I feel about NASCAR's decision making process. So it'll probably sound weird when I say they got the finish right. It's not automatic that when an accident starts the rules call for an immediate yellow. When or whether to throw a yellow is a judgment call, there's no rule that says when X amount of contact has occurred the yellow comes out now. It's not unusual for a car to be knocked into a spin and no yellow come out at all if it can get righted and going quickly enough.
Besides, exactly what good would a yellow have done? It wouldn't have warned any drivers, because every single driver was in that pack. If the field was strung out and cars 15 seconds back would've been running full out into that mess then a yellow would've been necessary. But every car still in the running was in that pack, so everyone was already aware and taking the appropriate action if possible. Throwing a yellow would not have saved a single car from that accident. And it's not like the field had to race to the line through it outside of the first couple of cars since the accident carried itself past the line. The cars crossed in the natural order the accident sorted them out in. In this particular case a yellow would not have done a single thing in terms of safety, so it wasn't necessary.
My biggest complaint about the officiating was not giving Jamie McMurray a penalty for running over Mike Wallace's tire changer. How does that not get a penalty? And someone needs to have a long talk with Dave Blaney. The move he pulled was jaw-droppingly stupid.
NASCAR, not Nascar did throw the flag and when they did, Harvick was leading. The reason nobody seems to know this is because it wouldn't have changed the outcome like everyone wants to believe.
Harvick won.
It may not be the Daytona 505 but nobody wants to see the race won under yellow. All the drivers are aware of this rule and 100% of them would rather race for the win.
So because Mark Martin, the guy who was in first when the caution came out with six laps to go and then went on to finish second after the green, white, checker, would TODAY take the trophy if the rules were the way you'd like them to be, they should be changed?
Just curious, by the same token, in football when pass interference is made in the endzone as time expires do you consider it a joke when they give the team another un-timed down?
I mean, aren't football games supposed to be 60 minutes and not 60 minutes, plus?
If not for that rule the last 5 or 6 laps are run under caution and Mark Martin wins the race going 70 MPH.
Who wants to see that?
And even if they didn't bring out the red flag and instead ran a few caution laps and then restarted, all the cars are still going to be bunched up. That is how restarts work, red flag or not.
Come on people, this was Daytona. Nobody anywhere near the front of that pack had ever won this race. And that crash was totally predicatable. The only surprise was that they made it to almost the last turn before setting it off.
I'm curious to people's idea's on how you keep the cars from being bunched up on restarts?
I understand your point and of course this is why NASCAR has this rule... unlike in the past.
To be the devil's advocate: this means laps run under caution at any other time during the race are different laps than the last 2 laps. The Daytona 500 has 200 laps. Laps 199 & 200 should count as much as laps 49 and 57. Lap 78 should count as much as lap 200. If NASCAR red flags it before the final two laps they should red flag it anytime there is a wreck... out of fairness. All laps should be equal in importance. It takes 3-1/2 hours of good racing to win, not 1-1/2 minutes of good racing.
Somewhere Arthur Smith is tuning his instrument.
Last edited by Dom Heffner; 02-19-2007 at 03:10 PM.
I think you misunderstood what I said. I just meant Martin would be quite happy sitting at home today with his Daytona 500 trophy and not be worrying about the finish being under yellow if that's how it ended. I don't think it would upset him much if he won without a green flag finish.
They're not comparable situations. Martin didn't commit any kind of infraction that denied his opponents a fair shot at victory. If anything he had his fairly earned victory taken away by a stupid rule to contrive close finishes.Just curious, by the same token, in football when pass interference is made in the endzone as time expires do you consider it a joke when they give the team another un-timed down?
I mean, aren't football games supposed to be 60 minutes and not 60 minutes, plus?
I do want to point out that neither of these guys is "my" driver, I don't want you to think I'm just a bitter Martin fan complaining. Harvick's win is 100% legit under the current rules, I have no problem with that. It's just that the current rules are junk.
Didn't #3 win his Daytona 500 race under yellow?
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