Sunday, September 10, 2017

COMMENTARY: NASCAR Is Poorly Served By Situational Ethics

Saturday night was a bad night for the umpires.
In its much-anticipated final event of the regular season, NASCAR impacted the outcome of the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway with a series of questionable calls that defied both explanation and logic.

The first sign of trouble came on Lap 88, when leader Matt Kenseth locked-up his left-front brake on entry to Turn Three, producing a brief plume of tire smoke. NASCAR threw the caution flag, despite no contact, crash or debris.

Had it ended there, the unnecessary caution would have quickly been forgotten; a simple case of an itchy trigger finger by an official tasked with safeguarding the safety of competitors.

Unfortunately, it didn’t end there.

On Lap 257, Danica Patrick brought out the fifth caution flag of the evening, spinning in Turn One after contact with Austin Dillon. As the field pitted for tires and fuel, drivers encountered an errant ambulance parked at the entrance to pit road. As competitors braked and swerved to avoid the vehicle, Matt Kenseth ran into the back of fellow playoff contender Clint Bowyer. Kenseth was sidelined with front-end damage and a ruptured radiator, while Bowyer was forced to restart at the rear of the field after pitting for repairs.
“We were all coming to pit road and I saw an ambulance sitting there,” said an incredulous Kenseth afterward. “(Spotter) Jason Hedlesky yelled to stop, that there was an ambulance just sitting there. It was an accordion effect, and I couldn’t get stopped. I’m not really sure why pit road was open with an ambulance parked there, but everybody stopped. I didn’t see it in time and ran into the car in front of me.”
Ambulance dodging on pit road
NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller blamed the incident on an ambulance driver who pulled onto the racetrack without permission, then failed to stop immediately when ordered to do so.
“(We told him) `Stop,’” said Miller. “Pretty simple, `Stop!’ He didn’t stop when he was told to.

“It happened very, very quickly. The race director (is) in charge of (declaring) pit road opened and closed and the track services and safety crews are in charge of the other. We didn’t sync up tonight, and we will make sure we don’t let that happen again.”

Many observers questioned why an ambulance was dispatched at all, since Patrick never came to a complete stop during a solo spin that featured no significant contact and no damage.

Unfortunately for NASCAR, the worst was still to come.

With just three laps remaining and leader Martin Truex, Jr., on his way to a dominant fifth victory of the season, veteran Derrike Cope – running 16 laps down to the leaders -- brushed the Turn Four SAFER barrier. The incident did no damage to Cope’s Chevrolet and dropped no debris on the racing surface, but inexplicably triggered a late-race caution flag.

Truex forfeited his three-second advantage, lost the lead to eventual winner Kyle Larson during a dramatic pit-road money stop, then crashed on the ensuing restart after being hit from behind by Denny Hamlin.

“Tonight sucked, plain and simple,” said Truex, who led a race-high 198 laps of 400 laps en route to a crushing, 20th-place finish. “(Cope) really doesn’t belong out there. It’s ridiculous that a guy could cause a caution as bad as he was running; just riding around there basically just making laps.”

Truex: "Tonight sucked."
Truex’s anger was understandable, especially considering the events of the previous weekend, when he slammed the wall at Darlington Raceway while leading with just three laps remaining. The impact severely damaged his Furniture Row Racing Toyota and dropped debris on the racetrack.

It did not, however, trigger a caution flag.

In the past, NASCAR has been accused of manipulating the outcome of races; making calls (or not) with an eye toward creating the kind of “Game Seven moments” espoused by CEO Brian France. Saturday night’s unnecessary, late-race caution will absolutely amplify those complaints, and justifiably so.

Had Cope’s wall-duster occurred in the middle stages of Saturday night’s race, it would almost certainly have gone unnoticed, with no reaction from NASCAR. With three laps remaining, however, it provided an opportunity for the sanctioning body to avoid a ho-hum, half-lap margin of victory, throw an unnecessary caution flag and create a nail-biting finish.
Saturday night’s call created a slam-bang ending, a come-from-behind winner and plenty of water-cooler talk on Monday morning. Unfortunately, it did so at the expense of the sport's integrity.

Simply stated, if Cope’s incident would not have produced a caution flag on lap 57 – and it most certainly would not – it should not have produced a caution flag on lap 397.

Race Directors, track workers and ambulance drivers are all human beings, capable of human error. No one expects them to get every call precisely right, every single time. Mistakes are part of every game, whether it’s baseball, football, basketball, or NASCAR.

Unfortunately, NASCAR sometimes appears more interested in doing what’s exciting, rather than doing what’s right. And the sport is poorly served by that approach.

Going forward, NASCAR must eliminate the kind of situational ethics that governed Saturday night’s race, concentrating on making the correct call, regardless of how it might impact the quality of the finish.

If Truex’s Darlington crash was unworthy of a yellow flag, Cope’s Richmond incident was most certainly not.

Arguing otherwise does nothing but insult the intelligence of the fan base.

39 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:02 PM

    They are killing my favorite sport from the inside out.

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  2. We left the sport in the 2001 season when the finishes seemed manipulated. Came back for the COT and stayed. Ready to leave again. Lost our passion.

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  3. And yes Dave as I read this waiting for info on the Thunder road results you have one of the many reasons all those seats are empty.







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  4. I find your opinion so spot on that there are not many words to add. I can tell you with sincerity that I think Martin Truex is an awesome driver (and human being) who is having one heck of a year, but I am growing weary of his dominance and was 'very' bored with last nights race. In fact, Richmond for whatever reason, has been so lackluster over the last number of years that I don't care to go there anymore. Never thought I would say that. However, as bored as I was with his dominance, I shook my head in disbelief when they threw that caution which effectively ruined his night, and may have dashed whatever momentum he deserved to carry into Chicago. Truex's sour face and demeanor in the post race trophy presentation and promotional photographs probably rubbed NASCAR the wrong way, but it was deserved.

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  5. Spot on Mr. Moody! Hard to defend these decisions. The ambulance escapade was inexcusable and dangerous!

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  6. Totally agree with your points. NASCAR must stop playing games with cautions. And that ambulance thing was inexcusable.

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  7. Outstanding commentary Dave and right on the money. I've been a fan of this sport since the late 60's and the events over the last several days (inspections and Wednesday results) have made me embarrassed for my sport and Saturday was the biggest fiasco ever.

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  8. Right as always. Poor judgement excersied at the minimum by NASCAR and the track personnel. Ruined what should have been a great race

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  9. I agree with moody here all the way. This is really a slap in the face to the fan base ! Nascar thinks we are a bunch of dummies ! Why route for a driver when at anytime nascar can change the game for that driver. Why let a driver keep a win when he cheats ! It all is just had bad

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  10. It seems like Scott Miller's explanation was condisending at best it changed the finish of the race. Derrick Cope should not be on the track he can't even race at minimum speed. Nascar blew it on this race to much human error

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  11. Well stated. Thank you.

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  12. Never more disgusted at the end of race. I'm barely hanging on watching these races. To invest the time and have it manipulated by NASCAR is an insult as you said. Adding to the misery was the NBC broadcast team saying the caution had to be thrown because of the debris left by Cope's car. They proved to be, as I've long suspected, to be part of the conspiracy.

    UGH

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  13. Amen. They need to cut the puppet strings. They wonder why attendance and viewership are down. Saturday and other manufactured outcomes are a prime reason. They numerous cameras around the track, that can count the hairs on your head. There is no need for these debris cautions that are rags, water bottles, fan belts, etc. Get a camera on it.

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  14. Anonymous8:18 PM

    Spot on. Welcome to the Circus AKA Nascar.

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  15. Yep, it was a mess.

    And while we are at it, to avoid the "encumbered wins" like last week's, why doesn't NASCAR just do away with post-race inspections? They have enough inspections pre-race to catch any problems. They could easily impound all the cars after the last pre-race inspection. If they don't find the rules violations then, tough luck for them. The fans won't know if someone cheated, and neither will NASCAR.

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  16. Anonymous8:57 PM

    I will wait until all the facts are available before I rip NASCAR (maybe Cope's car did cause debris, or maybe the ambulance had a malfunctioning radio, or whatever).

    If everything you say is true, however, and Truex fails to advance in the playoffs by 4 or less points (or 5 points, depending on the tiebreaker system) or if Larson's 5 points (for winning at Richmond) are crucial in allowing Larson to advance in the playoff, NASCAR will cause another feeding frenzy among the conspiracy crowd.

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  17. Dear NASCAR. Game 7 moments occur organically, you can not manufacture them. These things insult the fans intelligence.

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  18. Good perspective but, this ain't the first time Dave. This happens all the time. From now on just yellow flag and stop counting laps like the dirt tracks. Since they're moving that way with heat(stages). Otherwise it's up to the drivers to grow a pair and take it to the house!
    Later

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  19. Anonymous9:29 PM

    This is such a perfect colloquy on this season. I thank my lucky stars that Jr is retiring, and I don't have to watch EVERY race, or try (unsuccessfully) to voice my opinion of BS calls. If I remember correctly, the phantom debris cautions caused France et al to start showing the debris on camera. Not the best way to end my love of Nascar, but fitting none the less....

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  20. I think the tendency to create tight race-ending finishes seems to have heightened a bit over the years with the inception of network TV broadcast rights money. It could be an errant observation, fueled by other potentially errant rumors or opinion pieces here and there on the web, but I can't seem to dismiss it from my head either. -Bruce

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  21. Thank you Dave, this is a perfectly written description of what was a very unfortunately race for our dear sport.

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  22. "The incident did no damage to Cope’s Chevrolet and dropped no debris on the racing surface, but inexplicably triggered a late-race caution flag."

    That's interesting, because the booth buffoons in showing the replay said that as soon as he hit the wall, "you can see the pieces flying off of his car." I could not see that of course, but...

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  23. Truex’s comments directed at Derrike Cope were inexcusable, unjustified, and just plain immature. I lost what little respect I had for him. Poof! Gone! His anger was directed at the wrong person. Cope has earned the right to be there. Heck, he's won more races than almost half of the field that raced on Saturday. One of these days, Truex will be "that guy", and I'll be sure and remind him that he needs to get his slow, old ass off the track.

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    1. Anonymous3:02 PM

      He's won TWO cup races...and one came on Earnhardt's famous cut tire in the 500. Let's not act like Derricke Cope is Bobby Allison running around out there.

      Nice guy and all...but c'mon.

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    2. Cope may not have the success of Truex but roxxxtar is correct at the vulgarity of Truex's (and also Sherry Pollex's) comments at Cope. Cope puts in legitimate effort with little to work with; he has a charm other drivers will never have. Truex was in Cope's shoes not that many years ago and he needs to relearn humility.

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  24. This article surprises the hell at of me. I always thought you was afraid of losing your hard card.

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  25. Anonymous9:10 AM

    Welcome to the dark side, Dave.

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  26. Jerry MEdlin9:26 AM

    WELL, Dave I usually disagree with you about most things, BUT you ARE SPOT ON with this one. AND, there has been MANY instances that this same speculation IS CALLED FOR in MANY of the races in NASCAR!!

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  27. NASCAR is guilty of unreasonable caution flags all the time!!! It happens almost every race! Needs to be stopped!

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  28. Anonymous4:07 PM

    unjustified caution flags are pretty common place, "debris" cautions have always been an issue. quit with the stupid encumbered wins, do what every short track in the country does, if the car is illegal, DISQUALIFY it! don't insult our intelligence or our passion by letting the win stand in the record book. make an example out of someone

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  29. I think people are angry because Truex wound up losing the race, but the real issue is Truex - he gagged the last restart and then got taken out by Denny Hamlin. People are jumping on NASCAR when they should be criticizing Truex for blowing the last restart and also criticizing Hamlin for taking him out.

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    1. Anonymous8:04 AM

      People are jumping on NASCAR because NASCAR needs jumped on. Martin's mistakes aside, that doesn't excuse an unprofessional, joke of a mistake with an ambulance or a "debris caution" when they're obviously simply looking for an excuse to close a three second gap to manufacture an exciting finish. Why not just throw a "competition yellow" with two laps left if we're rigging the finishes blatantly now.

      No reason to criticize Truex for a mistake when NASCAR's flag was bogus and should be considered "actions detrimental" regardless of who won the race.

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    2. Truex is the one who blew the last restart. The timing of the yellow really is not a legitimate issue, just an excuse. The myth that NASCAR is looking for an excuse to throw a caution is just that - a myth. Fans consistently go too far when they criticize NASCAR and they make the legitimate criticisms look disreputable.

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    3. Anonymous9:41 PM

      I'll say again, Truex blowing his lead has nothing to do with this outcry. Truex flubbing a restart didn't park an ambulance on pit road's entrance, and Truex flubbing the restart didn't create the phantom caution. I don't care if Truex won or Larson won or if Larson wrecked Truex to win - I just don't care either way. But these bogus, contrived moments of excitement are getting old.

      I defended NASCAR for a long time. It just gets old when they're not helping their own cause.

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  30. The only thing I can say, is how many races has Truex won this season because of a caution in the last few laps. Larson won the race fair and square. I agree there are to many false cautions and I agree with Truex about Cope, he has no business being on the track if he can not keep up. He is to old to be racing in the top level on nascar

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    1. :He is to old to be racing in the top level on nascar", and Morgan Shepherd isn't? Come on man! Next you will be calling out Jimmie Johnson as too old to be racing in the top level!

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    2. Dave, Thank you very much: "Unfortunately, NASCAR sometimes appears more interested in doing what’s exciting, rather than doing what’s right. And the sport is poorly served by that approach."! Says it all right there, leaves nothing to the imagination!
      France must go!

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  31. Anonymous10:53 AM

    David Hoots must be training his replacement.

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