NASCAR made the right call throwing the caution flag on the last lap
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – There’s no debate: NASCAR should have thrown the caution flag on the final lap of the Daytona 500.
As Joey Logano led Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. down the backstretch and into Turn 3, they had clear track ahead of them. But behind them on the backstretch chaos was ensuing, as a big crash was collecting a bunch of cars.
The caution officially came out when Logano was in Turn 3 of Lap 203, freezing the field at the moment and making him the Daytona 500 winner.
With the green-white-checker restart rule, NASCAR tries anything and everything it can do to ensure that its races can finish under green flag conditions. However, when the caution flag comes out on the final lap of the race, whoever is leading at that point is the winner.
Part of the reasoning behind the rule is that fans deserve to see as many races as possible end under green flag conditions. And sometimes, some may say, that includes the inconsistent application of the caution flag on the final lap.
Two years ago, Jimmie Johnson was leading the Daytona 500 when cars near the back of the lead pack crashed in Turns 1 and 2. As Travis Kvapil and Paul Menard crashed (coincidentally collecting Logano), Johnson, Earnhardt, Danica Patrick and others barreled down the backstretch as the race stayed green.
But watch the crash closely. While the cars involved sustained significant damage, the track was never blocked for cars behind them and those involved were able to keep going. It wasn’t immediately apparent if the cars involved in Sunday’s race would be able to continue on, plus, as you can see from the replays, it happened with many cars still behind it as well.
Plus, let’s consider this: The 500 came less than 24 hours after Kyle Busch sustained a broken leg when he crashed into an unprotected wall.
Who knows whether or not the deserved criticism from Saturday’s incident played a prominent role in a move to to throw the caution flag on the final lap of Sunday’s race. But just like it’s human nature to wonder what would have happened if the race stayed green, it’s human nature to have the events of the previous evening fresh, even just subconsciously.
Is it anticlimactic to have a race finish under caution? Sure. But not everything has to be as dramatic as possible. It’s incredibly unfair to the riveting racing throughout the entirety of the race to let the fact that it didn’t finish with a thrilling highlight overshadow it. And after Saturday, it was imperative to err on the side of safety.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
