Why can't they finish a race without a caution and now a red flag?

Question

I remember when three or four cautions in a nascar race was a lot and a race would rarely finish under caution. Not only can they not finish a race without a caution at the end anymore, they can't finish one without a red flag. I know they do not do it on purpose, but it gets old. It takes out all the excitement near the finish.

Answer 1

Because NASCAR manipulates the outcome of the races. Debris flags are strategically thrown at times when certain drivers are struggling and need help from the powers that be. Look at last year for example. There was one race when we heard Jr's radio transmission. He said, I will have to pit in the next 8 laps or so unless we get a caution. This would have put him a lap down. Of course, it didn't even take 2 laps for him to get his caution. This also happened another time, when he was sitting a lap down and they threw him his "Jr caution' as they called it, so he could be on the lead lap for the last 10 laps of the race. Of course, when this happens, the camera never show the debris, because there is none. Same thing happend at Cali this weekend. Johnson would probably have won the race had it not been for the mystery debris" flag. In my opinion, the biggest manipulation of a race was when Jr "won" the summer race at Daytona the year his father was killed so they could make the feel good story of the year.

Answer 2

Well, this isn't anywhere near a perfect world, it's just a bunch of accidents, along with debris falling off the cars, and engines blowing up. Cautions are bound to happen, and even the best drivers can't always finish a race without a scratch.
And on the contrary, a caution not too close, but not too far from the finish makes it even more exciting by bringing all the drivers together for the finish. Races without cautions get a bit boring, and the finish started to seem a bit boring when Johnson had that huge lead before the cautions came out, it was so boring that I was on the verge of falling asleep.
But of course, I do miss the days when there wasn't so many cautions, 10 cautions is just too much, but the only way to get that number lower is to hope that the drivers don't get into each other, or that all the engines can hold up for up to 600 miles, or the tires don't suddenly go down.

Answer 3

Well hang on a tick; I don't like the red flag and I hate caution finishes and the one time I got to go to Daytona, they didn't even finish the bloody race. After stopping it several times, they just called it over and everyone went home.

Anyway, the red flag near the end is interesting; it gets all the cars stacked up close so for those who were in the lead five, it can make for a very exciting finish. Of course, the lack of spread increases the chance of a crash that could end the race early or take out the leaders, so there are shortfalls to it.

Answer 4

I remember those days, too. I think it adds to the excitement though. Last week's race was the best I have seen in Daytona in a long time. This week could have been liek that as well if Harvick had not gotten the flat tire under the caution and had to pit late.

I think the difference between back then and now is the amount of competitive drivers you have on the track. Granted, there were some great racers back in the day, but I think these young guys are out there giving everything they have every week to win the race. Some of them are so excited to have made it to this level that they forget how dangerous it is to get 4 wide on the track. They just want to puch themselves and others to the limit and see what happens. I think it makes for some great racing!!

Answer 5

I rather have the red flags and the green-white-checkereds than have someone's life in danger. The two red flags that were brought up were definitely a necessity so that way the crews can get the track cleaned and for David's sake on Sunday. I was shaking when he was hardly moving in that car, made me think of when Dale Sr. died. The green-white-checkereds at least give you a chance to see the race end not under caution and gives off excitement.

However, the phony debris cautions I am getting sick of. If there is a big debris out there, at least show it on TV so that way we know what the heck it is.

Answer 6

I am a little confused by your question. I think there are more debris cautions but I agree with the red flag today and last week, if they hadn't red flagged either more than likely both would have been finished not racing under caution. Unless you find it more exciting to watch the race finish under caution. I don't, and am glad they through the red today and last week.

Answer 7

Well with the red flag yesterday it was better then getting a green, white, checkered finish. I miss when the races didn't end in caution or a red flay. I have watched races from the 80's and that on ESPN Classics. I may be only 19 years old but the older style of racing was better.

Answer 8

I agree with you about the red flag stuff. It's just not exciting. But what really ticks me off are these phony debris caution flags! Most of these calls a bull and NASCAR is hurting the leader by trying to have a better finish. Inside of 50 laps most caution flags are political!

Answer 9

i was thinking today that the caution was gonna help harvick out.i mean he was catching kenseth and prob would have passed him.then when harvick got the flat tire,i assume from debris,it just made my heart sink.
anyway i think that a 4-5 lap shootout between harvick and kenseth would have been as interesting as last weeks finish.
there were actually more cautions in todays race than normal.in my opinion nascar throws the caution to much.but sometimes if thrown at the right time makes for a more interesting finish.
as far as the red flag,i am glad they threw it.that was a hard crash the 00 took.it made a helluva mess there.like i said earlier 4 or 5 lap shootout with kenseth and harvick would have been better than a green white checker.
just my opinion

Answer 10

both times the red flags have been throw nthis year i agree with... simply for the safety of everyone after the crashes.. i do howerever hate the phony debri cautions.. shouldnt fox be able to catch the cleanup trucks on the track while they are suposedly cleaning up this debri.. i mean i have been to alot of races and i know during the cautions i have seen the safety trucks on the trck cleaning up debri or checking oil after blown motors and stuff.. so why is it we have these mysterious cautions and we are never told what the debri was or where... they have enuff cameras... ohh yea thats right its always a mysterious hotdog wrapper...lmao.. that is so funny because alot of times as i am watching the races and they show them on a headon shot from down the track you can see plenty or trash and or dust dirt etc flying and they dont say anything about it...but i guess the dredded hot dog wrapper could give someone a papercut while they are throwing their glove out the windows to get one...lmao..