Racing (or not) in the rain – NASCAR decisions spark controversy

For the second week in a row NASCAR had to end its premier series race short of the scheduled distance. At the Chicago street race, darkness brought a premature stop to what turned out to be an exciting race. There was a little unhappiness surrounding NASCAR's decision, but nothing major. On Sunday night at Atlanta, rain (or at least the threat of it) was the culprit. The race was under caution for a wreck as sprinkles hit part of the track. NASCAR refused to open the pits after the track was cleared following the minor accident. Instead they inexplicably continued a few caution laps expecting heavier rainfall to be imminent. Eventually they brought the cars down pit road, had them covered and as the rain picked up – ended the race. The top finishers were nowhere to be found at the front earlier in the race and that had some fans up in arms. So was NASCAR wrong in either of their decisions? Well, I will take on that question. But first I would like to say a few words on officiating. Officiating is a difficult and thankless job. No matter the sport, every official will have to make a tough call that will leave half (or more) those watching thinking the guy is the worst they have ever seen. A bang-bang play at first, a charge versus blocking call… the official cannot win. As far as NASCAR is concerned, making calls during a race can be very hard. I will give you a suggestion as to what needs to be considered when making those tough decisions. First factor is safety. All decisions should have the safety of the drivers, their teams and the fans in attendance be priority one. The second factor is fairness. Once safety concerns are dealt with, making a call that will be the fairest for all teams is paramount. Finally the third factor is consistency. Make those decisions as consistently as possible so people cannot find a discrepancy in the officiating. Having said that, let me point out two things. First of all, I would guess that NASCAR has the same thoughts as me and are already following my suggestions. Secondly, when these factors come into conflict with each other any decision will be more difficult to defend. Let's look at the two races. In Chicago it rained like your family pets (you get that don't you?) all weekend. By race time there was no way to go racing even with rain tires. Too much water was collecting on the track. The delayed start presented another factor that NASCAR had to deal with. Their contract said they must be done racing on Sunday. The city would put its streets back in order on Monday. So the rain lets up enough to put the cars on the course. When the green flag is dropped it became readily apparent that the racing was not particularly safe. Cars were spinning out all over the place. Eventually the rain stopped, the ponding of water on the racing surface went away and drivers could change to racing slicks. The race became entertaining. Then darkness became an issue. NASCAR decided to shorten the race telling drivers on what lap the race would end. Some people thought the announcement came at a time when some drivers would benefit due to earlier pit stops. My thought here is that unless all cars pitted at the same time, the timing of the announcement would never be totally fair. Like most fans, I would give NASCAR a pass on this decision. Seriously, nothing nefarious here. As for Atlanta, viewers were told before the race started that "there was weather in the area." That's Nascar speak for inclement weather that would likely affect the race might happen at any time. All teams were aware of the fact that the race may not go the distance. They would likely be racing to a weather delay that could end the race prematurely. Exactly when that would happen was anyone's guess. For a race to be official half the scheduled number of laps need to be completed. In Atlanta that would be lap 130 which would occur during the second stage. That lap came and went so teams knew the race would likely end before the scheduled distance. At this point teams starting making pit stops and watching the radar. The second stage ended with the rain imminent but holding off. Some teams came to the pits at the end of the stage as it is always better to pit under yellow than under green flag conditions. Some cars who had been running in the back of the pack chose to stay out as they had enough fuel to go another thirty or forty laps. By then the storm may hit and they would get good finishes. When the before mentioned accident took place some cars were running low on fuel, but the race could end at any moment. Under normal circumstances the pits would have been opened up and teams would have to make some decisions. But NASCAR too was looking at the radar and when it started spritzing they made a decision. The pits remained closed and the cars continued to circle the track waiting. NASCAR was likely using the safety factor as its main consideration. Last year at Daytona, NASCAR dropped the green flag with rain imminent and when it came several cars lost control causing a big pileup. I'm sure Nascar did not want that to happen again. So NASCAR ran some "suspect" caution laps for some possibly "good" reasons then decided to end the race. Some fans and some drivers were not happy, but again I am going to give Nascar officials a pass on this decision. Safety first. And my decision has nothing to do with the fact that five of the top six finishers are on my fantasy team!