Following Saturday nights NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Capitol City 400 at Richmond International Raceway, there are many story lines I could talk about. I could talk about Kyle Busch coming out with the win and breaking a 20 race winless streak. Maybe Dale Earnhardt Jr. having another solid finish in second place? Or the poor finishes of Greg Biffle (18th) and Martin Truex Jr. (25th). Nope. I am going to talk about the restart on lap 318 where Carl Edwards is "controversially" black flagged, and the "debris" caution on lap 386 that has everybody, including myself, riled up.
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| Capture via NASCAR.com |
Carl tried to defend himself in the post race interview. Saying that his spotter, not a NASCAR official, told him he was the leader, and that he wanted to gain any advantage he could because he was starting on the outside lane. He was caught. He tried to say that Tony spun his tires, which yes may have embellished the infraction, but doesn't negate restarting before the zone. He also said that he had restarted like that all night and hadn't been penalized. His lap 57 restart was within the restart zone. His lap 122 restart was good aswell. The lap 237 restart was awesome, bunched 'em up short track style and took off, IN the restart zone. Lap 318, Too soon Carl. Black Flag. That is all.
Which brings me to our next bit of controversy coming out of Richmond. The "debris" caution on lap 386. Now I don't want to go all conspiracy theorist on you, but NASCAR has been known to have a problem with "phantom" debris cautions. This is a caution that NASCAR throws, because they claim there is debris somewhere on the racing surface, but NOBODY actually sees this "debris". Some fans say there was a huge piece of metal on the backstretch, Tony Stewart claimed it was a plastic water bottle, and the majority of us didn't see anything at all. The point here is that NASCAR needs to do a better job of telling the TV crew where this "debris" is. Even if its a plastic water bottle, or a ball cap (Texas), and NASCAR has blown the call, we have to know so we don't begin to think NASCAR is trying to manipulate the race at all.
In closing SHOW US the debris, this will curb the "phantom caution" conspiracy. We can't wonder if we're shown. Smitty OUT
Agree 100% about the black flag. Nice graphic btw! :)
ReplyDeleteIn this race, I believe there was something on the track which was not a plastic watter bottle as Stewart claimed. He was the only one who said it was plastic & the only one affected by the caution. Coincidence? I don't think so! LOL In addition, there were posts on Twitter from some folks at the race who said they saw metal. Dave "Godfather" Moody said it was metal. Jeff Burton, who, aside from earning his nickname of The Mayor for being an upfront guy, wasn't in contention & would have no interest in having or not having a caution, also said it looked like something metal.
That being said, I agree that ALL debris should be shown, every time. There are plenty of cameras covering races. After driver intro's, there is a camera crew on each truck carrying the drivers around the track. There's no reason why one of them can't follow the "debris truck" to show what the official is picking up. Also no reason why a couple can't be posted around the track.
The night of the race to be blunt..I was pissed! I am a Carl Edwards fan..I'm a Roush Fenway fan...and I was so excited to see Carl doing well and leading all of those laps. I really thought he had the race under his belt..then it all blew up in a hurry. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard he had been black flagged! I had noticed that Carl had shot off ahead of Tony but I was too busy cheering to know what was happening. Before the green flag dropped I too noticed the board said Carl was in first place and Carl said in the after race interview that his team had been told by NASCAR that he was in the lead...but apparently Tony and his team had been told the same story and since we can't have two people in the lead, things were bound to get messed up. Now that I've watched the media and seen pics of Carl's restart..I do see that it does look as though he jumped the start whether he was in the lead or not...UNFORTUNATELY! How upsetting for him, his team and his fans to watch him lead almost all of the race to have it end this way! :(
ReplyDeleteNow, it's no secret that I am not a Tony Stewart fan and I am upset at Tony because in my opinion...Tony played that "opportunity" for all it was worth.I think he saw Carl take off and he threw it in reverse to prove a point and of course no matter who the drivers are or who is in 1st on a restart, if one car goes and the other sits still people are going to notice. Funny how Tony is one of the best at restarts but at that moment, he just couldn't get it done...bull! Now saying that, if I had been in Tony's place and was told I was winning the race and saw the person in 2nd fly past me...I may have done the same thing. I believe though if Tony hadn't of "played the game" that it may have gone unnoticed but bottom line is that Tony was in first even though according to NASCAR at that point, they both were, and it does appear that Carl may have jumped the restart. NASCAR decided right away that it was something they weren't going to deal with for very long and pretty much told Carl to suck it up..but think of being in Carl's place...he was told he was in first..his car number was up in lights in 1st place...so nobody can tell me that they wouldn't have done the same thing! Carl had his eyes on that checkered flag and the way he ran most of the race, I think he deserved it too. I personally am glad Tony didn't win. Sorry Tony, yer lil game backfired. I was a happy girl watching Kyle Busch cross that finish line! :) If Carl wasn't getting the flag, I'm glad it was Kyle.
I totally believe though that NASCAR messed up big time and Carl deserves an apology. I mean if NASCAR doesn't know who is leading the race..how are we supposed to know? I can't believe they were that careless to allow that to happen...and I put the full blame on them. Carl never would have shot out the way he did if he didn't really think he was in first place. In my opinion, it's NASCAR that caused that to happen.
As far as the debris caution..I don't know if or what may or may not have been on the track but I do agree with your article that if NASCAR calls a caution, they should show us what it is for so we won't assume who it is for! Just my 2 cents.
Kathy :)
i agree with you too.. no story really with carl edwards he clearly jumped the gun but they have to make like they didnt do anything wrong, thats just the sport, if carl and team 99 didnt defend themselves then they would be getting critizim for not caring! agreed that the bigger story remains with the whole phantom cautions! expecially at the end of these races! but the fans and reporters have been saying we need more cautions to make the races more exciting... so nascar is just doing what the majority of the nascar world wants.. more cautions more drama and more wrecked cars.. if you want drama and wrecked cars go watch the demoliton durby and professional wrestling.. if you want good and competive racing watch nascar and enjoy!
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