NASCAR: Guaranteed Green Flag Finish !

Listening to the news today, NASCAR has announced they are formulating a policy to guarantee a green flag finish everytime. Some have called for it to be implemented before the 28th race.

It will be interesting, and long overdue.

(looking for a link yet.)

[Edited on 04/10/03 by smirkley]

I'm ALL for that new ruling, it'll be so much better for the fans. I hate when races end under yellow, you race for hours and then no fantastic finish? I'm glad they woke up and are going to put this into effect.

I've always thought they shouldn't count caution laps, like they do in the World of Outlaws, that would eliminate ending a race under caution, and make every lap be a green flag lap thus counting more. i applaud nascar for trying to fix the problems but hurry up man fix it already, quit with the incrementalism here.

this would be a big step forward for nascar, i haven't been able to find anything on the story, is it official? any update...

This is all I could find....

ESPN

NASCAR president Mike Helton on Friday promised changes to avoid a repeat of the caution-plagued race that slowed the field at Dover and upset drivers.

Also, pit road will not open for the first time under caution until the race leader passes the pits for the second time. Previously, the pits were closed until the pace car passed the entrance to pit road.

NASCAR also will no longer set aside an extra lap under caution to bring around the car receiving a "free pass.'' The pass, which allows the first car a lap down to get onto the lead lap, will be enforced during the normal reshuffling of the field during pit stops under caution.

"We're going to try those two procedure changes this weekend to help expedite cautions in general,'' Helton said.

sports.espn.go.com...

I have viewed reports on this more than once lately on sports news, and it looks like it will be in the future soon.

No major news has picked it up that I know of, but look for it to happen.

How ironic.

Another race today that didn't finish under green, although it was close.

Yes and that Kahne kid is awsome!!

I think he would have picked it off too.

Always so close, yet just out of reach.

[Edited on 04/10/03 by smirkley]

I think that it should only be in the last 20 or so laps that the green flag finish should be in.

Otherwise the race would take too long

Following link is two years old.

NASCAR toying with idea of 'overtime' finish

Winston Cup series officials are considering adopting the so-called "green-white-checker" rule used in NASCAR's Craftsman truck and other series. The rule, essentially a NASCAR version of overtime, says every race must end with at least two laps of green-flag racing.


edit,...*well the link gives a page that shows a 2002 date,...my fault,...still looking*



[Edited on 04/10/03 by smirkley]

Well this is all I found so far that relates this story.
(scroll to middle of page, naturally)

Races Might Finish Green This Season.

This article posted June 21, refers to a pushing a timetable announced last week.

(REMEMBER,...you heard it here first !!)



NASCAR officials might change the rules to end races under green later this season, pushing up a timetable announced last week. A NASCAR official said last Monday that the sanctioning body was looking at ways of finishing races under green beginning next season.

The change, if made this season, likely would take place before the final 10 races of the year when the Nextel Cup championship will be determined. That way series officials could tinker with the new rule before the final 10 races when each point will be pivotal.

"I think the fans want it and the fans and entertainment dictate our sport more than anything, so I would expect to see some changes made," points leader Jimmie Johnson says of green-flag finishes. "When the change is made, I hope it's over the offseason and stays that way for a whole year where we don't have this bouncing around trying stuff out week to week.

"It's not what Mike Skinner -- or Jeff Gordon, for that matter -- thinks about it. We're all in show business, and if we don't put on a good show, we'll be out of business. And I'll be back doing body work."
www.news-journalonline.com... peed/Headlines/03SpeedNEXT02070104.htm


Well finally the light at the end of the tunnel. The green flag finish looms as a requirement to correct what everyone perceives as a faulty carriage of rules, and the players are starting to recognize the fan's current resentment, instead of bashing them for their disgruntled attitudeds.

It is a show, and when the audience is displeased with the show, you change the show to fit the wishes of the paying crowd.

No more of the "we cant use that method, becouse we didnt invent it first" rules, to maintain a unique rule set, ... now lets just try to resolve this joke of a year and get the rules cast in stone using logic and reason, and hopefully next year it will be a smoother season and much more enjoyable a show.

OK,...last update on this as it seems to be become reality soon.

From NASCAR.com...

NASCAR: Green-flag finish rule coming soon
www.nascar.com... e_checker/index.html
The change would come no sooner than July 25, when the New England 300 is scheduled to be run. NASCAR will not make the change for this weekend's Tropicana 400, and the Nextel Cup Series is off next weekend.

If and when a change comes, fans of NASCAR can pat themselves on the back. After a series of races ended under caution this year, fans voiced their displeasure.

"I prefer it to be interpreted as they've always had great strength," Helton said. "It's clear to everyone in this industry that without fans, we don't have anything to do."

it appears that the rule change to allow for more green flag finishes is a reality at last...i hope that this new rule combined with the 10 race run for the championship does not cause more problems than it solves, keep it safe guys...

NASCAR changes rules to promote green-flag finishes

By MIKE HARRIS, AP Motorsport Writer

July 15, 2004

Yellow-flag finishes are all but finished in NASCAR.

The sanctioning body said Thursday it will go to a green-white-checkered format, hoping all Nextel Cup and Busch series events will end with the cars racing.

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The new rule will take effect with the races July 24-25 at New Hampshire International Speedway. The truck series already has the rule in place.

``The green-white-checkered format is an attempt to achieve everyone's goals -- a green-flag finish,'' NASCAR president Mike Helton said. ``This change, hopefully, will provide competitive finishes in the relatively rare occasions it is warranted.

``This format has been successful in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series and, considering the tight competition week in and week out in the other two national series, we feel the time is right to use the same procedure in all three national series.''

The new format will not mean a race can't finish under yellow. If there is another caution after a green-flag restart, the race will end immediately.

The rule in the truck series has allowed multiple green-flag starts at the end of the race to assure a green-flag finish, but NASCAR said that also will change beginning with the race Aug. 21 in Michigan to assure uniformity in all three series.

The new procedure will be used in case of a caution period that would in the past have forced the race to end under yellow, with the cars finishing behind the pace car. Instead, the competitors will restart under a green flag after the track is deemed ready for competition and take the white flag -- signifying one lap to go -- the next time around.

The new rule also will eliminate the need for late-race red flags, which have been used in recent seasons to stop the event, clean the track and finish under green. The red-flag rule was used -- usually with four or five laps left -- to allow more than one lap at racing speed.

Still, four of the last 10 Cup races have ended under caution, meaning the drivers did not get to race to the finish. That didn't make the drivers or the fans happy.

Fans were particularly enraged with the finish under caution in the spring at Talladega Superspeedway.

Under the rule NASCAR adopted last fall, freezing the field when a caution is displayed, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was first scored in the lead when the caution came out on the 184th of the 188 laps. race. But replays showed Jeff Gordon was about three-quarters of a car-length ahead, and he was put in front.

With fans booing and throwing beer cans and food onto the track, Gordon drove slowly to the finish, just ahead of Earnhardt.

Some drivers are not in favor of the change to green-white-checkered finishes.

``All these race fans drinking beer and screaming and hollering have not been in a helicopter upside down with 30 tubes hanging out of you after going end-over-end 30 times like I've been before because of these green-white starts,'' Rusty Wallace said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. ``I think it's ridiculous and it's unsafe