Top Row Seat - Richmond - The Red Flag

Dateline: 06/09/98

Making It Up As They Go

The red flag that NASCAR threw with less than ten laps to go was totally irresponsible. I can understand that nobody likes to see a great race like that end under caution but that's the way the race unfolded. And everyone, drivers, fans, officials and media, have to take the race the way it happens naturally.

How can any driver or fan continue to support NASCAR if the rules are arbitrary? This is not the world Wrestling Federation. There is no precedent in the history of NASCAR to support throwing an unnecessary red flag and I firmly believe that in the heat of the moment NASCAR made a regrettably poor decision.

Is this the forerunner of a new 1999 rule that all NASCAR races must end under green? Or, in the name of giving the fans the best show possible, will NASCAR start throwing "competition yellows" any time that a driver gets too large of a lead? After all, the fans prefer a close race.

NASCAR should never attempt to artificially influence the outcome of a race, period.

Your Turn

Throwing the red flag obviously created a more exciting show for the fans, but at the same time it was unfair to the drivers (Dale Jarrett in particular.)

Should NASCAR have thrown the red? Let the world know what you think on the Bulletin Board.

There were a lot more interesting incidents and a bunch of upset drivers Saturday night. Read the rest of the Richmond recap for more from this classic Saturday Night Short-Track Shootout.