Why Restarts Are Important
After a yellow flag the leaders are all nose-to-tail as the green flag flies. Lapped traffic is lined up on the inside of the leaders as they are battling to get back on the lead lap. This is a great passing opportunity and unpredictable moments can, and often do, happen.
Many times race restarts have decided the outcome of the race. Passing can be very difficult at full speed but is sometimes easier at slower speeds when aerodynamics don't play as large of a role. Also, a driver can miss a shift or spin his tires and stack up the pack. These exciting moments can shuffle the running order or even cause a wreck.
It just makes sense that when the field is running close together that the unexpected is more likely to happen. Fox needs to stop denying race fans access to these potentially interesting moments.
A Recent Example
The April 2006 race in Phoenix saw three yellow flags fly in the first 93 laps of the 312 lap race. Unfortunately, after the pit stops when Fox returned from commercial the race was already well back under way.
Race fans were deprived of the first three restarts of the race.
Even worse, the very last restart of the day on lap 231 promised to be one of the most exciting points of the race. Greg Biffle was leading over defending Champion Tony Stewart and eventual race winner Kevin Harvick. Anything could have happened at this critical moment of the race.
Instead of showing this very important moment in the race. Fox didn't come back from commercial until the cars had completed nearly three full green flag laps!
What You Can Do To Help
Fox paid a lot of money for the rights to televise the races. I understand that Fox needs to show commercials. However, they need to do a better job of choosing when to go to commercial and how many commercials to show. The race restarts are very important and race fans deserve to see these critical race moments.
NASCAR fans need to let Fox know how they feel about missing the restarts. If you want Fox to televise the restarts go to the NASCAR on Fox feedback form and let them know what you think.
