Fake cautions or boring races?

[nickdolin]

Its racing like Michigan this that makes us as fans realize we can't have our cake and eat it too...

Unfortunately with the level of talent these guys have... cautions (on their own) aren't going to happen frequently and races are (without intervention) going to have fewer cautions and exciting finishes.

OTOH- we complain when Nascar throws fake cautions to bunch everyone up... while this is exciting it is manufactured... Seeing the Michigan race reminded me why Nascar has done what they have... our culture has such a dang short attention span... people were turning off races like that....so they felt a cure to their sinking ratings was to intervene more often. Now, it is starting to seem like they may be backing off of those a bit but now we complain of a boring race...


So how do you want it?

Me? I'll try and find a way to have both... let the race run it's course but maybe at the end try to ensure at least a good finish...

[race crazy]

All these purists saying that we shouldnt have mystery debris cautions drive me insane-its been going on for years-everytime we had a caution late in the event that wasnt an accident it was a conspiracy lol. I for one like having a late race caution-I equate it to the 2 minute warning haha. Plus I was super bored and it made for at least a bit of excitement at MIS. I know at Dover I was sittin in the stands desperately hoping for a late yellow-with Kyle Busch out by himself to an 8 second lead-kinda dull lol-didnt get one there so...you cant say Nascar does this every race-which makes me think these are legit debris cautions-and according to Newman and Kahne there was something-so idk haha.

[nickdolin]

If you don't mind my asking, how old are you and how long have you been watching?

Just so you don't feel bad for me asking I'll answer the Q first..

I'm 25 and have been watching for about 12-13 years...

Why does that matter?

I started watching right before the big network contracts kicked in, that's right, TNN, ESPN coverage haha Eli Gold What!?.... Those first few years I watched there were many long races w/o caution near the end... you just hoped your driver could make adjustments and catch whoever was out front... FW to today and things have changed... so my point is, having seen it both I can appreciate both... but the American in me wants exciting racing.. haha

[race crazy]

If you don't mind my asking, how old are you and how long have you been watching?

Just so you don't feel bad for me asking I'll answer the Q first..

I'm 25 and have been watching for about 12-13 years...

Why does that matter?

I started watching right before the big network contracts kicked in, that's right, TNN, ESPN coverage haha Eli Gold What!?.... Those first few years I watched there were many long races w/o caution near the end... you just hoped your driver could make adjustments and catch whoever was out front... FW to today and things have changed... so my point is, having seen it both I can appreciate both... but the American in me wants exciting racing.. haha

Im 22, been watching since 1992-since age 4 lol. Ive just seen it both ways the same as you-but everytime there is a race with a late debris caution these people come out of the woodwork saying that its ruining the purity of the sport and of competition-but they say it everytime-even when it happened back then-on wind tunnel Dave Despain said back in 1971 when he first started covering and going to nascar races they had mystery debris cautions-especially when one Richard Petty needed them it seemed-haha. So to me its always been this way and will always be a judgement call. Either way is fine with me-though I prefer to see closer competition and not a guy running away with it haha

[kstahl]

I was at Michigan race and the first debris caution there was a big black something in the middle of the track entering turn one ..... later about 15 to go there was a some thing that looked like a pop can or a water bottle they never put the caution out.......ya there are a lot of funny caution that come out ....I remember that one that came out at Talladega with Jr. about to go a lap down and he ended up winning i think.....so when the caution come out and it helps your favorite driver win or get a better finish than what he would of got if the caution didn't come out its cool but if it hurts them it suck and why did they throw the flag .....its just my 2 cents ......

[3dalesrfan3]

We should have these phantom cautions!
I HATE it when they get single file for 50 something laps and no action happens, and so does every other fan....I hope.

[bouncer]

Interesting article on espn about this topic.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar...ory?id=5303678

SONOMA, Calif. -- Denny Hamlin did not back off last week's insinuation that NASCAR sometimes calls caution for debris just to liven up a race.
Hamlin led by almost 10 seconds last week at Michigan when NASCAR called a debris caution with 15 laps remaining. Although he still won the race, he said after that the caution was because "this is show business."
Asked about it Friday at Infineon Raceway, he didn't change his stance and explained that NASCAR often uses debris cautions to bunch up the field and make the race more exciting.
"There is always debris around the track," Hamlin said Friday at Infineon Raceway. "You can call anything debris. You could say that anything is debris and that it is a legitimate safety hazard, but I just think it's the timing. 'OK, there it is, let's pick it up and regroup.'
"For the sake of show, that's OK, but for the sake of competition, it's not always the right thing. But, if we weren't talking about that last week, if NASCAR had let it go, people were going to be talking about a boring race, and that's something we don't want, either."
NASCAR has maintained there was debris on the track Sunday, and runner-up Kasey Kahne said he saw it.
Because TNT was in commercial when the caution was called, viewers at home were not shown any debris. However, those using TNT's online application at the time did say they saw the debris under question.
Regardless, the fuzziness over those timely -- or, in Hamlin's case, untimely -- caution has often infuriated race fans who believe NASCAR manipulates races with bogus debris calls.
Kahne complained about a call last year at California that cost him a good finish, and Tony Stewart in 2007 claimed NASCAR was more like professional wrestling because of its use of race-manipulating cautions.
Hamlin said the actual debris is not really in question, but rather NASCAR's timing can be suspect.
"I think that they are [legitimate], but I think that sometimes they just don't throw the caution," he said. "There is always debris that they could throw a legitimate caution for, but I think that sometimes they just kinda let it go when maybe things are getting mixed up, and other times, when things are spread out, it's 'let's tighten it back up.'
"You don't have to be so smart to realize that these things are just by chance."

[beishuizen91]

Very interesting topic. NASCAR tends to give out what I like to call the "NASCAR Nod." NASCAR will do anything to keep the fans happy. They let Petty win his 200th race with an illegal car. Thats the NASCAR Nod. They let Jr. Win at Daytona after his father passed. The NASCAR nod. Whenever a popular driver is about to go a lap down...You guessed it, the NASCAR nod. Its part of NASCAR. I guess we can either deal with it or watch other forms of racing, or both for that matter.

[bouncer]

Very interesting topic. NASCAR tends to give out what I like to call the "NASCAR Nod." NASCAR will do anything to keep the fans happy. They let Petty win his 200th race with an illegal car. Thats the NASCAR Nod. They let Jr. Win at Daytona after his father passed. The NASCAR nod. Whenever a popular driver is about to go a lap down...You guessed it, the NASCAR nod. Its part of NASCAR. I guess we can either deal with it or watch other forms of racing, or both for that matter.

Based on this...Junior should win next Friday riding the #3 car.

[Qwikflipz]

Very interesting topic. NASCAR tends to give out what I like to call the "NASCAR Nod." NASCAR will do anything to keep the fans happy. They let Petty win his 200th race with an illegal car. Thats the NASCAR Nod. They let Jr. Win at Daytona after his father passed. The NASCAR nod. Whenever a popular driver is about to go a lap down...You guessed it, the NASCAR nod. Its part of NASCAR. I guess we can either deal with it or watch other forms of racing, or both for that matter.

If there was a NASCAR nod, Junior would have 50 wins and two championships.. come on