Let's Keep Racing True To Form

In the past decade, racing series have been catering to the average fans. With green-white-checkered rules and the Chase in NASCAR, Push2Pass used in ChampCar and IndyCar and the DRS in Formula One, each series is trying to create more passing and excitement but some are still clamoring for more.

Bruton Smith, president of Speedway Motorsports Incorporated which owns Texas Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway to name a few, said Saturday before the Cup race at Kentucky that NASCAR needs "mandatory cautions." Smith in essences feels that green flag runs are "ruining our sport."

I don't know about you but I would rather watch 100 laps of green flag racing than a wreck every 15 laps. Take the IndyCar races on ovals this year. Plenty of on-track action and these green flag runs show the cars that get better over the course of a run. Texas and Iowa are great example. Wilson was running about a tenth of a second a lap quicker than Rahal at Texas before Rahal brushed the wall. Hunter-Reay was fifth on the final restart, worked his way to third and then passed Andretti and then Dixon for the lead after 35 laps of what would be a stint of 45 green flag laps. Not only did Hunter-Reay grab a few positions, Andretti and Kanaan both got by Dixon and Simon Pagenaud moved all the way up to fifth before all was said and done.

Some had a problem with the finish of the Iowa race because it was finished under caution. Not every race can have a photo finish, same way not every football game can end with a Hail Mary or 50 yard field goal or every basketball game with a buzzer beater. I don't hear football fans displeased that a team that was leading by 21 points simply ran the ball for the first two downs and then took a knee to end the game. The leader is rarely the leader on accident. They have obviously worked their way to the front. If they are leading with four laps to go and there is an accident and the track can not be cleared in time for another restart then tough. Why should the guy in second or third get a shot at the leader when they couldn't get him after 200 miles? If a team is not leading after 60 minutes of a football game they don't get four plays to try to force overtime or win the game. They lost and the game is over.

Let's keep racing true to form. It doesn't need manufactured green-white-checkered finishes and if you have a problem when a series has too many races finishing under caution then maybe the series should look into the reasoning behind it and make a change where needed. Mandatory cautions are definitely not needed. You can see a lot of passing over green flag runs. Racing does not and should not be worrying about"being in the entertainment business." Racing is fine and entertaining enough with out that crap.