It's ok.
I've never been a fan of green-white-checkered finishes. I do but I don't understand fans expectations of every race ending under green flag conditions. I want every race to finish under green flag conditions with car flashing under the checkered flag at inconsistent intervals with some positions seconds apart while others fight hard to get that one more position even if it's for nineteenth. I don't want races to end with cars cruising around for one, two, three, four, five, whatever lap total it is because of an accident or debris.
I accept races will finish under caution. They are inevitable. Sometimes it is for the better. They are rare. Let's focus on that. More races end under green flag conditions than behind a pace car.
What I don't understand is the increased feeling over the last decade in motorsports from fans that it is their right from God to see a green flag finish. As if that is what they paid to see. I hate to break it to some of you, but you are wrong. You paid to see a race, whether it be 10 miles, one hour, 250 laps, 500 miles or 24 hours, and all that comes along with it and that includes a race ending under caution. This belief that a green flag finish is the only acceptable finish is self-centered. We don't hear from baseball fans demanding every game end with a walk off home run, basketball fans demanding every game end with a buzzer beater, hockey or soccer fans demanding every game end with a shootout (which is an awful way to determine the winner) or a football fan demanding every game end with a Hail Mary or game-winning field goal. Some baseball games end 12-2 with a groundout to second. Some basketball games end 94-77 with a team dribbling out the clock. Some football games end 34-10 with a kneel down. It happens.
You can't hold the gun to the head, knife to the throat, baseball bat to the kneecaps of a sanctioning body to give them the finish you want or else you are going to pull the trigger, slit the jugular or go Hammerin' Hank Aaron and swing away.
I run a lot. Not as much as I would have liked lately because of a knee injury but I'm slowly getting back out there. I think of a marathon. There is nothing more athletic in my opinion. The gun goes off or bell rings and the race begins. If someone falls, everyone isn't forced to stop and wait until the person gets up or told they will have to run an extra mile or two to make up for the person falling. The race is 26.2 miles long. No more. They don't take the top ten after 26.2 miles and have them run a 2-mile sprint to determine the winner. The winner could win by minutes and it's the beauty of the athletic endeavor. It isn't manipulated, it isn't a show, it's a competition that is allowed to flow at it's own pace.
A motor race should be the same way. The distance is set and that is what everyone races to. If some can't make it the scheduled distance, then it wasn't there day and it's just the nature of the beast. If the winner takes the checkered flag by a second or a minute over second place, it happens naturally.
The one incomparable thing motorsports has that no other sports has is cautions. They stop everything, bunch the field up, make competitors closer. I guess the closest analogy to cautions in motorsports are penalties in football where a team could gain or lose yards toward the end zone they are trying to score in but even that is different. Just because a team gains 10 yards doesn't mean they are going to score but then again, just because a driver has a 10 second gap to the leader erased doesn't mean they are going to take the lead.
I think the intrinsic natural of motorsports isn't as appreciated as much as it should be, especially in this day and age where entertainment is pushed more than purity. Today, decisions should be made to increase drama, suspense and most importantly, eyeballs and not necessarily remain true to what a sport should be. The competition for eyeballs is tiresome. I want to see a sport be true to form. I don't want to see golf tournaments determined by putt-putt competitions because it's more exciting. I don't want to see a half-court shot count for four points in basketball because more teams might try it to cut leads down, I don't want to see metal bats in baseball to increase distances of home runs. I want to see purity. I want a sport to stand on it's own two feet for what it is. We are taught from a young age to be yourself and don't let others peer pressure you into change. Sports should be the same way. Be yourself. If others can't accept or appreciate you for who you are then tough for them.
The analogy a race using green-white-checkered is like overtime in other sports is completely false. Why do football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, etc. play an extra session? The two teams are tied after regulation. They are a tiebreaker. A motor race does not use green-white-checkered to break a tie. The field isn't tied when a caution is thrown. Someone is always leading someone else. Green-white-checkered is a search for the "perfect finish" which does not exist. Other sports don't search for the "perfect finish" and everyone else is find with it, creating a paradox of how sports fan want their competitions to end. The idea "you don't want to be leading going into the last lap" is false. A driver should try and lead every lap. In motorsports, you can't sit back and think, "don't worry, I got 50 laps to figure this out." You have to go for it because you never know what is going to happen next. That is why a race should end when it reaches it's schedule distance, whether it be under green or yellow conditions. You shouldn't get a do-over or a second chance because you were in the right position at the right time. The schedule distance comes and if you aren't first, oh well. As Willy Wonda once said, "You Get Nothing! You Lose! Good Day Sir!"
The Indianapolis 500 has technically finished under caution the last four years. Dan Wheldon finished under the green flag in 2011 and then the caution came out, it's hazy. You could define it either way. I don't want the race to end under caution but if it does, it happens. The race, any race for that matter, should not be extended. A race should reach it's distance and end. The Indiana Pacers didn't get a half court shot worth five points at the end of game two of the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday night because it would be an exciting way to determine the winner. When the 48th minute ended, they were down by four to the Miami Heat and lost. When the 500th mile is completed on Sunday, whoever is in second, will lose, regardless if it is green or yellow and that is how it should be.
