As NASCAR looks forward to some well deserved time off, the “Hauler Talk” podcast turns its thoughts to caution flags during races.
Every week, social media posts are filled with complaints about the lengths of caution flags.
Vice president of racing communications Mike Forde said, “if NASCAR fans are angry at the length of caution periods, I can promise you that NASCAR matches that displeasure. We want green-flag racing, and we want to get it as fast as possible.”
He added that caution laps generally run a minimum of four laps around a 2.5 mile track with getting pit road open and getting the drivers in the proper order for the green flag restart.
NASCAR allows fans to listen in on the Officials scanner during races. One of the tasks required for a green flag restart is getting the drivers in the proper order. At times that can be a arduous task with multiple attempts to get the drivers in their proper spots.
NASCAR notes that potentially moving the “choose cone – V on the track – could help to eliminate one caution lap.
Forde said, “maybe there’s something there that we can look at where we can choose and then go immediately back to green, but it won’t work at every single track. So there are several things in the hopper. It’s something that’s on our radar. It’s important to us to get back green. We keep stats religiously on the blocks of time between red-, yellow- and green-flag racing. We’re always working to get that green number higher and higher and higher.
He added, “stage breaks are a big topic of conversation. We hear it, and we see it.”
The podcast also covered burnouts on the “yard of bricks” at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the future of the In-Season Challenge, and whether or not Noah Gragson will be penalized for hitting Connor Zilisch during a caution.