Too much caution, scoring questions cause controversy at Dover.(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Byline: Dave Kallmann

It's been a week since confusion and chaos reigned in Dover, Del., and the passing days have given NASCAR, its competitors and its fans time to ponder what all went on in arguably the most odd Nextel Cup race of the season.

Some conclusions:

First, too much of the race ran under the yellow flag.

Second, it was a strange convergence of circumstances _ the timing of pit stops and caution flags as well as some relatively new rules _ that created countless questions about scoring.

Third, even as NASCAR tries to simplify scoring and speed the process, there will be disagreements on exactly what the problems are and how they'd best be fixed.

And fourth, the job of pleasing everyone isn't easy.

"I wouldn't want to be in their position making the right calls and getting everybody straightened out," driver Jeremy Mayfield said during a conference call last week.

Ninety of the 400 laps at Dover were completed under the yellow flag, including one period of 24 laps, and the race was red-flagged twice. Earlier this year, Kasey Kahne thought his shot at a victory in Fort Worth, Texas, was hampered by a yellow that lasted far longer than the actual cleanup of the wreck, and in Talladega, Ala., fans nearly rioted after the race there finished under the caution.

NASCAR President Mike Helton announced Friday that several changes would take effect with the start of the Pocono 500 today in Long Pond, Pa.

The sanctioning body will rely solely on electronic timing and scoring _ not video and not spotters _ to determine the running order at the time of a caution flag. NASCAR has about $1 million invested in the system, Helton said previously.

Also, after the caution flag waves, NASCAR will open the pits the second time the leader comes by, rather than waiting for the pace car. It will act more quickly to move ahead the first lapped driver.

Most of the confusion started with NASCAR's decision last year that in the interest of safety it would outlaw racing back to the caution flag.

For years, drivers operated under a "gentlemen's agreement," generally holding their positions, but violations of that agreement and NASCAR's interest in responding to accidents more quickly resulted in the change.

"If people would have used their heads and done what they were supposed to do, we wouldn't be in this position we're in now," said Busch driver Stacy Compton, in town last week to test at the Milwaukee Mile.

An offshoot of the change is the so-called "lucky dog." Previously the leader would determine which lapped drivers if any got their laps back. Now NASCAR moves one, the leader among those lapped. Detractors say the difficulty in regaining lost laps hurts the product.

Compton is among those who believe a gentlemen's agreement might be made to work again. Others argue that the current system is vital for safety.

An alternative suggestion often raised is the common short-track practice of reverting to the last completely scored lap.

"It's bulletproof," Tony Stewart, the 2002 Cup champion, said Saturday. "I don't know why they don't do that. Every race fan across the country understands that rule if they are a true race fan."

But NASCAR has avoided that because of the way it could change races at places like Talladega, where a driver can move 20 positions or more in a fraction of a lap. With its current electronic system, NASCAR can score the cars at various points around the track, and it will revert to the order at the last segment completed before the yellow.

"These days with computers and timing and scoring the way we've got them, I see there's just no reason to run 20 laps under caution to figure out scoring," driver Jeff Green said.

The Dover problem stemmed from the timing of a caution in relationship to a series of green-flag pit stops.

Trouble began when leader Ryan Newman spun at the pit-road entrance, knocking away cones that mark it and hitting a tire barrier, bringing out a caution flag.

Newman, one of four drivers on the lead lap, had been picked up by the pace car as the leader, but after his pit stop and a penalty for running the pit-road stop sign, he lost that position. When the race resumed, leaders Mayfield, Kahne and Jimmie Johnson sat mid-pack, behind cars previously scored a lap down to Newman but now only most of a lap behind.

"That doesn't make sense to me," Mayfield said. "Make it black and white like they do everything else. If the caution comes out and you're on the lead lap you get to advance around and start just like you would normally."

A 19-car accident on the resulting restart only added to the confusion and frustration. The race was stopped for 20 minutes for cleanup. Additionally, a review of information last week indicated that the wrong driver _ Mark Martin, rather than Dave Blaney _ was given the free pass.

Between the delays and the massive crash, competitors referred to the Dover race as "a circus" and "a joke." The Internet buzzed all week with writers and fans upset with the long cautions and NASCAR's apparent inability to get a handle on scoring.

Now the same people will be watching the effect of the latest tweaks to the system.

"They are going to use their technology, finally," said Tommy Baldwin, Kahne's crew chief. "They've had it all along, they just haven't brought it up to speed fast enough that they were comfortable. I think now they have no choice because of last week to get it done."

___

Visit JSOnline, the Journal Sentinel's World Wide Web site, at http://www.jsonline.com/

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

(c) 2004, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.