The sanctioning body drew the ire of many on March 4 by allowing the Camping World Truck Series race to stay green after Spencer Boyd collided with the wall and remained parked along the inside wall. Now NASCAR has acknowledged its mistake and said that it would strive to prevent future issues.
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR vice president of officiating and technical inspection, appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on March 8 and discussed the end of the Truck Series race, as well as the dislocated shoulder that Boyd suffered. The race came to an end under green with Chandler Smith winning his first event of the year.
NASCAR left the truck race green for nearly 2 laps as Spencer Boyd’s track sat against the inside wall on the backstretch.
Boyd suffered a dislocated shoulder in the crash. Completely unacceptable by race control. #NASCAR
“First and foremost we’re glad that Spencer is OK. Second, that’s on us,” Sawyer said during his March 8 appearance. “We have to own that as the sanctioning body. We had meetings post-event to look at our process and procedure and what we need to do to be better. We have more meetings (Tuesday) to put more process in place to make sure that never ever happens again.
“It was kind of a perfect storm at the end of the race, but that’s zero excuse. We’ll get that fixed and move forward on that. Again, most important thing is Spencer is doing better.”
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Multiple Incidents Occurred During the Final Laps
GettyDerek Kraus (right) was involved in one of the late incidents.
Boyd was not the only driver that could have brought out the caution flag during the final run to the checkered flag. There were multiple incidents that could have forced another restart.
For example, Derek Kraus spun in the No. 19 Chevrolet Silverado during the same lap that Boyd hit the wall. However, the race remained green after he drove off and ultimately finished in the 24th position.
A big crash at the end of Friday night’s NASCAR Truck Series race in Las Vegas.
Another incident occurred as Smith, Zane Smith, and Busch battled for position on the track. They took the checkered flag as Jordan Anderson, Grant Enfinger, and John Hunter Nemechek all crashed behind them. The three trucks sustained a considerable amount of damage and sent the drivers to the infield care center for further evaluation.
Caution Flags Created Conversations on March 6 As Well
Whoa … 😳 … Erik Jones slams the wall and then Bubba Wallace hooks it hard left to miss slamming into the 43.
Race control threw multiple caution flags during the Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, mainly after drivers spun. Christopher Bell brought out a caution after losing control while Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe brought out another with separate spins of their own. Denny Hamlin prompted another caution after an incorrect shift broke the transaxle on the No. 11 Toyota.
One incident, however, did not initially bring out the yellow flag. Erik Jones lost control and overcorrected into the outside wall, destroying the right side of the No. 43. His car headed down to the apron and into the infield grass before ultimately spinning back up into the path of other drivers. Bubba Wallace, in particular, narrowly avoided the No. 43 before losing control and hitting the inside wall.
Following the incident on the track, there were numerous discussions about the “timeliness” of the caution flag. Several people said that race control took far too long to bring out the yellow, which only created more issues for Wallace, Jones, and the other drivers in the immediate area.
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NASCAR Acknowledges Mistake With Spencer Boyd Incident