As Mother Nature passed through Loudon, New Hampshire with a rain shower on Sunday, NASCAR made the call for teams to put the wet-weather tires on. Once the track began to dry up, NASCAR threw a competition caution at lap 40.
The caution was for teams to switch from wet-weather tires to the usual slicker, dry tires safely. During the pit stops, NASCAR did not allow drivers to advance positions on pit road.
The decision drew criticism from some within the sport, believing that NASCAR should have allowed the teams to strategize for themselves rather than force their hand.
Criticism of NASCAR’s competition caution
Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic questioned NASCAR’s decision to throw a competition caution in a recent episode of “The Teardown” podcast.
Instead of forcing teams to change tires, Bianchi believes NASCAR’s drivers and crew chiefs are too high-level to have a decision made for them.
“NASCAR has to stop holding the crew chiefs’ hands. Stop handcuffing them. … This is supposed to be the pinnacle of stock car racing. This is supposed to be the best stock car drivers and you got the great minds of crew chiefs and engineers on top of the pit box. Let them figure it out,” Bianchi said.
Bianchi does not mind NASCAR rolling out the wet-weather tires. However, the racing insider is hung up on the fact that NASCAR did not allow the race to play out by leaving the teams to fend for themselves on when to change from the wet-weather tires to slicker tires.
“Say this is a wet-weather race. Great. Now, when the track starts to dry and it stops raining, let the teams dictate when to pit. Do not throw a competition caution, do not hold their hand, take the handcuffs off of them and let them make the decision,” Bianchi said.
Gluck reiterated that NASCAR is the highest form of stock car racing. He added that it was intriguing to watch drivers like Shane van Gisbergen and Christopher Bell navigate the wet conditions.
Because of this, Gluck believes NASCAR should have allowed the teams to make their own decisions.
“One of the coolest things about the wet-weather tires is seeing which drivers can do special things with it like SVG or Bell. You’re like, ‘Wow, that is really cool. This guy has so much car control that he can adapt so quickly to these conditions and drive up to the front.’ That’s amazing, so let them show that and make the judgments for themselves. There’s no reason to be the parent here,” Gluck said.
NASCAR’s reason for the competition caution at New Hampshire
NASCAR sparked backlash from throwing a competition caution at New Hampshire, but there was a reason behind it.
One of the key reasons for the competition caution was safety. While the track was drying up, pit road remained heavily damp from the rain showers that rolled in prior to the Dollar Tree 301.
Had NASCAR allowed the teams to fend for themselves, they risked having a pit crew member injured on pit road due to the wet conditions.
Pit crew members already have a high-risk job, jumping out in front of cars going from as slow as 25 miles per hour on short tracks to as fast as 55 miles per hour on superspeedways. The added element of a wet pit road only makes the risk factor higher.
There could have been a remedy for the safety factor, such as slowing down the pit road speed for wet conditions. However, NASCAR did not want to take the chance, thus throwing the competition caution at lap 40.
NASCAR’s Wet-Weather Procedure at New Hampshire Sparks Criticism