Rea White: Racing on rain tires was the right call
NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers compete on rain tires in Sunday's NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. // Mark Sluder, NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
When NASCAR made the decision to put the rain tires on the Nationwide Series cars for the final 16 laps at Circuit Gilles Villenueve in Montreal on Sunday, even those watching on television could hear the cheers from the crowd.
Crew chiefs interviewed along pit road during the preceding caution had applauded the concept and explained that they were ready to go racing a little longer, to finish what they had started in Montreal. They'd already qualified on the rain tires specific to the series' road courses. They'd seen wet conditions all weekend. In fact, running on the dry track Sunday was a bit of a change from what they'd become accustomed to this particular weekend at the 2.71-mile track.
But once those tires were bolted on and drivers went out onto the wet track, things got crazy. Well, even crazier than they normally do in the final segment of a road-course race. Cars slid into the grass and back across the track. They careened into one another coming into the turns, driving through the turns and exiting the turns.
They continued what had already been a calamitous event in a frenzy of sliding cars. Already the race had endured eight cautions - but the final 11 laps offered up three more.
To the viewer, it was sheer chaos - a random assortment of cars battling hard for position at the front of the field and those fighting to maintain control further back in the pack.
It was the kind of racing that keeps fans on the edge of their seats.
Even if it had not been, NASCAR’s decision to complete the race was a good one. The fans who sat through two days of action deserved to see the race run to its completion.
And what they saw – whether one considers it to have been good or bad - was certainly something that won’t soon be forgotten.
