NASCAR says it didn’t compromise safety on final lap at New Hampshire
LOUDON, N.H. – NASCAR waited until the leaders were between turns 3 and 4 on the final lap of the Sylvania 300 to throw the caution flag as Richard Petty Motorsports’ AJ Allmendinger sat stalled on the frontstretch of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway track.
NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton indicated that NASCAR did everything it could to finish Sunday's Sprint Cup race under green-flag conditions.
“We were waiting to see if the 44 car [of Allmendinger] could get going and get out of the way, and we realized there was a potential blocking of part of the race track,” Pemberton said. “You know when the cars are going to get there, and you wait as long as you can to try to not affect the outcome of a race. We felt like we had adequate time when we threw the caution.”
Pemberton said NASCAR often waits as long as possible throughout a race.
“We don’t like the race to end under caution,” Pemberton said. “We felt like we gave enough time for safety’s sake, and it is what it is. I believe we wait as long as we can. There are times during the middle of the race when a car will turn around and we bide some time to see if it gets going. It happens quite a bit. It just gets more noticed when it’s the last lap of the race.”
Race winner Mark Martin got hit from behind as he slowed but others didn’t. He said the call was a good one because Allmendinger possibly could have gotten restarted, and he said at a place such as Daytona International Speedway, if a car is flipping, they wouldn’t need to wait.
“I did slow down, and I don’t know who [they were] but two cars come flying up through there. … Somebody came up there and ran into the back of me,” Martin said. “Of course, I went back to accelerating. I knew the race was supposed to be over, but I’ve done lots of stupid stuff and I didn’t want to lose this race.
“I knew it was supposed to be over. AJ was getting going and I felt pretty confident and comfortable about where he was going to stay, so I picked up the speed, which is not the thing that we’re supposed to do.”
Martin’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon said he never was told about the caution.
“All I know is my spotter was saying there was a car down low on the front straightaway stopped, and I never heard them say, ‘Caution,’” Gordon said. “So everybody was still going, and I saw the caution out of the corner of my eye. I said, ‘I never heard the caution’ and [my spotter] said, ‘That’s because it didn’t come out until just now’ and I was surprised by that.”
