NASCAR will not make any modifications to its caution procedures after a delayed caution call during Saturday’s Xfinity Series race led to a three-car pileup.
During the second half of the race, won by Kyle Busch, Cody Ware spun in turn two. He hit the wall and his car slowly slid down the track into the middle of the racing groove. NASCAR did not call a caution for Ware’s damaged car and as drivers tried to slow up, the wreck intensified.
Bubba Wallace and Justin Marks, who were both trailing the crash, didn’t slow down considerably upon approaching it because there was no caution. Wallace slid into Ware’s stopped car and Marks was collected.
As you can see in the video below, the caution lights on the backstretch are not illuminated until Wallace’s car is sliding down the backstretch heavily damaged. Teams noted the late caution call after the crash but NASCAR said that there will be no changes to how it determines cautions in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race.
A NASCAR spokesman said there are no planned changes for the Sprint Cup Series race Sunday as far as adding additional officials in the area, adding that “nothing has changed to our sight lines” at the track.
According to ESPN, the NASCAR spotter in turn two reported the crash to the tower after the control tower didn’t initially call for the caution. Perhaps the tower didn’t see Ware’s car because it was an overcast day at Vegas and it blended in with the gray of the track.
NASCAR has been incredibly proactive when it comes to safety with debris cautions and other types of spins, so the delayed caution call on Saturday is especially headscratching. And can make one believe that officials simply missed the crash at first. After all, a caution was called for this “slide” in the 2013 Sprint Cup Series race at Vegas.
Hopefully Saturday’s crash is simply an isolated incident.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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