on 7/18/05 8:19 PM, Richard Hardison at blueshadow@starband.net wrote:
> Can't blame the pace car for all the messes we create during the first turn
> and the rest of the first lap!
>
> Everyone feel welcome to fire away!
>
> Richard
Right. It is the responsibility of the drivers to form up on the pace
lap. There have been a few times that I have been really aggravated when
cars/rows in front of me let gaps form on the pace lap. It's not that I
plan to pass the field at turn 1. I want to race with the cars around me
and it's hard to have a go at someone two rows ahead if you spot them 2-300
yards at the flag in a 7 lap race.
But the real issue is not my personal desire to stay closer to the
front, it is obviously the kind of thing that happened at RA. It was the
worst case scenario with the largest groups of fast cars on a track where
the flag stand is not visible until you are on top of it and you can't see
anything more than about 100 feet ahead at that point on the track. The
answer would be to green flag the start regardless of field alignment but
put out a full course yellow if the starter was not satisfied with the
start. That prevents the stack-up on the front straight that occurred at
RA.
The same problem does not exist at every track. At other tracks, the
rear of the field can see ahead much better or the flag stand is not far
from the braking zone for turn 1. RA is the one place that could have
created a no-start wreck of this size.
--
Doug Meis <s800racer@earthlink.net>
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