“Would Be Lame”: NASCAR Defended by Fans Amid Overtime vs Regulation Criticism

NASCAR’s visit to Watkins Glen International last Sunday has brought up another form of controversy for the fans to debate over this week. The second race of the 2024 postseason ended with Chris Buescher winning after spectacularly battling Shane van Gisbergen during the race’s final stages during a double-overtime finish.

However, the 2024 Go Bowling at The Glen also surfaced another interesting throughout the weekend, culminating over the original event which was supposed to be 90 laps long. With 220 scheduled miles for the drivers to run during the race, caution flag periods and multiple subsequent overtime restarts saw these numbers increase.

Alright, I'm moving closer to agreeing with @FreddieKraft about just finishing these things in regulation. https://t.co/RhSncPknfZ

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) September 15, 2024

So much so is the effect of an opinion like ‘cautions breed cautions’ that the last Cup Series event managed to set a new record for the most number of overtimes in one season, as reported by Stephen Stumpf. After last Sunday’s race concluded, the 2024 season so far has had 12 overtime restarts, which is a new record in the history of the sport.

The sentiment around the same has been divided as the fraternity argues over races ending the traditional way by regulation and finishing under yellow flags, while some argue overtime restarts are a byproduct of modern-day NASCAR and make racing exciting for the fans.

“That would be lame asf and the fans would complain even more. I say 3 overtime limit would be best,” opined one fan who found a middle ground at the governing body regulating the number of consecutive overtime restarts an event can have before the same ends under yellow flags.

Meanwhile, others defended the end of the race and how overtime restarts manufactured excitement for the fans and said, “So you would rather have not seen that finish we just had?” 

While the overtime vs regulation debate raged on, one fan introspected how the drivers themselves have put NASCAR in this situation and how they need to approach restarts with a more cautious approach. “You realize both these wrecks were in regulation… it’s not OT’s fault. We’ve had OT for almost 20 years. Why blame the rules for the drivers being dumb?”

“12 green flag finishes vs rolling around under caution for the checkers? I’m good with OT. Y’all have short memories,” rued one fan as another chimed in on the flip side of the situation and looked at the positive outcome of finishing under overtime.

“I remember the days before overtime. It was always so frustrating when a good battle for the win was shaping up and then a caution would come out with 4 to go and the race would finish under caution. I really don’t want to go back to that.”

It remains to be seen if the outcry over the issue brings NASCAR themselves to pass a ruling on the same.