The restart on lap 197 during last Monday’s race at Daytona International had the drivers confused and in a frantic scramble to reach the start-finish line. Ultimately, William Byron crossed the finish line and took the white flag, not long before NASCAR brought out the fifth yellow flag of the evening owing to a contact between Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric. However, the debate regarding the exact time of the caution had started right from the moment NASCAR announced Byron as the winner. Amidst the commotion, two NASCAR vets explained how things are dealt with in this situation.
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In a recent three-way conversation between Marty Snider of NBC Sports, HMS legend Steve Letarte, and Hall of Famer Jeff Burton, the topic of the discussion was whether NASCAR had made the right decision in giving away the win to Byron. Letarte explained the rule in the rulebook and said, “The rule in the rule book is very clear that once the leader receives the white flag then any time on the last lap that a caution will end the race at the time of the yellow. The cars are frozen . That’s a very key term; frozen with their track position.”
“They can use, per the rule book, any means necessary; that can be video evidence, that can be any other evidence,” he added. Letarte applauded how NASCAR posted the aerial shot of the moment when the last caution came out so that, as Letarte said, “the black helicopter buzz can disappear.” Clearly, the photo showed Byron in the lead and thus, ousted all the murmurs going on around his victory and NASCAR’s last-minute decision.
Jeff Burton joined in explaining how caution flags come out
People who were watching the race from the grandstands or even on TV might have thought that the caution period starts right when there is a crash or when there is an on-track skirmish. However, Burton revealed that it was not the case.
“For those of you watching at home, you may say that the wreck started at a certain point. That’s not when the caution comes out,” explained Burton. “The caution comes out when NASCAR says ‘Caution’, they hit the button, that’s when the caution comes out. That’s the only way you can do it.” On that note, what could have gone differently?
Referring to the photo NASCAR posted on X, Mike Forde, managing director of racing communications for NASCAR, said, “You can also see the No. 2 car coming back up the racetrack. That’s why the yellow was called. Had hoped it would have stayed down on the apron like the 1 did and end under green.”
After taking the white flag, @WilliamByron was the leader at the time of the final caution.
This photo was used to determine the finishing order and Byron's victory in the #DAYTONA500. pic.twitter.com/b0d0UfRaLN
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 20, 2024
Perhaps had Austin Cindric’s machine kept to the grasswork and not come back on the racetrack, the caution wouldn’t have come out at all and the results of the race could have been different. But in the end, that’s just a could-have.
