Bristol's Goofed Caution Hilights The Hazard of the Chase

Last Sunday's race at Bristol was a whacky one indeed.  From the rain and quickie first round, to the second bout of rain, to that crazy 'caution flag' ending, I think something rather telling took place after the fact.

First off, now Carl Edwards is now in the Chase with his Bristol win, and there's no question that he would have taken the win at Bristol.  But in an MRN article, something came to light that I have been concerned about with the new process for qualifying for The Chase.

Since wins are now what gets a driver in the Chase, I was wondering when it will come down to a bumper being used to get one of those coveted Chase slots?  And to be honest, Carl Edwards was my prime suspect, considering how he used his front bumper liberally a few seasons back.  But I felt a bumper was an inevitable event.

But in a word bite from Ricky Stenhouse Jr., here's that telling quote from the MRN article:

"Stenhouse was ready to make his move on the restart.

“I was thinking that I would use the bumper if the opportunity was there,’’ Stenhouse said, laughing. “If you get the win, you’re in the Chase and you can let the rest take care of itself later. That’s what I was really thinking if we went back to green."

And that's what I am concerned about throughout the rest of this season.  Who will use an opportunity to get themselves into the Chase, and eliminate others from their moment?

Heck, even Edwards felt that neither he or Stenhouse were going to make it to the checkered flag if they had to race back to it.

As it stands, NASCAR is looking at how this simple human mistake that caused the premature caution to fly, can be prevented in the future.  Obviously this wasn't something that happens often (that we know of) but I'm sure it will be heavily addressed this week in the various online and TV and radio telecast shows throughout the upcoming week.

Here's the great article over on MRN.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Email:

- - -