Winston Open and the Pits: from the PPI Motorpsorts site, an explanation of what happened – Ricky Craven and the Tide team posted a strong run during the first segment of the two-leg Winston Open competition at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Starting fourth, Craven jockeyed between fourth and fifth for most of the caution-filled 30-lap run and stood in third when the race’s third caution flag flew on Lap 28. With only three laps to go, it was clear the first segment would end under yellow – sending then-leader Johnny Benson to The Winston. This also put Craven in second position behind Ricky Rudd for the start of the 16-lap No Bull Sprint, the last race for a wildcard Winston starting position. As the field passed the entrance to pit lane on Lap 29, both Rudd and Craven understood pit lane to be closed and stayed on track. However, a late green flag was displayed at the entrance to pit lane – after Rudd and Craven had already passed it – that allowed the rest of the field to pit on Lap 29. To confuse matters even more, rules for the Winston Open (distributed earlier that evening at the drivers’ meeting) explicitly stated that pit lane would be closed on Lap 29 – causing even more frustration for the Tide team and Rudd’s crew. In spite of valiant efforts by both teams, NASCAR officials would not rectify the situation — forcing both Craven and Rudd to pit out of sequence and forfeit their race-leading positions and any reasonable shot at winning the No Bull Sprint. Craven returned to the field in 22nd position and within 12 laps worked up to a strong 11th (six laps were run under caution), but nothing could quite make up for “what could have been” for the Tide team. Tide team owner Cal Wells on the situation: “It’s just unbelievable. There were two infractions here by NASCAR – one was not opening pit lane for everyone, and the second was breaking their own rules by opening the pits on Lap 29. It’s just incredibly frustrating. The lack of communication was astounding. We had a great Tide car today with a real shot at winning the second race, and it just went away like that. We’ve talked to the officials, and so has Yates, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”(PPI Motorsports Site)(5-22-2001)
