Morons throw stuff on track: was wondering what the heck was all over the track on the last lap, TV showed all the cars dodging objects on the backstretch of the track. From ThatsRacin.com: Although most Winston Cup drivers agreed there was not enough time remaining in Saturday night’s Pepsi 400 for NASCAR to use a red flag to ensure a green-flag finish, apparently some fans disagreed. The caution came out on Lap 158 of 160 for a multicar accident. With safety crews still working on removing cars from the backstretch, NASCAR allowed the race to end under caution with Michael Waltrip the winner. When it appeared the red flag was not coming out, hundreds of fans on the backstretch threw seat cushions, beverage containers and more onto the track. “I know one thing, with two laps to go all those people on the back straightaway – and I don’t know who triggered it – they threw every seat cushion they had on the back straightaway and there was no way we were going to get the race going again,” said Rusty Wallace, who finished second. “I don’t know what that was about,” Jeff Gordon said. “I ran through it real fast and sent it all over the place. And it was just the backstraightaway people.” NASCAR officials said not enough laps remained in the race to red flag it and attempt to end it under green. “We were down to the end and as it turned out with our passionate fans, things got a little crazy,” said NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter. Wallace called the decision not to use the red flag, “the smartest thing that ever happened. You just don’t want to restart races with three laps to go on a superspeedway. It can be very, very dangerous. Not because I was running second, it was just a real smart thing to do,” he said.(7-7-2002)
