In light of Saturday’s controversy over restarts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, NASCAR race director David Hoots stepped to the microphone during Sunday’s pre-race Sprint Cup Series drivers meeting and delivered a lecture. ‘We spend a lot of time talking about this,’ Hoots said sternly. ‘We tear up race cars, we ruin people’s days because we can ‘t handle those responsibilities. Whether it be you, I, whatever. We ‘re all in it together. So let’s do it right and do it the way we know how to do it so we don ‘t have to take the extra steps of getting out there with micrometers and measurements and bring the field down. Usually, when we get involved to that point and you ask us to, you don ‘t like the results! So I ‘m asking you to accept your responsibilities and do it properly.’ Hoots said several times each driver had ‘roles and responsibilities’ in starting and restarting the race. Whether it’s the pole-sitter conducting a smooth restart or a driver on the second row not pushing the cars in front of him too much, all drivers need to play a part, he said. ‘If this is not done in this very simple process, there’s a chain reaction that occurs,’ he said. ”¦ You have shared responsibilities on not trying to take advantage of something that’s this simple and create such a mess that could ruin a lot of people’s days at the start.’
Hoots emphasized the flagman ‘ not the pole-sitter ‘ starts the race. The pole-sitter then must lead at the start line, barring ‘some exceptions.’ The leader, he said, should not brake-check or ‘burp’ the car or do any kind of false start. On restarts, the rule is different because the flagman isn ‘t the decision-maker. The leader has earned the right to decide when to hit the gas in the restart zone, and the second-place car cannot beat him to the line. But the leader has not earned the right to ‘screw around with the restart,’ Hoots said. ‘You all have a role in this,’ he said. ‘You have a role in this every week. Sometimes the role is from the pole, sometimes the role is from 43rd. But you ‘re all responsible.’(more at SB Nation)(7-29-2012)
