NASCAR ponders procedural changes to shorten cautions

Acknowledging criticism regarding the length of its caution periods, including those for stage breaks, NASCAR is considering potential changes to address the issue.

“If NASCAR fans are angry at the length of caution periods, I can promise you that NASCAR matches that displeasure,” NASCAR's vice president of racing communications, Mike Forde, said on this week’s Hauler Talk episode. “We want green flag racing, and we want to get it as fast as possible.”

Indianapolis Motor Speedway provided the latest example of fans' displeasure over the track length and untimely cautions around stage breaks. NASCAR spent over 20 minutes under caution in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 near the end of each stage because of a caution that came out before the stage break. Kyle Larson crashed before the end of the first stage, and NASCAR went green for one lap to finish the stage.

Daniel Dye then crashed near the end of the second stage. But that caution led into the stage break.

“When you’re that late, there is no way to go back,” Forde said. “The caution period needs to run its course, and there is no way to pick up the field, open pit road, choose, and then get back green.”

NASCAR goes through several procedures when a caution is called. Among those are when the pace car picks up the field, how long it takes before pit road opens for lead-lap cars and then lap-down cars, and the choose-rule procedure. Plus, how long any cleanup takes.

The choose rule, implemented in 2020, allows drivers to choose which lane they want to restart in, but it adds an additional lap of caution. Forde acknowledged that perhaps where the choose is located on certain racetracks can be something NASCAR considers to help speed up the process.

“It’s something that is on our radar,” said Forde. “It’s important to us to get back green. We keep stats religiously on blocks of time between yellow and green flag racing; we want to have as much as possible, so we’re always working to get that green number higher and higher.

“Obviously, stage breaks are a big topic of conversation. We hear it, we see it, and so I don’t have any news there, and I’m afraid to even talk about it … there is nothing to say about it. We have stage breaks, and will continue to have it. There is no news there.”