Should a crash occur after the white flag has waved, NASCAR faces a tough decision: throw the caution flag and freeze the field, or let them race to the line? After a controversial call at Daytona and again at Atlanta, officials have settled on an answer, one that’s somewhat controversial. They’re more likely to display the yellow than not, citing safety reasons.
NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition, Elton Sawyer, weighed in on last-lap caution policies in a recent discussion on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Sawyer acknowledged that fans may want to see the race unfold organically and stay green to the finish line, but ultimately, driver safety is officials’ top priority – not necessarily Competition and spectacle. The decision stems from a failure to throw a caution in the Xfinity Series, which concerned drivers from other divisions.
“We’re racing cars and trucks at 180-plus mph,” Sawyer said. “There is an element of danger. We were a little aggressive. This is on us, on the Xfinity race on Saturday night [at Atlanta]. Should have thrown that caution.” Sawyer also pointed out that fans may not be overly thrilled with the development, but at the end of the day, NASCAR does not want drivers taking unnecessary risks to gain position during a last lap crash.
“But in an effort to give our fans a green-flag finish that they pay for, there’s a balance between entertainment, competition and the safety element,” he said. “So, as I talked to our Cup drivers on Sunday in a driver’s meeting, just reassured them that we’re not going to be racing through a debris field.”
He added, “If you have a situation like we did Sunday night, the wreck occurred somewhere in between 6th and 7th running positions there. So there’s a lot of cars still behind them. If we don’t throw the caution, you’re incentivizing the competitors to drive through that… we’re going to err more on throwing [a caution] than not.”
On Tuesday, NASCAR Senior VP of Competition Elton Sawyer addressed the sanctioning body’s inconsistent last-lap caution rulings that have occurred during the first two weekends of the season. pic.twitter.com/jMGK74LTgB
— Kyle Dalton (@kdsportswriter) February 25, 2025
Like it or not, last lap cautions are here to stay – although it can be argued that last-lap cautions give officials the chance to play favorites if a certain driver is leading at the time of the caution.
Comments
Ehhh, switched to much better racing with IMSA over a decade ago.. It seems as if NASCAR is in a slow death spiral..
With all the GPS, telemetry, and positioning technology they have today, yet they can’t tell which cars just had an impact or brake-checked and send the caution light signal to all the cars from there back if the crash occurs after the white flag is waived in overtime??? (and maybe only if the crash is after turn 2 so the finishers can whoa down). Glad I stopped watching this crap once Smoke retired.
You want the leaders to continue to race and potentially run into debris/spinning cars/slower traffic instead of just slowing everyone down? What if the crash happens TO the leaders? Does everyone get slowed then?
boycott till the rule is changed. believe me, nascar will bend.