Darlington Caution Flag Review

[lepage71]

We took some time to review the Darlington race in detail.

Since Darlington was our first official caution flag race, I felt it would be worthwhile to summarize our findings, as a means to improve the process in the future. In tandem with the review, we've drafted a set of rules to govern and outline the caution flag procedures. You can find them on the rules page.

First of all, considering the novelty of cautions at Darlington, I want to point out that the driving was pretty good throughout the race. As a league, we're not used to such close quarters so often during a race. Apart from a few exceptions, we did not see anything too out of the ordinary under green.

Now, to no one's surprise, the caution flag side of things was quite a bit sloppier and mistake-filled. Going forward, we'll want to make a group effort to clean up the process and make it more efficient. In fact, Jes Rathbun and I have already spoken about a few "quality control" measures.

At Darlington, the biggest source of confusion seemed to arise over the free pass procedure. There should only be one free pass per yellow flag. It is not possible for there to be more than one. However, we saw two drivers take a free pass under the same caution on several occasions.

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Here's a rundown of the various caution flag issues at Darlington. Please read and let us know if something needs further explanation. The point of the list isn't to pile on about who did what but rather to illustrate areas for improvement. Let's remember these points for next week and the future.

Lap 55:

Two drivers, Spike and BlackKnight, both took the free pass. When the caution flag came out, BlackKnight was the highest-placed lap-down driver on the leaderboard. However, after pit stops, Spike was in front of BlackKnight in the pace line, the closest lap-down driver to the pace car. When Jes Rathbun signaled to the free pass driver on the final caution flag lap, both drivers pulled out and circled around the track. It should just have been BlackKnight.

Lap 56:

I'm not actually sure that this incident had anything to do with cautions. For some reason, DusterLag pulled out of the pace line and stopped in front of the start/finish line for one lap. I'd guess he had a computer issue going on in the background or something. Just an FYI in case there's confusion.

Lap 58:

This was one of two noticeable issues that we saw with restarts. Right before the green flag, there was an accordion effect, where JBS hit the brakes unexpectedly in reaction to those in front, causing Grumpy to run into the back of him and receive damage.

Lap 64:

Like on lap 55, two drivers, DusterLag and Spike, both took the free pass. As we know, just one driver can do so. The scenario was similar to lap 55. At the time of the caution flag, Spike was the highest-placed lap-down driver, making him the proper recipient of the free pass. After pit stops, however, DusterLag was the first lap-down driver in the pace line. On the final caution flag lap, both drivers would pull out of line and circle around the track.

Lap 70:

Like on laps 55 and 65, a driver took an incorrect free pass. But unlike those laps, just one driver took the free pass in question: the wrong driver. Spike was the correct free pass driver, but somehow just Grumpy, not Spike, ended up circling around the track on the final caution flag lap.

Lap 84:

The caution came out. Grumpy and Spike, both lap-down drivers, mistakenly lined up behind the pace car. I was the leader at that point in the race, and when I slowed, they were between myself and the pace car. Obviously, the leader should always be the first car in the pace line. I recognized the issue, immediately explained it on Ventrilo, and Jes Rathbun told Grumpy and Spike to continue around the track as was correct in that type of situation.

Lap 88:

Shortly before the final restart of the race, Speedyman drove into a lane about one car width to the right of the pace line. He then picked up some speed relative to the rest of the field. Thus, even before the green flag came out, Speedy was already out of line and going faster than the other drivers.

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Let us know if you have any comments or questions. Also, please review the new rules and feel free to offer additional thoughts.

[JBS]

I thought the race went very well. The drivers owe it to you to completely understand the your rules of caution procedures. We need to help Jess police the lucky dog rule, and positively ID that car prior to opening pit road. Jess probably needs to call the driver by name for the wave around after the pitting sequence. Cautions flags are awesome and keep the race interesting, but they can have negative and positive impacts on a race strategy. I look forward to the rest of the season.

[DusterLag]

Lap 56:

I'm not actually sure that this incident had anything to do with cautions. For some reason, DusterLag pulled out of the pace line and stopped in front of the start/finish line for one lap. I'd guess he had a computer issue going on in the background or something. Just an FYI in case there's confusion.

During the caution (the first caution mid-race after the long run following the group of early cautions) I was the first car one lap down, thus I should have received the free-pass. However BlackKnight, who was two laps down, received the free pass. During this caution BlackKnight went around the pace car to end up on the same lap as me - then passed me for position on the track (I lost a position to him) while he passed the pace car to end up on the lead lap, a lap ahead of me (essentially picking up two laps).

I was having a mic issue so could not tell anyone except Grumpy about this (we were also in TeamSpeak which was working still). I pulled over to minimize the game and fix my microphone but by the time I fixed it, it was too late to mater so I left it alone and continued to coast through the remainder of the race.

Lap 64:

Like on lap 55, two drivers, DusterLag and Spike, both took the free pass. As we know, just one driver can do so. The scenario was similar to lap 55. At the time of the caution flag, Spike was the highest-placed lap-down driver, making him the proper recipient of the free pass. After pit stops, however, DusterLag was the first lap-down driver in the pace line. On the final caution flag lap, both drivers would pull out of line and circle around the track.

This was entirely me, I was frustrated about the earlier incident and figured I would make up one lap I lost here though I was several laps down at this time.

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Overall 3 specific issues occurred that confused drivers....

1) Jess repeatedly told driver to "bunch up" or he will not give the green - when we were all on top of each other already, this caused driver to try getting closer and caused damage between drivers several times.

2) Free Pass: The incorrect free pass driver was named several times. Maybe we should all be more aware and verify amongst all the drivers in Ventrilo who actually get's it before we send them around and name them. It can be tough to know who deserves it unless you're looking through all the drivers.

3) Wave Around Drivers: This was all over the place, most were unsure if they should go or not causing some to go and some to not go throughout the race. (Maybe we should also have the discussion in Ventrilo before anyone names or makes a move.)
2)

[lepage71]

Thanks for the comments. If others have thoughts or observations, please feel free to share them.

I thought the race went very well. The drivers owe it to you to completely understand the your rules of caution procedures. We need to help Jess police the lucky dog rule, and positively ID that car prior to opening pit road. Jess probably needs to call the driver by name for the wave around after the pitting sequence. Cautions flags are awesome and keep the race interesting, but they can have negative and positive impacts on a race strategy. I look forward to the rest of the season.

That's our goal with developing an official set of rules. Drivers need to understand them, just like other rules, e.g. pitting. We'll also get better at caution flags as we do more races. And I agree, I think better group communication will be the best method to sort out free passes.

When the caution flag comes out, we need to immediately identify the recipient of the free pass. That should help us solve the wrong-driver problem.

Cautions flags are awesome and keep the race interesting, but they can have negative and positive impacts on a race strategy. I look forward to the rest of the season.

No doubt, the race certainly didn't lack for intrigue, to say the least. This is just the start.

During the caution (the first caution mid-race after the long run following the group of early cautions) I was the first car one lap down, thus I should have received the free-pass. However BlackKnight, who was two laps down, received the free pass. During this caution BlackKnight went around the pace car to end up on the same lap as me - then passed me for position on the track (I lost a position to him) while he passed the pace car to end up on the lead lap, a lap ahead of me (essentially picking up two laps).

I was having a mic issue so could not tell anyone except Grumpy about this (we were also in TeamSpeak which was working still). I pulled over to minimize the game and fix my microphone but by the time I fixed it, it was too late to mater so I left it alone and continued to coast through the remainder of the race.

Lap 64:

Like on lap 55, two drivers, DusterLag and Spike, both took the free pass. As we know, just one driver can do so. The scenario was similar to lap 55. At the time of the caution flag, Spike was the highest-placed lap-down driver, making him the proper recipient of the free pass. After pit stops, however, DusterLag was the first lap-down driver in the pace line. On the final caution flag lap, both drivers would pull out of line and circle around the track.

This was entirely me, I was frustrated about the earlier incident and figured I would make up one lap I lost here though I was several laps down at this time.

Thanks for explaining the situation. Yeah, this is an example of what we want to clean up, starting now. We can't have wrong drivers taking free passes.

1) Jess repeatedly told driver to "bunch up" or he will not give the green - when we were all on top of each other already, this caused driver to try getting closer and caused damage between drivers several times.

Overall, other than the two incidents that I summarized, the restarts at Darlington were better than I expected. However, you're right that not everything was perfect. Now, we have a rule explaining what to do. In the future, let's remember rule VI-B 2, which explains to keep gaps of around half of a second.

2) Free Pass: The incorrect free pass driver was named several times. Maybe we should all be more aware and verify amongst all the drivers in Ventrilo who actually get's it before we send them around and name them. It can be tough to know who deserves it unless you're looking through all the drivers.

Yes, my thoughts exactly.

3) Wave Around Drivers: This was all over the place, most were unsure if they should go or not causing some to go and some to not go throughout the race. (Maybe we should also have the discussion in Ventrilo before anyone names or makes a move.)

Actually, there weren't any wave around situations at Darlington. Free passes were an issue, of course.

I sense there's some confusion over the difference between free passes and wave arounds. We're doing what NASCAR does on TV. You can only get a wave around if you're laps down, don't pit under yellow, and end up in front of the leader. The free pass driver may pit, since he automatically gets one lap back.

Rule VI-B 6 is now in place to explain the procedure. Often, there will be no wave arounds, even for a whole race. As we saw, Darlington didn't have one.

[Speedyman11]

Lap 88:

Shortly before the final restart of the race, Speedyman drove into a lane about one car width to the right of the pace line. He then picked up some speed relative to the rest of the field. Thus, even before the green flag came out, Speedy was already out of line and going faster than the other drivers.

1) Jess repeatedly told driver to "bunch up" or he will not give the green - when we were all on top of each other already, this caused driver to try getting closer and caused damage between drivers several times.

I had moved to the right to avoid damage from everyone bunching up to tightly and causing abunch of checkups while jess was telling everyone to bunch up. I was going between 70-75 which had previously been the speed for every restart prior to then. It just happend that as i closed up on bk the jess put the green flag out.

[lepage71]

I had moved to the right to avoid damage from everyone bunching up to tightly and causing abunch of checkups while jess was telling everyone to bunch up.

In the long run, I think everyone can understand the reason why it will be important for drivers to stay in line on restarts.

If any given driver can step out of line, then everyone can do it, and the whole process eventually breaks down. My recommendation for situations where you're concerned about damage is to lay back on the driver in front just a bit more than normal. Of course, one should do so without using the additional space to get a jump-start on the field. If a jump occurs, then that would be a violation of the rules, and penalties could follow.

Now, some might be wondering about the time gap specified in rule VI-B 2, and how what I recommend above fits into that rule.

We use the phrase "general rule" in the rule text so that we have some discretion. If someone lays back on a restart, and in no way is using that tactic to jump, then we're certainly not going to assess an infraction. If we were to assign a penalty, then we'd essentially be penalizing for prudence and patience.

Heck...you'd be more likely to get bonus points for such things.

I was going between 70-75 which had previously been the speed for every restart prior to then. It just happend that as i closed up on bk the jess put the green flag out.

Similar to the reasoning above, moving out of line creates the potential for issues like jumping the restart. Best for the field as a whole to avoid doing it.

Unrelated, but this also reminds me: the pace speed seemed to be fluctuating from caution to caution. It should be the pit road speed.

[Spike]

To be honest I had no idea who the free pass & wave around car was, all I know was I was a lap or two down when the cautions came out so I just assumed. Patch was on the sidelines why could he keep track of that? When the twins/Revolutionary racing ran there caution flag races they usually said who was the lucky dog car.

And for the restarts I wouldn't keep the cars so close, that's just asking for more cautions which of course happened because a few went 3 wide into turn 1.

[BlackKnight]

All in all the race was pretty good for our first caution flag race! We expected there to be some problems and there was but not as bad as it could have been.. But this is a learning experience and we'll get it worked out and fine tuned. I want to appoligize to Dusterlag I thought I was the correct car a lap down to take the wave around,that seems to be where most of the confusion is located from what I've seen cause it's hard as a driver to keep track of where everyone is on track during the race even for Jess might be some thing to think about another driver or another caution asst. to help out with that... VENT plays a very big roll in helping keep everything in check glad a lot of drivers are using it cause it really makes a difference