We had a good caution flag race at Sonoma. The race was exciting right up to the finish.
Unlike our last road course race a few weeks ago (IndyRC T), we actually witnessed a decent number of cautions at Sonoma. There had to have been four or five of them. Despite this, the problems were minimal. Sonoma is solid evidence that our caution flag system works very well on road courses, with a few tweaks here and there to suit each course. The only recommendation for improvement that I have concerns the yellow flag that occurred on lap 12.
FYI: this recap is mostly for those who missed (feared) Sonoma, because everyone in the race will recall the adjustment we made for the lap 22 caution.
Sometimes, when the caution flag comes out at a road course, depending on where the pace car and leader have slowed to start the caution, drivers who are further back in the field can face a long drive around the track to catch up to the pace line. This happened on lap 12 with a few drivers at the back. Instead of opening pit road on lap 12, the pace car driver kept pit road closed, and the field had to go around the track again on lap 13 before pitting.
In actuality, this can happen at any track. Road courses like Sonoma just make it more of a nuisance due to their length.
In the future, to reduce extra pace laps at road courses, when appropriate, we should reserve the option to bring the field to a gradual stop and "red flag" the race for a moment on the first caution lap. Doing so enables the pace line to come together. We can then all pit on the first pace lap rather than go around an extra lap. Due to the size and space available at most road courses, the red flag approach is not difficult to do. Again, it's a helpful option.
For those who did not attend Sonoma, load the race replay and watch what we did on lap 22. It was pretty straightforward.