"SG" <spaamtrapper (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote in
news:C4qdnfbe5ORKtFrenZ2dnUVZ_vydnZ2d (AT) comcast (DOT) com:

Or even further back, no "pits closed until the field collects
behind the pace car". Back in the day, if the caution came out
and you were in turn 4, it was hard left, baby, and into the
pits (or sometimes the grass), because the first guy to pit
would be the leader when they went back to green.

John

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 23:57:59 -0000, John McCoy <igopogo (AT) ix (DOT) netcom.com> wrote:

Why do they close pit road? If you get a flat in turns 3/4 you are supposed to
go all the way around again if pit road is closed?
--
Paul of El Cajon

"Paul" <ME (AT) MYISP (DOT) COM> wrote

have to restart from the end of the longest line. Or, they can roll around
the track until pit road is open, and when the low tire lets go, it blasts
out fenders, rocker panels, etc. and they can come in and do repairs and
change tires and come out behind everybody else.

Carey in Manvel

On Sat, 14 Jan 2006 05:23:21 GMT, "Carey Akin" <cmakin (AT) att (DOT) net> wrote:



But why do they close pit road?
--
Paul of El Cajon

"Paul" <ME (AT) MYISP (DOT) COM> wrote

watch it. It amazes me just how fast some of those cars barrel down pit
road when there was no speed limit. There were some injuries and deaths (I
believe it was some of Bill Elliot's guys that were killed at Riverside that
REALLY got the ball rolling on pit road safety and the process we have now).
One of the new rules about pit stops, besides the speed limit, was lead lap
cars pitting before cars laps down. By closing pit road and allowing the
cars to line up behind the pace car, then the cars can pit in order. In my
view, if they were REALLY serious about pit road safety, then they should
eliminate gaining positions under the yellow. That would also eliminate
that "race" to the white line and the attendant fender rubbing or worse.
But they won't.

Carey in Manvel

On Sat, 14 Jan 2006 05:43:28 GMT, "Carey Akin" <cmakin (AT) att (DOT) net> wrote:

Yes, I agree very much. Several times this past year I remember thinking that
they pull out of those pit boxes too fast. And the big problem there is that
they are usually looking behind them to see if someone else is coming down pit
road and they are not paying attention to the guys in the pit box just ahead. I
too think it would be better if everyone kept the position they were in at the
time of the yellow. But then, the pit crews could slow down and it wouldn't be
as exciting. I am all for safety though. I do not like seeing people hurt.
--
Paul of El Cajon

"Paul" <ME (AT) MYISP (DOT) COM> wrote

stops would be hot, with no pit road speed limit. The entire field almost
never makes a pit stop on the lead lap. During yellows, the field would be
frozen with provisions for damaged cars, etc.

Carey in Manvel

On Sat, 14 Jan 2006 06:27:33 GMT, "Carey Akin" <cmakin (AT) att (DOT) net> wrote:

Yes, I think there should be a speed limit on pit road also. 2000 pounds of
metal sure is a deadly weapon.

But, is anyone else bothered by the closing of pit road during a yellow? I
could hardly get to sleep last night because I was thinking about that.
--
Paul of El Cajon

Paul wrote:
3400 lbs

They close the pits so they can sort out the positions relative to the
last timing loop they crossed and bunch the field up behind the pace
car. Another advantage taken away from the *racing*. And, it's another
thing that they didn't used to do. As soon as the caution flew, those
that needed to immediately ducked onto pit road. Sometimes, cars would
just be coming off turn 4 when a caution came out and could duck into
the pits thus gaining advantage on everyone else. NASCAR has taken away
all the advantages in creating a *fair and level playing field* all in
the name of racing ;-)

"Carey Akin" <cmakin (AT) att (DOT) net> wrote in
news:4c0yf.255326$qk4.172108 (AT) bgtnsc05-news (DOT) ops.worldnet.att.net:

No, you're getting confused here. The pit road speed limit is
for safety. The pits are closed until the field lines up
behind the pace car because in the old days, NASCAR's scoring
used to get confused when cars pitted just as the yellow came
out - if the leader pitted, then the pace car would get
confused on who to get in front of, and if the leaders pit
was before the start/finish line then other folks pitting
would pass him, pit on the other side of the line, and be on
a different lap...there was a race somewhere (I want to say
Pocono) where someone (I want to say Gant) should have ended
up on a lap by himself, but NASCAR got so confused they put
him a lap back and several places behind the "leader".

To solve that problem, they decreed that everyone had to
line up behind the pace car, so the scorers could be certain
about the field order & who was on what lap, before anyone
pitted. The predictable result of that was that the whole
field, now bunched behind the pace car, charged into the
pits in one huge mass. That then led to the pit road speed
limit, once it became obvious that 30 odd cars running 100mph
or more down pit road was a much bigger problem than 3 or 4.

John