Historical Motorsports Stories writes:

"Can Anyone Justify The Yellow Line Rule?"

Posted by nascarman on June 30, 2016

Viewed 2072 times Tweet When a rule is inconsistently enforced and also leads to dangerous situations, why should it exist? Get ready this weekend for constant "reminders" that asphalt below the double yellow line is out of bounds. If you pass below the yellow line, you'll probably be penalized. If you push someone below the yellow line, you theoretically could be penalized (but really, you won't.) This rule might ruin driver's races, it might cause awful wrecks. Let me argue that there is no rule that has created more anger and danger on superspeedways than THE YELLOW LINE RULE.

The yellow line rule is a case where there is danger with or without it. However, having no out of bounds area is the lesser of two evils. The reason for the rule is to prevent cars from entering the turns five wide, two on the apron, and causing a major wreck in the turn. It has however, unintentionally eliminated an escape route to prevent accidents, thus causing more, in addition to penalizing safe passes.





Mike McLaughlin and Jimmy Spencer in Busch Series 2001. Before the yellow line rule.



After Dale Earnhardt's death, NASCAR was looking to reign in aggressive driving on superspeedways. Starting at the Talladega 500 in April 2001, NASCAR began handing out penalties for unnecessary moves under the yellow line.



"If we (NASCAR) feel a move below, or move coming from below the yellow line was unnecessary -- you can look for a black flag," Mike Helton told drivers. "Be prepared, and we'll see you at the trailer after the race and let you know how much of your argument we'll listen to." Casey Atwood, Todd Bodine, and Mike Skinner were penalized during the race.



Overshadowed by the excitement of the 2001 Pepsi 400 finish was the controversy when Tony Stewart was pushed below the yellow line. With five laps to go, Stewart was driven onto the apron by Johnny Benson battling for second. Stewart's sixth place finish was vacated and he was moved to last car on the lead lap. Stewart was so mad that he had to be restrained from attacking Cup Series director Gary Nelson. Tony was fined $10,000 and the rule was unchanged.



By the start of 2002, Jeff Gordon was calling for the rule to be altered.



"That yellow line is not making things any easier," Gordon said. "The yellow line worked for the rules we had last

year because you were coming so fast that you would go below that yellow line every lap. Now I think there's places where we could move that line to get a little bit more room because you don't have the momentum you used to have." Despite Gordon's pleas there was no change in the rules for 2002.



At the 2002 Aarons 499, Kenny Wallace was forced below the line by Sterling Marlin and Jeff Burton with two laps to go. Wallace's great fifth place finish was eliminated.





Wallace below the yellow line



"Sterling body slammed me and I cant do nothin else, this is drama," Wallace said.



"NASCAR is the greatest in the world, what ever happens I finished 5th, Sterling turned left and I moved to the left, in my heart I finished 5th."



Before the 2003 Daytona 500, Mike Helton announced that drivers who shove a car below the yellow line would be penalized as well as the car who got shoved.



"Now what we are beginning to see happen, and we saw it yesterday (in the Busch race), is some of you have figured out to protect your spot, you can move down against the yellow line to prevent someone from going on your inside," Helton said. "That is OK. But if you do it while that guy is trying to get around you and you move him down there while he has a quarter-panel or fender alongside of you, if you make him go down there, then you are subject to a black flag, too."



During the race, Elliott Sadler forced Sterling Marlin below the yellow line; Marlin was penalized, Sadler was not.





Dale Jr below the line



During the 2003 Aarons 499, in a situation very similar to Kenny Wallace the year before, Dale Earnhardt Jr went below the line to avoid hitting two other cars. This was for the lead with four laps to go. NASCAR this time viewed it as being forced below the line and he got to keep the win. This was an unpopular decision among teams and claims of inconsistency were rained upon NASCAR.



One of the most notorious bad calls involved the yellow line in the 2006 Budweiser Shootout. Coming into the pits, Jimmie Johnson slowed dramatically on the race track. Carl Edwards went where Johnson should have been, on the apron, to avoid causing a wreck. He was black-flagged for passing Johnson below the yellow line.







"I'm not coming. It's wrong!" Edwards protested on the radio.



In the 2008 fall Talladega race, Regan Smith went to pass Tony Stewart for the win in the tri-oval. Stewart dove to the yellow line to block, despite Smith being there.



"If you do it while that guy is trying to get around you and you move him down there while he has a quarter-panel or fender alongside of you, if you make him go down there, then you are subject to a black flag, too." - Mike Helton 2003



Smith avoided causing a wreck and passed Stewart for the win. He was moved to the last car on the lead lap.

The next year, drivers started wrecking each other to protest the rule. In the Daytona 500, Brian Vickers shoved Dale Jr below the line to protect the lucky dog position. Earnhardt, knowing he could not pass down there, attempted to come back onto the track but clipped Vickers, spinning him in front of the field and starting a ten car crash.



In a repeat of the last year, Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski collided in the tri-oval. Keselowski wasn't going to let off or go below the line, so he wrecked Edwards. Carl flipped into the catch fence and eight fans were injured, one needing to be airlifted to the hospital.



"I've got to apologize to Carl for wrecking him," Keselowski said. "But, man, the rule is you can't go below the yellow line, and he blocked, and I wasn't going below it. I don't want to wreck a guy but you're forced in that situation. There's nothing else I can do."



The 2011 Budweiser Shootout saw Denny Hamlin get penalized too. This time, he technically didn't improve his position. Hamlin had passed Newman and was leading by about two feet when he dove to the apron. The rule states "you can not improve your position." So shouldn't that mean the leader can go on the apron whenever he wants? No. Hamlin beat Kurt Busch by .003 seconds to win the race, but was moved to last car on the lead lap.











"That yellow line is there to protect us and the fans in the stands safety," Hamlin said. "I just chose to take the safer route. Winning a Shootout is not worth sending the 39 through the grandstands."



So wait a minute. Simple logic based on that quote says that breaking this rule, IMPROVES safety. What Hamlin says clearly contradicts itself.



That year in the truck race at Talladega, the rule was ignored again this time with BIG consequences. On the last lap, Austin Dillon went below the yellow line on the backstretch, improving his position. He was not penalized and finished seventh. Dillon earned 38 points for his seventh place finish. If he had been moved to the last truck on the lead lap, he would have earned 22 points, which would have taken him out of the points lead and moved him back to third in the standings, 13 points out of the lead. Even more interesting, that 16 point swing would have made Johnny Sauter the 2011 Truck Champion and Dillon would have lost by 10 points.





Dillon below the line in the background



Let's just see what impact the yellow line rule has on this week's race. Will a race be ruined or will a huge wreck happen, both are possible because of the unintended consequences of this rule. I think that it's hard to argue that sometimes a driver needs to duck out of the pack to avoid starting a wreck, making a safe pass as well shouldn't be deterred. Are the drivers that dumb that they will try to pass on the apron in the turns? I think we can trust them enough to get rid of this archaic remnant of post-Earnhardt hysteria. Opinions expressed in blogs are those of the individual bloggers and do not necessarily represent the views of racing-reference.info.