

This past Friday, David Malsher of Motorsport.com wrote an article that quoted IndyCar President of Competition and Operations Jay Frye as saying that the sanctioning body was in the process of reviewing various procedures for the 2018 IndyCar season. The one that caught my eye was the rule that automatically closes the pits anytime there is a caution. If there was ever a reason to stand up and cheer at a computer, this would be it.

Frye explained that the series is trying to eliminate randomness we’ve seen in recent years, in order to ensure that the teams that come to the track prepared with the fastest car and best drivers are rewarded, rather than the lucky ones. Some might balk at the idea, but I think it’s one that is way overdue.

How many times did we see Helio Castroneves or Scott Dixon use their skill to get better fuel mileage along with speed from their car, build up a big lead? Then by running out front and going an extra lap or two with better fuel mileage, they are penalized because they pitted late and were caught out by a caution, which essentially sent them to the back of the field when they finally pitted after the field bunched everyone up.

Part of pit strategy is figuring out how far you can go on one stint. But in this age of closing the pits immediately, you must factor in pitting sooner than you need to so that you aren’t caught out later than everyone else when a yellow came out.

Of course, this won’t totally do away with luck or randomness. Before this rule came out, I remember Gordon Johncock benefitted greatly from a well-timed yellow during the 1991 Indianapolis 500. The yellow flag flew just as he was coming out of Turn Four in the later stages of the race. He darted into the pits at the last second. With no pit speed-limit at that time, he was able to get serviced and rejoin the field not too long after the pace car even got rolling. He parlayed that lucky pit stop into a sixth place finish, but that’s a little deceiving since he was still twelve laps down at the finish.

Luck has always been a part of racing and always will be. But racing should not be a crap-shoot.

Caution periods are always random and can help stir the pot of an otherwise boring race. But the pot should be stirred by a team doing themselves in with a bad pit stop or the driver stalling the engine while anxiously trying to get out ahead of everyone else. When a driver has done everything right and driven a brilliant race, it shouldn’t be blown up because there is an end-plate in an obscure part of the track. Why not just shoot water cannons at the cars on the front-straightaway, if randomness is what you’re searching for?

If IndyCar chooses to leave the pits open next season, it will not take the randomness out of the equation totally, but it will help. Those that benefit may be those who got mired back in eighteenth place for one reason or another. An open pit may or may not help them to move into the Top-Ten. But for those out in front because they had performed all weekend; there is not a big a chance that they would be penalized for something that is no fault of their own other than not pitting just as the pit window opened.

I know that not everyone will agree with me on this. They will say that is how the smaller teams have to win races. While I’m all about seeing small teams and lesser known drivers thrive and have their moment in the sun, isn’t racing supposed to be about what team came to the track best prepared with the fastest car and driver?

Even my good friend, Paul Dalbey, formerly of More Front Wing, does not feel as strongly about this as I do. He wrote a post on it here just this past spring.

Personally, I’m glad Jay Frye is taking a long look at this policy. He and the owners may decide that it’s best to leave the pits closed or some type of compromise solution. Even if they end up doing nothing, I like knowing that they reviewed it. That’s why I like Jay Frye – he listens. Not only does he listen to the fans, he listens to the drivers and their team owners. He is not content to blow things off because that’s the way things have always been.

The pit closure rule went into effect in 1992, before some of these drivers were even born. Even the reigning IndyCar champion, Josef Newgarden, was barely more than one year old when this rule went into effect. So whatever changes they make will be a big adjustment for all of the drivers, because none of this current crop knew anything different.

But I’m hoping that Jay Frye and the powers-that-be will try leaving the pits open at least in 2018, as an experiment. After next season, they can review it and analyze the pros and cons. Then they can decide whether or not to keep the rule, trash it or make some tweaks to it. Like all new rules, there will be some unintended consequences. But I think it’s worth a try. Otherwise, watching an IndyCar race – especially a road or street race – will end up being a crap shoot; where no matter how hard a team prepares and how fast a driver is, the outcome could be decided by a piece of carbon-fiber lying harmlessly on the track. I don’t think anybody wants that.

George Phillips

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

Like this: Like Loading... Related