The yellow flag flew 11 times at Pocono on Sunday. Credit: Autostock
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
June 14, 2004
4:40 PM EDT (2040 GMT)
LONG POND, Pa. -- The third time wasn't the charm Sunday at Pocono Raceway.
For the third time in less than a month, NASCAR president Mike Helton apologized to the world following the Pocono 500 for procedural glitches and shortcomings during a NASCAR event.
 | Pocono Videos |  | Jimmie Johnson celebrates his ninth career Cup win
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|  | Jeremy Mayfield is pleased with his runner-up finish at Pocono
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|  | Kenseth and Harvick tangle, Johnson wins under caution
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|  | Ryan Newman is angry at Robby Gordon after wrecking
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|  | Wallace hits Waltrip from behind on lap 168
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|  | Wimmer slips on some oil bringing out the fifth caution
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Freezing the field and opening and closing pit road under caution have been bones of contention for NASCAR for most of this season, and they became a tornado of opinion after nearly a quarter of the MBNA 400 at Dover International Speedway was run under caution two weekends ago.
Helton said Friday at Pocono that what occurred at Dover was unacceptable when he announced measures that NASCAR hoped would ease the situation.
But Sunday's Pocono 500 far outdid Dover, as 56 laps, or 28 percent of the race's 200 laps were consumed by caution. And coincidentally, in what race fans take as the ultimate insult to their commitment, for the third time in the last six events, a Nextel Cup race ended under caution.
That was not what brought Helton to the infield media center, however. After race winner Jimmie Johnson and his crew chief, Chad Knaus, finished their media briefing; Helton came in to offer NASCAR's explanation for the day's events.
Johnson re-affirmed his support for NASCAR after the race.
"I'm happy to see that when something does happen -- like at Dover -- that you have the president of our sport stand up at the drivers' meeting, apologize, take responsibility and mention the changes that they're going to put in place.
"When you are in a sport that involves judgment calls, you're going to have issues arise. I'd probably be singing a different tune if we lost the race over this whole thing today (but) I do know that they're working hard.
"I do believe in the leaders of our sport. They are making changes to make things better."
The day's biggest mistake came when the NASCAR official at the head of pit road mistakenly displayed the green flag to the leaders the first time they came by the service alley when the sixth caution of 11 on the day flew at Lap 156 for oil on the racetrack.
Johnson, who was leading, said he was not even looking for the flag since NASCAR had taken great pains in the Sunday morning drivers' meeting to explain that the pits would not open until the leader's second time to the entrance.
However, when Johnson looked in his mirror further down the frontstretch -- he received a shock. No one was there.
"We did the right thing -- fortunately we didn't lose a race over it," Johnson said. "I was very upset at the time that things weren't corrected to give us the track position back or what we lost as a result of that."
Helton explained that, given the number of cars that did enter pit road and the uncertainty of what the running order would have been as a result of those pit stops, there was no way to fairly re-create the running order.
NASCAR closed pit road when it realized the error had been made and re-opened it at the end of the next lap. Along with Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Terry Labonte and Jamie McMurray did not pit on the first lap.
Johnson said he was beside himself at the time and had not totally recovered despite winning.
"I was very frustrated at the time," Johnson said. "As the caution went on people had to pit (and) the next thing you know I'm sitting in (sixth).
"I guess I wasn't as mad but I'm still mad. You do the right thing, you do what you're told and end up getting burned for it. I really felt this would be the thing that took the race from us."
Knaus had a more measured view of the events.
"First off NASCAR is doing the best they can," Knaus said. "There's a lot of stuff going on (and) they're trying to get things figured out as much as we are."
Knaus said the official assigned to his pit told him not to pit.
"They made a mistake," Knaus said. "We were told not to pit as those guys were coming down pit road. We were about to run out of fuel (and) that was pretty scary.
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"All those guys just topped off and were able to go the distance (and) we were sitting there with our hands empty (but) Jimmie drove a heck of a race, the guys did a great job in the pits (and) we didn't lose our heads.
"We were madder than hell but we dealt with it. That's why I feel like this team is so strong -- we act like professionals. If we can't take care of something we just deal with it."
Proving what a stout car he had, Johnson was back in the lead less than 20 laps later, or by the time the eighth caution flew at Lap 177.
Three weeks ago, a NASCAR official on the flagstand at Lowe's Motor Speedway triggered the caution lights inadvertently, creating confusion at the end of the Infineon 200 Craftsman Truck Series race.
NASCAR admitted the error and apologized to Roush Racing and its driver, Carl Edwards, who was leading at the time the mistake was made but ended up second behind Dennis Setzer.
While Johnson's victory diminished the effects of the mechanical error on NASCAR's part, the other aspects the sanctioning body is trying to address worked out well Sunday.
In the drivers' meeting Helton said anyone who did not slow appropriately when the caution was displayed might be penalized. That occurred in only one case Sunday and Helton said the use of the electronic "loop" system to set running orders under caution worked well.
Robby Gordon was sent to the tail end of the longest line after NASCAR accused him of continuing to race after the caution lights came on. Gordon came back to finish eighth in the race, and made a case in the NASCAR office trailer after the event that he slowed when he saw the lights.
The race ended under caution when Dale Jarrett and Jeff Burton broke the engines in their respective cars virtually simultaneously. And at the same time, Kenseth and Kevin Harvick went back and forth spinning each other out, throwing debris on the racetrack in the process.
The final caution was displayed as Johnson completed Lap 196, which was the cutoff point NASCAR had issued in the drivers' meeting for not red flagging the race to insure a green flag finish.
At least one driver -- second place Jeremy Mayfield -- was outspoken in his support of NASCAR in that case.
"The thing I'm impressed with is NASCAR told us in the drivers' meeting if there is a caution and we've completed lap 196 then there won't be a red," Mayfield said. "That's what they tell us every week. We completed Lap 196 and they were getting ready to throw the red. Then they remembered what they said.
"They went back and didn't do that, and that's exactly what they should do. That's what they told us they'd do, and that's what they did (so) my hat's off to them. I know fans might not like it, but that's the rules and that's what we've got to live with and they didn't change it."
The fans did not all agree, and one acted on his displeasure by hurling a cooler, which struck back-up flagman Jimmy Howell, who was on the flagstand.
Howell was uninjured, Helton said, and declined to press charges against the person, who was identified by fellow grandstand patrons. Security escorted the unidentified person off the grounds.
Helton lauded the fans for assisting security in finding the person. Knaus said he felt the fans would stick by the sport.
"If you look at any competitive racing series, when people run side by side, lap after lap, and change positions, there's always a scoring problem," Knaus said. "It's stuff they've (NASCAR) got to work through and they will work through.
"To (say they have to) win back the fans, I think that is kind of ridiculous. The fans see one hell of a show every racetrack they go to.
"There's side by side racing, there's drama, there's pit strategy, there's bumping, there's banging. This is by far the best racing series on the planet.
"If you want to go to a series that is easy to score you can go to a road course where everyone runs single file and nothing really happens.
"If you want action and see tempers flare, they're going to come back and watch."
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