It took 174 laps to finish a 160 lap race

[cart7]

While you guys were all watching the earl race :laugh: I was attending the 200 mile, 160 lap Craftsman truck race at Gateway. A relatively enjoyable race till the end. I'll have to explain it.

Approximately 6 laps to go, p2 driver Jack Sprague has a tire go down and hits the wall bringing out a yellow. The ensuing yellow flag laps run the race down to a Green/White last lap.

PA announcer anounces this and the crowd gets hyped.

Green drops, P1 Shane Hmeil and P2 Bobby Hamilton are duking it out for the lead on the backstretch when there's a crash in T1.

This is when it got interesting

As the trucks navigate the track running up the lap count, 161, 162, etc. the PA announcer informs the crowd that, according to the rules, they can go back to a green/White finish when the track is cleaned. The crowd squeals with glee.

Lap 165 or thereabouts, green/white is dropped, Hmeil and Hamilton side-by-side coming out of 2 when Hmeil slides up into Hamilton putting both Trucks into the backstretch wall. Hamiltons truck climbs partially up the wall and nearly goes onto it's side. The rest of the field gets past and the 2 trucks continue under power into the backstretch infield where, I'm not kidding, the announcer says Hamilton appears to chasing Hmeil trying to wreck him. The crowd pumps their fists in appreciation. "This is what racin's all about"!

4 more laps of yellow go by and now Trucks 18 and 75 are in P1 and P2(I don't know their names)

Lap 169 or 170, I'm not even sure at this point as the lap count on the scoring pylon keeps changing every other lap, another Green/White restart

and yes

another crash back in the pack.

The Trucks go around another lap and a half when the PA announcer says they'll Red Flag this sucker cause these guys have been out there since lap 106 w/o taking on fuel. Trucks park while crash debris is cleaned.

Engines refire, 2 lap warm-up. At this point I'm thinking we're at approximately lap 172 or 173. Announcer states race control has informed all drivers not involved in the lead battle to drive sensibly. Another announcement of a Green/White restart.

Green/White drops, the trucks actually make it around the track without hitting anyone or anything. The race appears over, #18 has won..

or so I thought.

The trucks continue past the S/F finish line at speed. One more lap the announcer yells.

Huh?? :confused:

At this point, #75 gives #18 the ol chrome horn coming out of T2 and nearly puts him into the wall. A collective gasp arises from the crowd. " Will this race ever end? Will we ever be able to see the free Travis Tritt concert after this race is over, if it's ever over?"

Finally, #75 (whoever that is) crosses the line after the final white flag pt. deux lap. I'm totally confused and the scoring pylon jumps from 176 laps to a final 174.

The overwhelming response from the crowd was.

Golly, I wish Nascar would finish races like this in the Cup and Busch cars. :gomer:

[The Doctor]

It's a two-lap finish, not one. Green flag, then white flag, then checkered flag.

David Starr (#75) won, bumped #18 (Chad Chaffin) out of the way. The only thing you missed was the red flag came out because Rick Crawford's truck lended out on its side.

Luckily, starting next week with the Nextel and Busch races, there will only be one shot at green-white-checkers. No four attempts any more, even for the NCTS. This race was the perfect example of why they'll only use one GWC. :shakehead Not that any of this is necessary. :shakehead

[cart7]

It's a two-lap finish, not one. Green flag, then white flag, then checkered flag.

David Starr (#75) won, bumped #18 (Chad Chaffin) out of the way. The only thing you missed was the red flag came out because Rick Crawford's truck lended out on its side.

Luckily, starting next week with the Nextel and Busch races, there will only be one shot at green-white-checkers. No four attempts any more, even for the NCTS. This race was the perfect example of why they'll only use one GWC. :shakehead Not that any of this is necessary. :shakehead

Thanks for the explanation. I asked about everyone around me to explain why a white flag final lap can turn into 2 laps and now one knew.

[Sean O'Gorman]

That was hilarious. I hope NACAR learns befoe from that when they trry to do the green whiye checkers rule with NExtel Cup. The fans may like it but the teams/driversare sure as hell going to ahate it, especially when a front runner like Newman runs out of gas bevcause of the additional laps. :gomer: :gomer:

[Rob]

I'm not kidding, the announcer says Hamilton appears to chasing Hmeil trying to wreck him.
What he actually was doing was flooring the throttle with his nose pressed into Hmiel's passenger door, pushing Hmiel into the infield. This lasted for maybe 10-15 seconds, filling Hamilton's own truck cabin with tire smoke. :laugh:


another crash back in the pack.
That one was for Rick Crawford. He also drove up the wall like Hamilton did, but he ended up completely on his side and slid for quite a fair distance.

[Rob]

That was hilarious. I hope NACAR learns befoe from that when they trry to do the green whiye checkers rule with NExtel Cup. The fans may like it but the teams/driversare sure as hell going to ahate it, especially when a front runner like Newman runs out of gas bevcause of the additional laps. :gomer: :gomer:
Somebody's still celebrating his 21st birthday. ;)

[Andrew Longman]

Reminds me of a Busch North race at the Glen a few years back.

The race was already delayed twice by red flags because armco had been taken out and needed replacing.

Then a wreck at the end prompted a GWC finish, which they couldn't go because cars (including the leader) kept running out of gas, variably extending the caution or bringing out new ones. I believe they ran at least 12 extra laps and it was a pretty unceremonial ending.

Worst race I've ever seen

[RacinM3]

I bet the guys who have to repair all that damage love these rules, too. :shakehead