LDN - Sports

Ingram: NASCAR's five-minute clock improves races

[October 24, 2017] By Jonathan Ingram, The Sports Xchange

Did Matt Kenseth get bounced from the NASCAR playoffs because of a lousy rule? Did seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson advance because NASCAR didn't enforce its rules equitably?

No is the answer to each question, although fans of Kenseth or those who dislike Johnson may disagree.

It's always a bummer for fans when a favorite driver gets knocked out of the field by a crash or a blown engine. It's even worse when it results in elimination from the postseason. After a brilliant season, Kyle Larson was also knocked out of the playoffs due to a blown engine early in the race Sunday at the Kansas Speedway, despite his playoff bonus points.

In the case of Kenseth, his team was disqualified late in the race for having a seventh man over the wall working to repair his Toyota, damaged in a multi-car incident where Kenseth's car got collected. As every NASCAR fan now knows due to extensive post-race debate about the rule, a seventh man over the wall in the pits while a team is on the five-minute clock for repairs results in disqualification.

Jason Ratcliff, the crew chief for Kenseth on the Joe Gibbs Racing entry, knew the rule. But miscommunication prior to the No. 20 Toyota arriving in the pits meant seven crewmen were caught by video in the team's pit box working on it.

There was plenty of talk about maybe shifting the penalty to two laps in the aftermath of the emotions about Kenseth's summary departure from the playoffs in what appears to be his last season.

The rule addresses several hot button issues in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series including debris cautions, uneven application of the rules, or how the championship is determined. A change to avoid the kind of frustration experienced by Kenseth's team or his fans might sound like a good solution, but what about the better things the rule accomplishes?

Limiting the number of people over the wall to six and placing a five-minute limit on the time needed for repair before a car must get back up to speed on the track has one single major benefit: junked up cars hastily repaired by a squad of 10 crewmen on the pit road are no longer floating around during races like so much flotsam.

The absence of these cars due to the new rules means fewer caution flags thrown for the debris that falls off of them. If there is one single hot button issue for NASCAR fans, it's yellow flags for debris. The number of such yellow flag periods has declined this year and the five-minute clock and limit of six crewmen working on damaged cars is a major reason. The yellow flags for debris have long been regarded as NASCAR's way of changing a race's outcome or jazzing up an otherwise boring event, whether there was something dangerous on the racing surface or not. Any procedure that helps diminish debris and reduces conspiracy theories about yellow flags is welcome.

The five-minute rule is the same for all teams, so those that cannot afford to shuttle extra crewmen to the track via private jet on race days have the same opportunity to repair a damaged car as the better financed teams. At a time when even the front-line teams are having trouble with sponsorship, team owners with more financial clout accepted the rule because it saves them money on travel expenses and wages paid to extra crewmen.

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Since Joe Gibbs survives on sponsorship money alone, the rule generally benefits his team versus those owned by multi-millionaires like Roger Penske, Rick Hendrick or Jack Roush. It also helps the teams with less sponsorship and smaller budgets when it comes to their competitiveness under the new charter rules, which they rely on for prize money and guaranteed starting positions that help them sell sponsorship.

The five-minute clock/six crewmen rule also helps prevent a driver from limping around to gain enough points to advance in a championship. The clock on racing speed is now enforced for all teams and a car not able to get back up to speed after one lap of green must return to the pits -- under the original five-minute limitation. This, too, is a cut-and-dried procedure that is transparent.

As for the suggestion that a violation should result in a two-lap penalty -- what kind of rule would work? Two laps for each extra man over the wall? Wouldn't a milder penalty open the door to teams who can afford to bring extra crewmen or keep a larger crew at the track -- especially during the playoffs? It also opens up the possibility of more damaged cars circulating and dumping debris on the track.

Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports team managed the process effectively, despite the rather embarrassing fact the seven-time champion brought out two cautions in a row by spinning in single-car incidents. The second one occurred on his first lap of green after repairs had been made under the five-minute clock -- confirming that cars repaired on the pit road are more likely to be crashed by drivers once back out on the track. So the rule helps safety for all competitors as well.

Prior to repairs on the No. 48 Chevy, Crew Chief Chad Knaus let officials know he was going to send a seventh man over the wall to remove the tear-off on the windshield -- which is written into the rule and enables officials to make sure that's all the extra man does. So, Johnson's team executed well with six men, repairing his car sufficiently to get it back up to speed. His tenth-place finish was enough to advance him to the Round of 8.

Had Kenseth remained in the race, there was a chance that he might have advanced. But there is nothing to suggest that NASCAR played favorites. Johnson and Kyle Busch advanced because of their playoff bonus points, whereas Kenseth didn't have enough despite 32 races in which to earn them.

The fact Johnson's team was up against elimination if repairs sufficient to getting him back up to speed were not done within five minutes certainly added to the race's drama. In that sense, the rule is fair, maintains the tradition of pit crews fixing cars during races and is not necessarily onerous. Going forward, it's far less likely teams will have trouble with making sure only six men go over the wall given events in Kansas.

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