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Sept 4, 2003 The subject of much debate between NASCAR fans lately is the so called gentlemens agreement. People are wondering if the agreement will become a thing of the past. Does it have a place in the todays NASCAR? The gentlemens agreement is an informal guideline that says when the yellow flag is flown, all racing stops. Each car holds his position and drives to the start/finish line. No one improves their position after the yellow flag flies. The only exception to this is that lapped cars can sometimes get a lap back from the leader if they are in a convenient position to do so, and if the leader is inclined to let them. This agreement is not the official NASCAR rule. NASCAR says you may race back to the start/finish line. But years ago, many drivers thought it was dangerous to race back to the line when you may have wrecked cars on the track ahead of you. So for safety reasons the drivers came up with an agreement whereby they would not race back to the line. When the yellow flag came out drivers would let up and effectively the race was under caution as soon as the drivers saw the flag (or lights). The question took center stage recently at Infineon Raceway in California. Robbie Gordon passed teammate Kevin Harvick after the yellow flag came out but before either driver crossed the start/finish line. This pass was the key to Gordon eventually winning the race. Harvick and several other drivers were publicly vocal in condemning Gordons action. You can debate whether or not Gordons pass was a show of good sportsmanship, especially when Harvick had obviously slowed down, but NASCAR had no problem with it. What Gordon did was not against the rules and no one disputes that he won the race fair and square. This isnt the only instance of drivers ignoring the agreement, but it was the most noticeable because it was key to Gordon winning the race. Later, Gordon rationalized his move by saying that what he did was within the bounds set up by NASCAR. He went on to say that he had brought the subject up the morning of the race at the drivers meeting. When you consider that, maybe no one who was at that meeting should have been surprised at Gordons actions during the race. Gordon isnt alone in feeling justified in passing when the yellow comes out. There are many drivers who would have made that pass. Its not a popular position to take publicly and you wont hear any drivers say they think the agreement is not necessary. But there is an increasing amount of pressure on these drivers to win. Every year the sponsorship deals are worth more money. The price tag for a primary sponsor on a top team can be as much as fifteen million dollars. These companies want a return on their investment and they arent happy if their car isnt running up front consistently. Even a driver who believes in the gentlemens agreement will have a hard time honoring it when he thinks his job is in danger. These jobs can be extremely lucrative but for many of these drivers a ride in a Winston Cup car is the culmination of their lifes work. This is the highest level of stock car racing in the world. Very few drivers who reach the Winston Cup level willingly leave it. This year NASCAR instituted a common template for all cars to use. This has had the effect of making the cars almost identical. This means that all the different makes of cars have the same shape. NASCAR hoped that this would be an advantage for the best drivers since the only difference, theoretically, would be the driver. That hasnt been the case. More and more it isnt important who the driver is at all. At many tracks its very difficult to pass even with a fast car and an experienced, talented driver. Any opportunity to gain a position has to be considered. Drivers like Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, and Bill Elliott have won many races in the past and are still as talented as anyone running today. But none of them have won a race this year. It isnt the older drivers who will be the ones to abandon the agreement. The older drivers seem convinced of its value. The average Winston Cup driver today is younger than ever. Most of them have won in every type of racing theyve attempted. This is how they got to the Winston Cup level in the first place. Most young drivers have some adversity to work through before gaining success at the Winston Cup level. Even the drivers who have had success in their rookie year can be beaten down by the grueling schedule. Not only are there few breaks in the racing schedule there is a seemingly never ending series of sponsor events to attend. The media pounce on most drivers as they exit their car. After a crash, each driver is accosted by a horde of reporters as they exit the medical center. All these things serve to raise the level of frustration for a driver. Its not hard to see how a frustrated driver would disregard the agreement when they see the chance to get a good finish. On any given week there are a number of teams who are spending enough money to have a winning race car. Some of the top spending teams will be lucky to get one or two wins all season. Each team has a crew that works hard and sacrifices personal time to get their car prepared for that weeks race. All those hours of work can be wiped out with just one careless moment by the driver. The pressure to succeed is tremendous. The decision NASCAR is faced with now is whether to make the gentlemens agreement a rule. NASCAR has maintained that it is legal to race back to the start/finish line when the yellow comes out. But they have always been reluctant to institute new rules and may have felt that a rule wasnt needed because the drivers werent racing back anyway. NASCAR presents an image that says safety is of the utmost importance. Their officials face questions daily from the press about safety issues and they are very sensitive to challenges to their safety policies. If NASCAR believes that racing back to the yellow is safe, no rule is needed. But they will have to answer some tough questions when a driver gets hurt because cars were racing back to the line. NASCAR is more aware of its public image than ever before and this will surely play a part while it considers this question. Its true that many times when a yellow flag flies there is no safety hazard to prevent racing back to the line. But if NASCAR depends on the drivers judgement in these cases then there are bound to be problems. Each driver will have a different opinion as to what is and isnt safe. Were going to see more and more cases of the agreement being ignored. There is too much pressure on drivers to win and very little chance to pass under the green for this not to be true. These two things have introduced a more cutthroat element to NASCAR. Some people like that and some dont. But it ensures that there will be little room for such ethereal things as a gentlemens agreement in NASCAR. ------------ Email Ken Moore: mareinfinitus@yahoo.com Comment on this column in the forum. Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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