Bob Osborne, crew chief for Carl Edwards discusses the Black Flag penalty with an Official Photo – Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images |
Fans craving more drama on the track, were given some controversy over Carl Edwards Black Flag penalty issued by NASCAR at Richmond. In reading comments after the race, it appears the confusion and controversy continues depending on which side of the fence you stand.
Carl Edwards makes a pit stop at Richmond Photo – Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images |
Lap 314, Carl Edwards hits pit road as the only lead lap driver to not pit under green. At this moment, Carl Edwards is no longer leading the race – period.
“What you’ve got to understand is the electronics,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president of competition. “When the transponder crosses the start/finish line – when Carl was scrubbing his tires, he beat the 14 to the line – so that instantaneously puts him up top.
“It happens all the time, but these circumstances don’t stack on top of it. That put him up on top of the board just because he was coming to the line with one to go.”
So, with the confusion that follows, Edwards is frustrated and at the same time anxious to be in position to win the race, because if there is a mistake and he’s actually first, he would have preferred the inside line for the restart. But with less than a lap to go now, there’s no time to make that change.
“We’re coming to the restart and there’s a lot of finger pointing up there, and everybody has to look at the scoreboard,” Pemberton said. “But you really have to look at the fact of coming to one to go, they knew the 14 was the leader and the 99 was second (based on the pit stop). It’s as clear as that.”
Apparently NASCAR found no evidence to support Hedlesky’s claim that an official confirmed to him Edwards was the leader. Hedlesky remains firm about what he says happened. Despite what was on the pylon, NASCAR also says, the team should have known Stewart was the leader. Still, Edwards next decisions are based on inaccurate information from his spotter.
The situation gets compounded on Lap 318 when the Green Flag waves and while Stewart spins his tires, Carl Edwards jumps to the front, but does so in violation of the rules for a restart.
By Dustin Long for USA Today |
Via a post from Dustin Long on Google+ here are the NASCAR rules pertaining to restarts in Section 10-2A and 10-2B from the 2012 Sprint Cup Rule Book:
Monday morning Robin Pemberton was on Sirius/XM NASCAR radio discussing this topic. Fans can read the transcript at CBS Sports and/or Listen to the Audio of Robin Pemberton