Tuesday, July 20, 2004 | 9:17 a.m.
Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-4089.
The merits of the myriad changes NASCAR officials have implemented during the past year can be debated ad nauseam, but the Daytona Beach brass got at least one right with their decision last week to implement only one green-white-checkered restart if a caution flag falls in the closing laps of a race.
Rather than adopt the unlimited green-white checkered restarts that have been in place in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, NASCAR officials opted to utilize a single such restart in its Nextel Cup and Busch series. The Truck Series also will abandon the limitless restart format in favor of the single two-lap restart beginning with its next race.
One need only look as far as Saturday night's Truck Series crashfest at Gateway International Raceway to realize that the unlimited restarts to guarantee a green-flag finish was a bad idea. The race, originally scheduled for 160 laps, was restarted four times and extended 14 laps because of crashes on each of the first three restarts.
The carnage claimed at least a half a dozen trucks, including the one driven by Rick Crawford that slid down the length of the backstretch on its driver's-side door after contact with Andy Houston's truck.
"That deal at Gateway Saturday night gave you every reason you want unlimited green-white-checkers and every reason you don't want green-white-checkers at all," observed Truck Series rookie Brandon Whitt, who managed to keep his truck on its wheels in the closing laps.
"From a fan's standpoint, it had to be pretty exciting. The two trucks leading with two laps to go didn't even finish the race. It was neck-and-neck and fender-to-fender for every position on the racetrack. Nobody gave an inch and I'm sure it was something to see."
But Whitt couldn't ignore the damaged trucks that were loaded into the haulers at the conclusion of the race.
"From the other side, we ended the night with a lot of torn-up trucks," Whitt said. "There is some equipment that won't ever be used again -- not even enough left for a show truck. We were fortunate to come through it without a lot of damage, but a lot of guys weren't so lucky.
"Maybe the one-time green-white-checkers deal is the best compromise after all. It gives the fans what they want but saves some serious wear-and-tear on equipment and drivers."
Under NASCAR's new green-white-checkered restart format, if a caution flag comes out during the two-lap dash, the field would be frozen and the race complete.
Earnhardt suffered minor second-degree burns to his legs and chin when the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R he was driving spun off course, hit a tire barrier and burst into flames. Earnhardt got out of the car under his own power and then was assisted by track safety workers.
Earnhardt was airlifted from the track to the University of California-Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, which is considered one of the leading burn treatment centers in the West, and held overnight for observation.
A publicist for Earnhardt said the driver suffered burns to approximately 6 percent of his body but "his injuries are not expected to prevent his full participation in the Nextel Cup Series race this weekend at (New Hampshire International Speedway in) Loudon, N.H."
Balash, who has been the technical director of NASCAR's touring divisions for the past several months, will assume his new role immediately.
"We are pleased to have Joe on the team," NASCAR president Mike Helton said. "He brings a lot of experience to our competition department and everyone is looking forward to working with him."
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