Racing back to the caution

The practice sometimes created dangerous situations in which cars would be racing near wrecked cars, with possibly injured drivers, and prevent the safety team from reaching the stricken cars quickly. Also, there were numerous situations where cars racing back to the caution nearly, or in some cases did, become part of the crash by plowing into slow or stopped cars on the track.

Criticism of the rule first aired on CBS during the 1983 Daytona 500 following a bad crash by Darrell Waltrip when leader Dick Brooks slowed and the lapped car of Lake Speed chopped him off, forcing him hard on the brakes as Waltrip approached. Color analyst David Hobbs was sharply critical of the rule, and it was criticized in Sports Illustrated's coverage of the 500 by writer Sam Moses.

This especially showed during the 2003 Sylvania 300 at Loudon when Dale Jarrett had stopped in the middle of the track at the start finish line while the drivers were racing back to the flag. Another infamous incident took place in the 1990 ARCA race at Daytona, where cars slowing down under caution crashed into a stationary car being attended to by rescue crews after a multi-car crash, seriously injuring a paramedic.[1]

In addition, many drivers felt there was an unwritten "gentleman's agreement"[2] about not racing back to the yellow during the early portions of the race. Many drivers felt that once a yellow came out, that all drivers should hold their position, and not try to take advantage of the yellow flag, especially if it was nowhere near the end of the race. This practice, however was never official, and the self-policing of it was very inconsistent.

This facet was magnified around the same time as the aforementioned Loudon incident at the 2003 Dodge/Save Mart 300.[2] On the 71st lap, Kevin Harvick was leading Robby Gordon when a caution came out for a crash at a different part of the track. Robby Gordon kept charging, and passed Harvick in the keyhole turn, taking the lead before they crossed the start/finish line. Harvick called it a "chicken move," and Jeff Gordon said "I could not believe it when I saw it"[2] and called his passing under the yellow "unheard of."[2]

The controversial pass, however, was entirely legal under NASCAR rules at the time, and Robby Gordon was assessed no penalty. The so-called "unethical breach of racing ethics"[2] proved to be the winning edge, and Robby Gordon went on to win the race. He was subjected to considerable controversy; some ridiculed his action while others considered the complaints hypocritical or "sour grapes" by the losers.

In some cases, when the caution came out, leaders would purposely slow down, and allow lapped cars to pass them and thus get their lap back before they crossed the start/finish line. This was a long-standing practice, and frequently was part of race strategy. Sometimes by being kind enough to let a driver get his lap back, a favor would be expected later in the race in return.

This practice was scrutinized as well though, when it was seen to be abused. A controversy arose during the 2003 Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas. On the 169th lap, the yellow came out for a spin with Matt Kenseth leading. Kenseth backed off in turn 4 to allow teammates Jeff Burton and Kurt Busch to get their laps back. Jeff Gordon, however, sped past all three and beat them back to the start-finish line, officially taking the lead. However, instead of Gordon keeping the lead, NASCAR scored Kenseth in front, while Busch and Rudd were allowed to make up a lap. After the race, NASCAR acknowledged the error.[3]

After racing back to the yellow was eliminated, a special exception to this practice was implemented and allowed, by the "Lucky dog" rule.

Though racing to the yellow was officially banned in 2003, there have been numerous races that finished under green despite a last-lap crash, notably the 2004 Winn Dixie 250 at Daytona won by Mike Wallace[4] the 2015 Alert Today Florida 300 won by Ryan Reed,[5] the 2007 Daytona 500, the 2019 1000Bulbs.com 500, and the 2020 Daytona 500. Although, NASCAR allows race back to the line on the final lap only if there is a crash while the road ahead for the leaders is clear, providing that no drivers involved in the crash need immediate help from the paramedics.