Bruton Smith wants 'timeouts'

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SPARTA, Ky. -- Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman Bruton Smith said NASCAR needs to implement mandatory cautions, or race stoppages, to bring more excitement to the races.
"Call it what you want, but you've got to have caution flags," Smith said Saturday before the Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway. "That creates excitement. You can't just sit there with nothing happening. It ruins the event. It's damaging to our sport."...

http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cu...on-smith-says-nascar-needs-mandatory-cautions

 

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Re: Bruton Smith wants 'timeouts'

UPDATE: A call for mandatory caution periods has refueled an ongoing debate in NASCAR: How much manipulation is too much?
"I'd rather have that than some mysterious debris caution," four-time champion #24-Jeff Gordon said. "The integrity of racing is about letting the race play out, and sometimes that's the most exciting finish, sometimes it's not. Trying to get in the middle of that can be challenging. If you're going to do it, it's got to be something planned in advance, and you take a break. I'm not totally against it."
"Auto racing is auto racing," #99-Carl Edwards said. "That's what it is. It's not going to be a Game 7 moment in every race. That's what makes some races great. If you start affecting the competition like that, it's analogous to stopping a basketball game if the score gets too far apart and putting the score back at even. That, to me, is not what auto racing is about. NASCAR said it had no plans to implement mandatory breaks, but pre-determined caution periods are not new to the sport. NASCAR occasionally calls "competition yellows" if officials deem a stoppage necessary to evaluate the cars, tires, track or other circumstances. "Our product on the track is exciting, and sports is a true reality show in how it unfolds as an event," NASCAR President Mike Helton said Thursday. "You have to be careful when you think about artificially creating the outcome of that."
"I would not be against it if the races continue to run green the whole way with one or two cautions," #16-Greg Biffle said. "I think Over time that could lose the fans' interest sitting in the stands and watching on TV. That's not what we want."(USA Today)(7-6-2012)