The Yellow line Creates more problems than it Prevents

[youtellme]

Dump the Yellow line, let em race balls to the wall

[call_me_andrew]

What problems has it created?

[Lee Roy]

"Dump the Yellow line, let em race balls to the wall"

That would be a very bad thing to do.

[harvick#1]

What problems has it created?

a car nearly flying into the stands

[call_me_andrew]

How was that the line's fault? No one went below it, and I doubt anyone would have if it was legal.

[The instant classic]

the TRUE first prob with the yellow line happens and everyone wants it gone?
yeah what happen today was bad, but i cant blame the yellow line, cuz it has nothing to do with Carl wreck, it was more newman that got Carl airborn
but again i cant blame newman, to me its a racing deal
its gonna get Nascar fans talking ratings and fill the stands more

[POS_Maggott]

How was that the line's fault? No one went below it, and I doubt anyone would have if it was legal.

How do you figure? NASCAR set a very dangerous precedent last year by taking the win away from Regan Smith, though he went below the yellow line to prevent the sort of accident that happened today.

Had it been legal, Keselowski would have gone below the line, and probably still won the race. Instead, because they would have taken the win away if he had done so, Keselowski held his line and... well, we saw what happened.

The problem is, they can't change things now, or else there would be even more of a stink about last years results than there was at the time. NASCAR cost Smith the win last year, and because of that, they could have killed dozens of people today.

[slorydn1]

What problems has it created?

I can think of MANY problems caused by yellow line rule:

1) 2002 Daytona 500. Harvick was leading the race and Jeff Gordon had a run on him. Harvick blocked him down to the line, Jeff refused to lift or go below the line, almost 20 cars taken out of the race. Poetic justice in same race: Jeff blocks Sterling Marlin to the line on a late race restart, Sterling dumps Jeff, and Ward Burton wins the 500

2) 2001 Pepsi 400. Tony Stewart gets drilled in the right side door by another car (replays showed that Stewart was hit) and Stewart goes below the line with 5 laps to go. Stewart was black flagged with 3 to go, refused to heed the black flag because the other car should have been penalized, too, ends up being scored the first car 1 lap down; comes seriously close to decking then Winston Cup Series director Gary Nelson.

3) 2003 Talledega (not sure if spring or fall). Kenny wallace gets forced below the line by another car as they are coming to the line, finishing 3rd. Penalized back to being 1st car 1 lap down, and again the offending car gets off scot free

4) 2003 EA Sports 500-Talledega. Elliot Sadler takes a wild ride, flipping several times because he tried to block Kurt Busch just before going into turn 3. Kurt held his line, the offending car paid the price (starting to see a pattern yet?)

5) 2008 Amp Energy 500. Regan Smith has huge run on
Tony Stewart. Tony Stewart blocks Regan below the line.
Regan Smith gets penalized to the end of the lead lap finsihing 18th. Tony Stewart gets no penalty for running him down there, given the race win.

6) 2009 Daytona 500. Dale Jr has huge run on Brian Vickers down the backstretch. Brian Vickers blocks Jr below the line. Because of the rule, Instead of just completeing the pass safely, Jr checks up, but not enough, trying to stay close to Vickers and not lose any momentum, Jr jumps back up above the line, dumping Vickers and taking out several cars.

7) 2009 Aarons 499. You just saw what happened today, don't make me have to repeat it.

And Those are just the penalties and wrecks caused by the rule. How about the non-calls, Like Jr passing Kenseth below the line in 2003? Instead of praisng an awesome racing move on Dale Jr's part, we are still, 6 years later, arguing whether or not NASCAR showed favoritism in not penalizng Jr for it. It shouldn't have even been an issue in the first place.

In a previous post 'Dega thread, I noted several great finishes at both Daytona and Talledega that would have been nullified had the yellow line rule been in place during the mid to late 90's (both the '97 and '99 Daytona 500's come to mind now, also both Talledega races in 2000).

In the in both the '97 and '99 Daytona 500's, Jeff Gordon passed on the apron entering turn 1. Both passes were race winning moves. In the 2000 Die Hard 500 at 'Dega, Jeff passed Mike Skinner below the line (it was white then) just past the entrance to pit road, also a race winning move. And who can forget Dale Sr's run to the front in the 2000 Winston 500 during those last 4 laps. The 3 had his left side tires in the grass going down the back stretch, trying desperately to get to the front...he got it done! None of these wins would have happend had the rule been in place. Both Jeff Gordon and Dale Sr would have been penalized, and the victory awarded to someone else if events played out exactly the same way, or there would have been big wrecks causing those races to end under caution had someone blocked them, and they probably wouldn't have won, anyway (there was now GWC back then)

Some one once said this was the anti-Jeff Gordon rule. The rule actually came about in the middle of the 2001 Talledega 500 weekend, after Jimmy "Never Forgets" Spencer whined and bitched about about Mike Mclaughlin passing him on the apron in the tri-oval coming to the checkers during the Busch race on Saturday. Jimmy called it a "dirty move" and made the comment that "Jimmy Never Forgets" during his post race interviews.
The very next day, during the drivers meeting for the Cup race, Mike "we don't react for the sake of reacting" Helton reacted by announcing the new yellow line rule, and the rest, as they say is history.

If it's soo bloody dangerous to go down there, then why on God's green earth is it legal at California and Las Vegas or any other freakin' oval they race on?!?!?!?

"the TRUE first prob with the yellow line happens and everyone wants it gone?"


Its obvious to me that some people here haven't brushed up on their Nascar history, TIC....

Y'all know what the sad thing is. Now NASCAR is going to forced to react because of the fan injuries, and instead of doing away with one obvious problem, they are going to drop the plate size one or two more increments, slowing the cars down even more, and taking away any vestige of throttle response the teams got back by using the COT instead of the old car. I predict they'l be running a 7/8ths plate at Daytona in July. which would be two sizes smaller than they have now (15/16ths). Slower speeds, no acceleration = bigger packs + blocking+yellow line rule= more wrecks.Some fix. But, at least the offical insurance company of NASCAR will be happy

[wedge]

A la F1 & Indycar how about one move/block manoeuvre rule for plate-races?

[RaceFanStan]

People don't want to talk about the real issue involved.
The yellow line rule is fine, the real issue is BLOCKING !!!
NASCAR needs to outlaw blocking & penalize drivers that perform it.
Drivers blocking has gotten out of hand & it is time NASCAR does something about it IMO.
IT'S CALLED RACING, blocking a driver from passing is NOT racing, it's stupid.