The Yellow line Creates more problems than it Prevents

**Mark in Oshawa** · 28th April 2009, 04:22

Originally Posted by 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.

Stan, your boy Shrubbie got spun out by his enthusiastic blocking. I don't fault him for wanting to jump infront of the faster train, but in the end he spun himself out. If they ban blocking, we will see less of this jumping around and I think then the yellow line rule could go away.

The reason tho they brought it in was the fear and the reality guys would run each other right down on the flat at 190 and launch a guy up the banking and wipe out half the field.

Lap 9 this year....and you have to wonder what would be the point of the yellow line rule.

The whole nature of racing on these tracks just isn't stock racing in the manner it is done at other tracks. In 1958 when Bill Sr. was paving Daytona, I don't think he could have forseen what was to come for speeds.

I think they have created a monster. The fans love this at some level, and the drivers I think for the most part hate it. The quote I heard from Newman when he met up with Edwards was "glad you were alright, next week we will go back to RACING". That sums it up.......this style of racing isn't really what NASCAR has been about. You watch races from the 70's and 80's and you saw cars racing and going one on one. Now they hold the pedal to the floor and play chicken with each other......

I just had my heart in my mouth when the 99 hit the fence. I thought....if anyone is dead up there, that is it for this dog and pony show. We got lucky.....

**call_me_andrew** · 28th April 2009, 04:31

A year or two ago Jeff Gordon said that he would sooner wreck half the field than go below the yellow line because he was forced. And I for one am perfectly fine with this! And this is from a guy who would like to punish drivers for crashing.

This would at least put it in driver's heads not to block or they'll wind up like Edwards.

**colinspooky** · 28th April 2009, 09:15

There is always an out of bounds. Usually called the grass. How much room do you need?

Imagine if you coud block someone all the way to the grass. And their wheel touches it.

Better to have a bit of a run off, but tell drivers to stay out of it. Surely. Story over.

Move on - nothing more to see here

**Haulin'AssAndTurnin Left** · 28th April 2009, 10:01

Originally Posted by colinspooky

There is always an out of bounds. Usually called the grass. How much room do you need?

Imagine if you coud block someone all the way to the grass. And their wheel touches it.

Better to have a bit of a run off, but tell drivers to stay out of it. Surely. Story over.

Move on - nothing more to see here

I get what your saying. But i think we would actually see better racing if drivers didnt have to get hooked up with another car and wind up for a lap to pass on the outside.

I think the best solution would be to have yellow lined areas entering and exiting the corners and leaving the straights and tri ovals open so if a guy trys to block you, you have the option to move over a little. you would also be able to move over and get inside a car and make the pass.

I dont think banning blocking is the solution, blocking is part of racing. Taking away a drivers prefered line happens in all forms of racing. But it can go to far, look at Kyle Busch he was going left, right,left zig zagging all over the place. Thats just alittle to far for me.

**woody2goody** · 28th April 2009, 10:38

Originally Posted by Haulin'AssAndTurnin Left

I get what your saying. But i think we would actually see better racing if drivers didnt have to get hooked up with another car and wind up for a lap to pass on the outside.

I think the best solution would be to have yellow lined areas entering and exiting the corners and leaving the straights and tri ovals open so if a guy trys to block you, you have the option to move over a little. you would also be able to move over and get inside a car and make the pass.

I dont think banning blocking is the solution, blocking is part of racing. Taking away a drivers prefered line happens in all forms of racing. But it can go to far, look at Kyle Busch he was going left, right,left zig zagging all over the place. Thats just alittle to far for me.

Yeah, you're right, I mean there's legitimate, safe defending of your position (which IMO is one move in one direction) and there is blatant, unsafe blocking.

It's maybe acceptable at short tracks because the worst that's going to happen, even at Richmond or Dover, is a medium speed pileup, a spin or a semi-hard crash into the wall.

But at Talla-freakin'-dega? The racing is dangerous enough at the plate tracks as it is without stupid driving like Tony Stewart's display last year. That was ridiculously dangerous, Regan Smith had nowhere to go, it could have ended up with them both in the wall, and what happened? The innocent party was demoted to 21st, and the man responsible is allowed to take home the winner's cheque!

I don't think there was much wrong with what happened to Carl, even though it was a nasty crash. Fair play to Edwards for not blaming Keselowski, as there wasn't anything naughty about what he did IMO.

I haven't watched NASCAR for too long, so I'm not fully up on all the rules and penalty systems, but surely they have to take a look at each incident on it's merits and not just say 'he passed below the line, it's illegal'.

For example with Smith and Stewart, Smith is a rookie trying his best to win his first race, it's the last lap, and he was blocked down past the line. Don't penalise him by dropping him to 21st, just reverse the order so he is 2nd.

It's not as if anyone could have passed Smith between when he passed Tony and the finish line. If he'd made an illegal pass on lap 100 and proceeded to hold up the entire field, or ruin someone'race, or inadvertently trigger a crash, then yeah, penalise him 20 places, but not for something that was harmless and 100 yards from the line.

**wedge** · 28th April 2009, 11:46

Originally Posted by Haulin'AssAndTurnin Left

I think the best solution would be to have yellow lined areas entering and exiting the corners and leaving the straights and tri ovals open so if a guy trys to block you, you have the option to move over a little. you would also be able to move over and get inside a car and make the pass.

I think they should give that a shot. The car behind should lift and get back inside the yellow line. Whether it'll work in the heat of a battle is another question waiting to be answered.

**Lee Roy** · 28th April 2009, 12:47

Originally Posted by slorydn1

I beginning to agree more with you, I just can't remember any wrecks caused by people going there, I just rember several near misses, that could have been ugly "if"..... I can remember several wrecks caused by people worried about getting penalized.

I remember a couple of wrecks from cars going below the yellow line and then trying to get back into line where there is no room for them before the turn.

Haven't seen one in a while because of the yellow line rule. The yellow line rule just changed the place and circumstances of where the wrecks occur. With restrictor plate racing, big wrecks are a certainty. The yellow line rule just changes where they happen.

To tell you the truth, I watched about 5 or 10 laps of the Talladega race on Sunday. Went to church for a nice Evensong service instead of watching. Didn't record it, either.

I hate restrictor plate racing.

**colinspooky** · 28th April 2009, 18:56

You are joking of course. Scrap the yellow line so there is more room to pass. As I said before, ON THE GRASS ?????

If they block down to the yellow line now, they will block to the green line, and if there is a little more concrete there, they will block until they run against something they can run on.

The yellow line just makes so much sense at these speeds packed together.

There has to be a limit somewhere, and running on the grass doesn't make sense to me - unless they have grass tyres fitted too.

**Lee Roy** · 28th April 2009, 19:47

Originally Posted by colinspooky

You are joking of course. Scrap the yellow line so there is more room to pass. As I said before, ON THE GRASS ?????

If they block down to the yellow line now, they will block to the green line, and if there is a little more concrete there, they will block until they run against something they can run on.

The yellow line just makes so much sense at these speeds packed together.

There has to be a limit somewhere, and running on the grass doesn't make sense to me - unless they have grass tyres fitted too.

No, I'm not joking. The yellow line rule doesn't matter. You are correct, and I have stated before if you care to find it, without the yellow line rule the cars will fan out down the back-stretch and then there will be a wreck when they try to jam back in the lanes to make the turn. But on the other hand, if they stay within the yellow line, then wrecks are caused because of the yellow line rule. Look up higher and you'll see where slorydn1 has listed a number of them.

The real reason for the wrecks is the stupid restrictor plates. Whether you have a yellow line rule or not is irrelevant when it comes to wrecks.

I wish they'd reconfigure the tracks so they no longer needed the plates. The fans of the racing will continue to watch. The fans of the wrecks will go elsewhere for entertainment.