Quote:
Originally Posted by Onlydirt
They should just make them start the 500 right and leave the rest alone. Those starts have got out of control....takes away the excitement.
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I wrote the IRL (Fred Nation) about the parade laps and the starts after the first couple of lousy starts. Until the 2nd year of the IRL, they used to line up 3 abreast for the Parade and Pace laps and the start. Since 1997, they now run single file for the parade and pace laps and don't form up until going down the back chute approaching the start of the race. Most of the time they come out of turn 4 strung out already. If you sit on the front chute, like I do, you never get to see them 3 wide anymore. It stinks and I told them so in my letter. They did have the decency to respond but, the response was that safety supercedes the spectacle and the tradition and, they have no plans to resume the 3 abreast warm-up laps. They are afraid that there could be an accident before the start of the race when the drivers are "scrubbing" (weaving back and forth on the track) the tires in preparation for the start. In the past, I don't recall a rash of accidents while "tire scrubbing" in the 3 wide formation (maybe Roberto Guerrero in 1991?). Oh well, they've destroyed the most spectacular and exciting part of the race and, to date, have no intentions of correcting the problem.