Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

In a WoO race, or H-L, or ASCS, or whatever race, What is the rule about a car running below the tires that mark the bottom of the track in the corners? Is there a penalty given after the race? If there's a yellow or red before the end of the race, is the offending driver penalized then?

I know in the Ratbag game if you ran too low, that lap wouldn't count.  You could just turn around and go back to where you went out of bounds turn around and be on your way.

Think the answer is YES.   All of those are possible but depends on track, sanction, etc

Didn't go over the rulebooks in depth but here's what a quick glance shows:

WoO - "a. Any car that does not race on the designated racing surface in order to better its position will be black flagged and penalized at the discretion of the Series Officials."

HL - "Any car that does not race on the designated racing surface in order to better its position may be black flagged and penalized at the discretion of the High Limit Officials"

ASCS - "a. Any car that does not race on the designated racing surface in order to better its position will be black flagged and penalized at the discretion of the Series Officials."

I took a real quick look at the POWRI rulebook and didn't see anything specific but it also might be listed somewhere else as POWRI breaks up into several different documents and I don't want to go through all of them.

I would guess almost every series has some blanket verbiage that will allow officials to DQ and/or punish drivers at their discretion for things that may not be specifically stated out in the rulebook. 

If they dont advance thier position ( pass a car thats not a lapper) and return to the race surface as soon as possible, should be ok.

I pretty sure Kyle Larson won an outlaw feature at River Cities by going below tires in turn 4?

you are right..

I agree, he drove a long way into the infield.  Maybe behind some sponsor banners.

That makes logical sense, if a car gets out of shape and reels it back in. If it's done on purpose, that seems like a pretty slippery surface.

If a driver uses that extra lane only to pass lap cars, and the accepted lane to pass the leader and win, I'd expect some excitement in victory lane.

it kind of reads like the discretion of the Series Officials could play a big part in race outcomes. Good thing everyone agrees that Series Officials are always objective and fair.

Almost ran over a few people in the french fry line.

If I remember right Larson was knocked down there and did not gain position and actually lost ground. Kofoid used it to gain ground by getting around lapped car. Jason Sides did this several years ago at Paducah. They threw the yellow and docked him 2 spots.

Also speaking of rules, did anybody notice on Friday nights Outlaw race during the start of heat 2. They screwed up the starting lineup. RJ Johnson was due to start 6th in the heat. A. Mccarl was to start 7th and Carson Macedo to start 8th. RJ Johnson scratched for the night. The are supposed to cris cros the rows after that. Mccarl should have started 6th. Instead they moved Macedo up. Outlaw favoritism? I don't think so, but a mistake on their part. Just goes to show you old series or new series mistakes can and will be made. 

An inside wall is the answer.  After the infield death at Jacksonville last year, I think they added an inside wall.   Ono of the promotion team at Farmington Empire Speedway said that their insurance carrier required them to add an inside wall.

Tracks i our area, like Husets, have a berm on the inside. Hit the berm and the best outcome would be a slower lap time. Hit it hard enough and watch the rest of the race from the infield.

In response to your first paragraph, yes, you are correct.  Larson was placed into the infield, he did not drive down there. 

In response to your second paragraph, I don't ever remember cars criss-crossing at Knoxville.  I always remember them just moving up a row.  Anyone else?

It is the Outlaws rule, not Knoxville's in this situation since it was Outlaw race. The rest of that night and theweekend they cris crossed

Do you know when this was changed?  Everything I am finding online is exactly what I always remember.  Inside row cars stay inside and outside row cars stay outside.  Everyone just moves up a row.    Not doubting you, just can't remember that rule being changed.  

As far as I know the Outlaws have always done it this way. Johnny is ussually on the mic explaining this. He did not say a word this time, but they did for later races throughout the rest of the weekend. I think it was some quick confusuion and no one said anything or complained. I am sure Mccarl didn't give it much of a thought with it being a knoxville regular rule, but it is not an outlaw rule. Outlaws cris cros