While viewers can see how fast cars are going on the track during races,
NASCAR does not allow TV networks to display speeds and other data on pit road,
officials with NBC and TNT confirmed on Wednesday.
Speeds on pit road have been on the minds of many fans and competitors since
Sundays race at California Speedway. In that race, eventual winner Kasey Kahne
was penalized for speeding on pit road while Dale Earnhardt Jr. - right on
Kahnes bumper - was not.
All of NASCARs TV partners - including Fox and FX, which carried the first
half of the season - display telemetry during the races. Viewers can see how
fast cars are going on the track and such details as the amount of braking and
engine RPMs, too.
The networks have the capability to show the information on pit road, just as
they do under green-flag conditions during the races, but NASCAR wont allow it.
"We are not allowed to use any telemetry on pit road, as per NASCAR," NBC
spokeswoman Alana Russo said.
Asked if TNT wanted to display the information or felt that race fans might
want to see it, the cable network answered with a statement from executive
producer Jeff Behnke:
"Weve discussed it with NASCAR and it is a competition decision, which
obviously takes precedence over television enhancements."
Pit road penalties have long been a source of debate among fans and
competitors, not just since the Labor Day weekend Cup race.
Before the 2005 season, NASCAR officials using stopwatches made random checks
of cars on pit road, calculating average speeds between two points.
Under increasing scrutiny, the stock car sanctioning body changed to an
electronic monitoring system that checks every car.
However, one thing did not change: Speeds are still checked by calculating an
average speed between two points, through a series of "loops" on pit road. It is
not a snapshot of a cars speed, like a radar gun used by police would provide.
So a cars speed on pit road - as might be displayed by the networks were it
allowed - isnt determined by the same measurement NASCAR uses to flag
violators.
NASCAR also implemented a 5 mph tolerance when moving to the electronic
monitoring system. However, that 5 mph is added on top of the average speed
calculated between two loops, not to a snapshot measurement of a given moment.
"Pit road speed is a safety rule and was created to promote a safer
environment along pit road," NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said Wednesday.
"From a safety standpoint, if teams were able to monitor the pit road speeds
via the television broadcast, you could find teams thinking they could try to
exceed pit road speed in certain areas of pit road.
"That could create an unsafe situation, and certainly no one wants that,"
Tharp said.
However, teams are already working that system.
Members of several of NASCARs top Nextel Cup Series teams told The Charlotte
Observer on Wednesday they often choose pit stalls based on the location of the
timing loops.
For example, choosing a pit stall that ends just short of a loop could allow
a driver to accelerate entering the stall.
A violation would be unlikely since the car is stopped for several seconds
and the average speed between loops is well below the maximum.
