NASCAR recently issued an explanation as to why and how the mistake with the ambulance at the pit commitment line at Richmond took place. But is the explanation reasonable?
On lap 256 during the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, the NASCAR Cup Series 400-lap regular season finale, Danica Patrick and Austin Dillon collided on the track, which caused Patrick spun out, which in turn caused NASCAR officials to appropriately throw the caution flag.
Several drivers took advantage of this caution flag period and made their way onto pit road in anticipation of fuel and tire service, which was expected given the fact that drivers typically lose over a lap when they pit under green flag conditions.
However, “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”, which is what happened when the drivers actually started to make their way into the pits. How? Because an ambulance was stopped right at the pit commitment line on the apron of the track, which caught a number of drivers off guard.
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Of the drivers caught off guard, the most notable one was race polesitter Matt Kenseth. He ended up running into the back of Clint Bowyer’s #14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, as Bowyer and a number of drivers in front of him had slowed down to take evasive action in order to avoid the ambulance.
This impact that Kenseth’s #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sustained damaged the radiator of the car, and it forced Kenseth’s night to end early with a miserable 38th place after it appeared as though he would have a great chance to win his first race of the season.
The wreck
Here is a video of the accident that took place thanks to the ambulance being on the apron of the track as a lot of cars made their way into the pits.
This is a wreck that could have had serious playoff implications. Matt Kenseth ended up being the final driver to qualify for this season’s playoffs in the 16th playoff spot, as he was unable to win a single race in the regular season and made it into the playoffs on points.
However, had a driver who had not yet won in the 2017 season (or Joey Logano, since his lone win earlier in the season at Richmond was encumbered) and was not in the playoff picture based on points total ended up winning the race, Kenseth would have been out of the playoffs, and it would have been thanks to this 100% avoidable incident with the ambulance.
And guess what? He almost ended up failing to qualify for the playoffs because of it. Joey Logano, whose lone win earlier in the season was encumbered, finished the race in 2nd place, while winless rookies Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez finished in 6th and 7th, respectively. That’s how close Kenseth was to not making the playoffs as a result of this incident with the ambulance; three drivers who very well could have taken his spot were within striking distance of race winner Kyle Larson.
Here is how NASCAR explained what went down with the ambulance and why what happened happened.
NASCAR’s explanation
Here is what NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller had to say about the incident.
"“He didn’t stop when he was told to…We had a situation where a directive was given from the tower and it wasn’t followed. We’ll do our due diligence to figure out why the directive wasn’t followed and make sure we’re prepared never to make that mistake again.”"
By saying this, Miller is placing the blame on the ambulance driver for not following his orders. He is also saying that NASCAR will do whatever they can do to find out what caused this mistake, admitting that it was, indeed, a mistake.
"“We probably should (have closed pit road). Those calls are very dynamic in that they happen very, very quickly. It’s the race director in charge of pit road open and close and the track services and safety crew in charge of the other. We didn’t sync up tonight. We will make sure that we don’t let that happen again.”"
By saying this, Miller is brainstorming things that NASCAR could have done differently to prevent such a mistake, and he is essentially throwing things out there that NASCAR should do in the future if put in a similar situation.
"“It’s very tight at pit-in and as I said, we will analyze the situation and do a better job…We obviously have a lot of people in the tower watching a lot of different things. All of it is based on race directives from the tower, radio communications to the people that are out on the race track and when those directives aren’t followed, we end up in a situation like tonight. As I’ve said, dissect it and figure out how not to make the mistake again.”"
And finally, by saying this, Miller is pretty much clarifying what he said in the second paragraph, as he talks about what NASCAR could have done differently to prevent the incident and what they need to consider in the future to prevent something like that from happening again.
So was NASCAR’s explanation of why the incident happened the way it did reasonable?
NASCAR’s explanation: Reasonable or unreasonable?
Since the incident ending up not actually costing Matt Kenseth a spot in the playoffs, this situation isn’t nearly as big of a deal as it would have been if he did lose his spot. I can pretty much guarantee he would not have posted this photo to Twitter if the incident cost him a playoff spot in his final season driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, and possibly in the NASCAR Cup Series.
— Matt Kenseth (@mattkenseth) September 10, 2017
However, it is still a huge deal. So was NASCAR’s explanation of the incident reasonable?
What the explanation boils down to is pretty much NASCAR simply saying that the incident was a “mistake”. Yea, no kidding it was a mistake. Pretty sure it wasn’t Matt Kenseth’s idea of an early playoff party. But hey, I could be wrong; I’ve been wrong plenty of times before. I’m thinking I’m not wrong this time, though.
While the explanation as a whole would seem to make sense to the average fan, you really have to be careful when judging it at fact or fiction. Why? Because no matter how NASCAR responds to a controversial scenario like this, their statement is what is going to be deemed “official”. Is it possible that they are using that ideology to their advantage to manipulate what the public thinks? Well, that’s for you to decide.
Could NASCAR be throwing the ambulance driver under the bus to minimize the scrutiny that they will continue to receive as a result of the incident? Well, they could be, but that, too, is for your to decide if they truly are, as no fan will ever know for sure. But it does seem strange that the driver would park where he did without being told, especially since those drivers drill on where to be every race, year after year. And, after all, why was pit road not closed with the ambulance parked there? Again, that’s up for you to decide.
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Do you think NASCAR’s explanation of the ambulance incident at Richmond was reasonable? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to follow along with Beyond the Flag for the latest news, opinions and analysis stemming from a number of different motorsports series. You don’t want to miss any of it. Also be sure to follow Beyond the Flag on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.