NASCAR: COTA chaos provides lessons for everyone

Sunday’s race at Circuit of the Americas proved this experiment of rain racing needs to go back to the drawing board, for both NASCAR and the broadcasts.

Even though rain has been a part of NASCAR since 2008, rain in the Cup Series is still a new concept. What happened at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on Sunday is a clear opportunity for everyone to learn more, including those on the broadcast team.

With COTA being the biggest road course that NASCAR has gone to in recent years, Fox needs to invest more into cameras for these types of events.

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I know they had to scale back the broadcasts because of the COVID-19 pandemic; that’s why we still don’t see a full pit road reporting team. But NASCAR and the entire United States are slowly lifting restrictions, such as the requirement for masks outdoors in the garage and pit area.

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I hope NASCAR on Fox comes back with the full pit reporting squad and also with more cameras and staff, especially at the massive road courses such as COTA and Road America.

It’s unacceptable to miss one incident, but when three, four or even five get missed, you have a problem, and it starts with having more manpower at the track now with the pandemic slowly getting behind us. Speaking of incidents, Sunday’s race proved to be a learning experience for NASCAR and the drivers about how much rain stock cars can handle. We had to call off the race because of too much rain, even though we had rain tires and only a handful of laps left.

Safety came into play, but only because it was too late. It took a rear-end collision between Cole Custer and Martin Truex Jr., the second significant incident of the race, for officials to finally step back and turn the dial down on the chaos and letting the drivers run it out.

I think it’s obvious that NASCAR looks at other series such as Formula 1 and IMSA regarding how to run a race in the rain. But NASCAR is far different than those other racing leagues.

If NASCAR wants to race in heavy rain conditions, the number one thing that needs to change is expanding the rear light to across the entire back of the car and not simply have it as a small toilet paper-sized square in the corner. Yes, it works for light rain, but not for downpours.

Secondly, standardize the windshield wiper. Using different types or brands of wipers works for some, but not for all. If NASCAR does some consumer research to find a branded wiper that is efficient and safe, then they can keep the races going and also make a bit of money by getting the brand as a sponsor. Win-win!

The one thing I’m torn on is the track layout. Circuit of the Americas deserves a place in NASCAR; Sunday proved that. But the full 20-turn, 3.427-mile (5.515-kilometer) road course is too much.

If the race was run on the 2.300-mile (3.702-kilometer) short course without the long straightaway, would the safety issues that come with racing in the rain have been brought up at all? It’s just something to think about. I think there is a limit on the length of a track that NASCAR should race at, and we broke through it on Sunday.

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NASCAR’s first attempt at Circuit of the Americas was never going to be perfect. There are a lot of growing pains to sort out — not just the track, but racing in the rain as a whole. NASCAR wants to normalize it, as do I. But it needs to be done differently than their racing counterparts. Sunday proved that.

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