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| For most NASCAR Winston Cup races, the official starter (the person who waves the flags) seldom actually starts the race. That privilege usually goes to a specially designated person (like an executive from the event sponser, a politician, a celebrity, or even a fan who happens to win a contest). |
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What do the flags mean? Since the beginning of time, flags have represented countries, groups, clubs, armies and just about anything else that brought together more than one person, place or thing for a cause. A matador doesn't wave a green cape in front of a bull (wouldn't have quite the same flair, would it?). A soldier wanting to discuss things with the enemy doesn't walk across a minefiled holding a black flag. Pirates roaming the open seas in the early eighteenth century didn't fly flags with cute daisies on them. NASCAR' flags mean something, too. And they all communicate something very different. |
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What do they look like? There are eight flags that NASCAR drivers have to familiarize themselves with. And the waving of any of them means something very important. GREEN FLAG 
Just like a traffic light, green means go, hit it, step on it,
pedal to the metal. The green flag starts and restarts the race.
Once the starting (green) flag is waved the car in second position
cannot reach the start/finish line before the pole sitter or a penalty
will be assessed. After the race starts, the green flag is
not displayed again until there is a caution period. In that
instance, the green flag is thrown to restart the race.BLUE FLAG WITH DIAGONAL ORANGE STRIPE Okay, you're a NASCAR driver and you're barreling down the front stretch at over 150 miles per hour. But you're not running as well as you would like. In fact, you're a couple laps down. You look up and the starter is showing you a blue flag with an orange diagonal stripe. what do you do? Drivers have to be aware of the meanings of all the flags. But this flag is the one most new NASCAR fans see the most and probably know the least about. It is the "passing flag" or "move-over flag" and is thrown by the starter to the cars running one or more lap down telling them to show courtesy to the lead lap cars racing around them. These cars must prepare to yield to approaching traffic. YELLOW FLAG 
Like the yellow traffic light, the yellow flag means take
caution and proceed carefully. The yellow flag is displayed
to warn drivers to slow down and use caution when proceeding
on the race track. The first car passing the starter immediately
following the occurrence of the caution will receive the yellow flag.
All cars receiving the yellow flag at the start/finish line
will slow down. Until each car crosses the start/finish line,
drivers can continue to improve their position. Once they cross
the line they will hold their position and form a single line behind
the lead car. The pace car will come back out on the track in front
of the pack until the green flag is ready to fly again. Yellow flags are used
to slow the pace of the race. The determination of what constitutes
a reason for a caution period lies in the hands of the NASCAR
officials in the race control tower.To signify the halfway point of each race the starter crosses any two flags and displays them to the field RED FLAG 
Okay, we've had green and we've had yellow,
so what about red? A red light at an intersection means a driver
needs to stop. Same with a red flag. A red flag signifies the event
must come to an immediate halt, regardless of the positions of the
cars on the race track. Regardless of the reason (i.e. inclement
weather or an an accident) a red flag is displayed to the field
when it is determined by NASCAR officials that the track conditions
are not conducive to allowing the event to continue. Cars are
brought to a halt in a designated area or right on the race track
and repairs or service of any type is prohibited. Also, all work must stop
immediately on the cars in the pits and/or garage area and cannot resume
until the red flag period comes to an end and the race is restarted.BLACK FLAG You're driving in a race and coming through the tri-oval of a superspeedway. You look up at the starter's stand and see your car number on the flashing electronic board (which is mounted on the starter's stand) and the starter is waving a black flag. What does that mean? Well, for any number of reasons, it means you are to report to your pit immediately. Your car could be smoking, you could be going to slow on the race track, you could have passed on the wrong side of the restart, and so on. Whichever, you need to report to the pits immediately to correct the situation. The black flag is the last flag a driver ants to see because it indicates that there is probably something wrong with the car. There is no flag they want to see less than the black flag, except the... BLACK FLAG WITH WHITE CROSS This flag simply means one thing, The driver has not responded to the black flag and is being notified by NASCAR officials that his laps will no longer be counted until he heads to the pits. WHITE FLAG No matter how long or how short a race is, the white flag appears one time and one time only - when there is one lap left in the event. The white flag indicates that the leader has started his or her last lap, which is, therefore, the final lap of the race. Once the white flag is displayed, cars may not receive any assistance except in the form of a regular pit stop. For example, if a car runs out of gas on the last lap of the race and cannot make it to the finish line, it would have to come into the pits to receive fuel. The driver's team would not be permitted to physically push him across the start/finish line. CHECKERED FLAG When the checkered flag waves, the race has been completed. |
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