You're right that IRL/CART usually only have a few cars on the lead lap, but that's because of a huge competitive imbalance that NASCAR doesn't have. NASCAR could easily have a few more competitive cars on the lead lap if they let crews work on their cars during cautions. True, red flags are rare, but it's those precise incidents that are when NASCAR would benefit most from allowing crews to work on their cars. Today's race could have had a much better finish if many of the guys who got caught up in the wreck were allowed to work on their cars. Sure, that would allow some also-rans the opportunity to get back out there and create havoc, but that's no different than any other week. The idea is to try and consistently put a good race on the track. And yes, ALL crews would have to be able to service their cars. If this were to happen, I would say that NASCAR simply has a rule that no work can be done on a car under the red flag until they say so. Essentially, you allow the clean up and other safety issues to be taken care of, then you let everyone onto pit road to work. It could be done.

And I agree about the cumulative factor of pit road rule breaking. If the first rule you break says "end of the longest line" and the second one is also "end of the longest line," to me that's the end of the longest line twice, meaning you lose a lap AND end up at the end of the longest line. The drivers aren't stupid anymore. It's just NASCAR that is. Newman used the rules to his advantage at Dover last year and he used them again this year. The problem is that NASCAR always seems to be in "catch up" mode. They're not putting the rules in place ahead of time. They only create a new rule when someone takes advantage of a loophole. Like the "Frank Stoddard" rule for the All-Star race. Same kind of thing.

Personally, I think they need to go back to the DW school of racing and have Green, White, Checkered. Yellow flags for caution, but get rid of the red flag except for rain, bad wrecks, etc. It's stupid, IMHO. You don't see fans in other series' throwing coolers at flagmen for doing their job. You don't see fans in other series' tossing their seat cushions, beer cans, etc. onto the track when the race ends under caution. No, they just cheer the victor and/or head for the exit. What's done is done.

Second, Kevin Harvick should be suspended... again! What he and Kenseth did yesterday was dispicable and just shows why NASCAR will continue to be considered a redneck sport until something is done to stop that crap. As Larry Mac said (one of the FEW things I agree with him about) they're not the ones that are going to have to fix those cars. Some body guys are now going to have to spend hours upon hours fixing the cars that Harvick and Kenseth beat up. Meanwhile, Harvick will get more airtime on NASCAR 360 living it up in his pad and Kenseth will just go on berating his team for having such a bad car (that always seems to finish well...). But even beyond their own body work, they almost got other cars caught up in their mess. That's inexcusable. Apparently the threat of $25k and 25 points isn't doing much, so fine them both $50k, dock them 50 points, and make Harvick sit a race for being a repeat offender. They'll cry that it's unfair, but maybe these drivers will start racing and stop thinking they're in a demolition derby.

Third, the Jimmie Johnson fiasco was a bunch of crap. You would think NASCAR has been doing this "racin' stuff" for about a week based on what happened. First the pace car doesn't know what to do and then the flagman at the pit entrance has no clue what to do. Given that everybody has headphones on, why didn't NASCAR do something about it all BEFORE it became an issue? They should have seen that the pace car didn't catch up with Johnson and realized that, according to their rules, pit road shouldn't be open. At that point, call the flagman at pit road and tell him to keep it closed. Would it piss off some drivers who thought pit road would open? Yes, but at least it's the same thing for everyone. As it was, Johnson almost lost a race he dominated soley because of NASCAR and their lack of understanding of their own rules.

Fourth, weren't they going to have electronic monitoring devices spread around the track to help determine race position at the caution flag? What happened? We still ended up with a 10 lap caution (121-131) while NASCAR tried to figure everything out (and apparently never did!). 10 laps at Pocono is forever! This is a 500 mile race that takes 4 hours to complete! There's no excuse for a 10 lap caution. If something is going to take that long to clean up, fix, or whatever, THEN is the time to use the red flag. People don't pay good money to see cars go around the track at 65 MPH while NASCAR figures out their mistakes.

In the end, there were over 50 laps of caution in the Pocono 500. Over 1/4 of the race was run at 65 MPH. If I were a fan, I'd be pissed about THAT, not the fact that the race finished under caution. NASCAR needs to start having more 2-3 lap caution flags. While the pace car is picking up the field, cleanup should be underway. Ever see an INDY crew clean up an oil spill? There's something like 500 guys out there with kitty litter and brooms. It's cleaned up before the cars can even turn a lap. Why does it take NASCAR 3 laps or more? Hire more crew people if you need more! The exact lap after the caution flag is thrown, pit road should be open for lead lap cars. That's lap 1 under caution. Lap 2, pit road is open for lapped cars. Maybe 1 more lap, if needed at a place like Bristol, and then back to green. At Pocono, a 2 lap caution should be a given. Instead, 4-lap and 5-lap cautions were the standard. Ridiculous.

NASCAR president Mike Helton said Sunday that the sanctioning body will review the tapes of the incidents and that further penalites will be considered.

To me, that still isn't enough. As PuNk42AE pointed to, most of the beatin' and bangin' like that happens at the end of the race, so there isn't much to lose. And what about if the race was like Dover where there were only 5 cars on the lead lap. Somehow, "punishing" a car all the way back to 5th place doesn't seem like a big deal. That's the equivalent and this is why NASCAR is a joke. They arbitrarily make up rules that sound good at the time but have about 2 minutes of thought behind them. They need to stop doing the fix-the-current-problem rules and actually make rules that fix the overall problem and fix it for good.

For serious offenses like Harvick/Kenseth, I think a monetary fine coupled with a points fine and escalating probation/suspension would likely do the trick. Something like:

First offense: $25k, 25 points, 18-race probation
Second: $50k, 50 points, 1-race suspension
Third: Forfeit all money and points from race AND $100k, 100 points, 3-race suspension, loss of all provisionals

Major Offense while on Probation: +1 Major. In other words, if you're on probation and you have a Major Offense, it's considered 2 Majors.

For minor offenses, something like:

First offense: $5k, 0 points, 3-race probation
Second: $10k, 10 points, 6-race probation
Third: Considered a major offense. Couple with previous major offenses, if any.

Sound ridiculous? You bet your bottom it's ridiculous. But, if it's put in place, how many drivers are going to have multiple offenses? Set it up so it's a calendar year. You have your first offense at the Pocono 500, that's considered one offense until the next Pocono 500. I understand that some guys are going to lose their head every now and again. That's what the First Offense (major) covers. You pay for it and it's a reminder to keep your emotions in check, but it's not going to kill your season. Get up to that Third Offense (major) and you're likely looking for a new job, as you should be.

So what's major and what's minor? That would be for NASCAR to decide, but they would need to lay down some guidelines. Anything clearly detrimental to the sport like Harvick/Kenseth or someone CLEARLY wrecking another car should be considered Major. Things like the deck lid of the car being out of range (to a certain amount) should be considered Minor. Throwing your gloves at another car or making a gesture after you feel you've been wrecked should be considered minor.

Amazingly, he still does it and they still do their job. I can't count the number of times he's complained about his car and crew. He's smart and does it in a non-chalant way, but if you listen to what he says, it's right there.