In four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races this year, NASCAR’s new 20-minute caution clock rule has come into play four times, twice at Atlanta and twice in Friday night’s Toyota Tundra 250.
In the latter event, the first expiration of the clock happened to coincide with the end of a fuel run, and trucks began running out of gas as they circled under the yellow because Jordan Anderson’s truck was blocking the entrance to pit road.
Eventually, NASCAR opted to open pit road even though trucks were running out of fuel near the entrance and requiring pushes to get to their respective stalls.
Race-winning team owner Kyle Busch applauded that decision and talked favorably about the strategic nuances of the caution clock in general.
“Certainly, there were some tense moments with some fuel and with people running out and stuff like that,” said Busch, whose 18-year-old driver, William Byron, went to Victory Lane for the first time in his fifth series start. “I think if it comes down to that, where the caution clock is right on the fuel number … obviously, they kept pit road closed because there were guys stalling on the apron.
“All you’re going to do is keep getting the next guy to stall, the next guy to stall, the next guy to stall. … It was a smart move just to open it up and get the guys down pit road. All in all, it’s an interesting strategy for the series. It’s different, that’s for sure. This is just a thing for the series to have to work around and make the crew chiefs’ jobs a little more stressful.”
- NASCAR Weekend Preview: Dover Motor Speedway - April 25, 2024
- Brad Keselowski inches closer to Victory Lane - April 23, 2024
- Tyler Reddick takes checkered in wild Talladega finish for Michael Jordan’s first win while in attendance - April 22, 2024