By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor
When the 20-minute caution clock was announced for the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, NASCAR claimed made the rule change to create more strategy for crew chiefs in the series. Many fans and media alike feared that it would dull the series down with green-flag pit stops being eliminated.
Friday night at Daytona International Speedway, the caution clock actually caused a crash on lap 41 when several drivers opted to pit just before the clock was to expire in an effort to gain track position when the remainder of the field would pit under the caution period.
Cody Coughlin appeared to not be able to slow his car down enough while coming to pit road, and slammed into the back of Spencer Gallagher’s No. 23 Chevrolet Silverado. Gallagher would go spinning, and would also collect Christopher Bell.
Coughlin was interviewed after his crash, and he actually seemed unaware that the field in front of him was going to pit and that was what actually caused him to slam into Gallagher’s race truck.
“I just was told that some guys peeled off the last lap, and that they might do the same,” a frustrated Coughlin stated.
Coughlin said that the cars directly in front of him just slammed on their brakes from 180 miles-per-hour and he had nowhere to go. One race in and the caution clock is already making an impact in the outcome of races, although I don’t think this is the impact NASCAR had in mind when they instituted the rule.
Image: Chris Graythen/Getty Images
