Jeff Burton and everyone else watching Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at the Charlotte Roval couldn’t help but be confused by the finish. When watching live, it appeared Parker Kligerman had crossed the finish and taken the white flag, which would make the race official, before NASCAR put out a caution for a wreck.
However, no one was certain because it was so close, and more importantly, the sanctioning body delayed in officially declaring the No. 48 the winner. It was only after several minutes of confusion and speculation that a time-stamped photo revealed Kligerman was in fact several feet short of the start-finish line when the yellow light illuminated.
While discussing the situation with Steve Letarte in the NBC broadcast booth, Burton made it clear what he thought needed to happen in the future.
“This is the absolute timestamp of the yellow,” Steve Letarte said, referring to the photo. “That is a screenshot of where the 48 is. It doesn’t look that close live. But remember, there is a delay to the yellow lights. So it’s all electronic now.”
“We got to get this fixed,” Jeff Burton interjected. “I’m sorry. As a fan, I should see a light and say that’s it. They should not have to go back and say, ‘Well, wait a minute, there’s a timestamp.’ I mean, it needs to make sense and it needs to be simple to observe. I’m not saying it’s wrong.”
“I’m with you though,” the former crew chief said. “It’s like the shot clock. I want to see the backboard, you know, light up red and you know it’s either touching his fingers or the shot’s been released.
“Now it’s much harder when cars are going 100 plus miles an hour, but I agree with you, Jeff, in the interest of the fan, it would be clearer if it was obvious.” NASCAR’s Mayor has spoken. Whether or not governing body officials feel what he and Letarte said is worthy of change is a whole other story.
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