LOLMDS tech director Steve Francis and other officials will be on the lookout for drivers falsely drawing cautions in 2019
The long-standing tradition in Dirt Late Model racing for a driver who has a flat tire is for that driver to raise his hand out the window of the car and safely slow down on the track so that officials can put out the caution flag. That driver is then allowed to go to the attention of his crew and change the flat tire before restarting the race at the tail of the field. However, it is become somewhat of a new tradition for drivers to use that system to their advantage and draw a yellow flag simply for the purpose of replacing an inflated(but worn) tire with a newer one.
During Friday night’s drivers meeting prior to the start of the RhinoAg Super Bowl of Racing at the Golden Isles Speedway near Brunswick, GA officials from the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series informed drivers and teams that a new policy regarding flat tires would be in effect for the 2019 season.
According to LOLMDS series director Rick Schwallie, when a driver puts a hand out the window and slows to draw a caution that driver will be allowed to go to the hot pit area. However, if a Lucas Oil official sees that no tire is indeed flat, the team will not be allowed to change it. The driver will simply have to return to the track and restart at the rear of the pack on the older tires.
Obviously, if the tire is in fact flat the team will be allowed to perform service.
Teams will still be allowed to change tires under caution for drivers who did not intentionally slow to draw the yellow flag. Any driver receiving service under those circumstances will, of course, have to restart from the rear as has always been the case.
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