Team 29 Racing

A good reminder to all racers, and I also believe the black flag needs to be used more to keep drivers in check.

The Lost Art of Black Flagging
Somewhere along the way, tracks got soft on rough driving. Well—some tracks did.

A couple years back at Perris, I was surprised to hear the booth straight-up warning drivers during a race about rough driving. They were borderline yelling, maybe even belittling them. "XX, what the hell are you doing out there?!'

Back when I first started in the 90s, it wasn’t the towers job, it was the flagman. If you got out of line, that black flag would be pointed at you, no hesitation. And that was usually enough to straighten a guy up.

I remember one night on the Triple 33, an official came to me during intermission and said, “If you keep hitting people, you’re done.” And all I was doing was tapping on the straightaway to let them know I was there—not dumping people or using them as a backstop. Even when I ran the Sport Mod in Vegas a while back, the booth barked, “68, if you touch that car, you’re going home.” So, I didn’t touch him, I just went back to the trailer and vented to Nicole.

The point is, there used to be consequences. Sometimes you even got parked. It pi**ed guys off, sure, but it kept the racing under control. Now? You almost never see the black flag come out for rough driving. Tracks either don’t want the drama or think the wrecks are good entertainment. Problem is, when officials don’t step in, drivers police it themselves. That’s when you get the paybacks, the door slamming, and the innocent cars caught in the crossfire. Some of these paybacks carry over from previous races, so it's like an accident waiting to happen to others, who get stuck in it.

With today’s raceceiver communication, there’s really no excuse. Officials can easily warn a driver when they’re crossing the line without killing the racing. Aggressive racing is great, it’s what fans pay to see, but there’s a difference between hard racing and wrecking cars.

Maybe it’s just me getting older, but I hate fixing torn-up cars. I hate seeing other people wasting time and money fixing torn-up cars. There are better ways to spend the week than replacing sheetmetal and parts. As the late Bob Crockett once told me, "Wouldn't you rather take your wife or girlfriend to the movies?"

Bring back the black flag. I'd even settle for pretending to.

Main event WIN!
Way to go Billy! And the car drives on the trailer to boot! What a great night! Congrats!!