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by Julian Spivey
I know the IndyCar Series, like most auto racing series, has the red flag in its colorful assortment of racing flags because it has been used before. So, maybe it just got lost on Sunday (August 23) with five laps remaining in the series’ biggest event of the year? Takuma Sato was in good shape with five laps to go in the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon with about a second lead over second place running Scott Dixon, had who led more than half the race. But there was the potential Sato might have caught more lap traffic and may have even been lower on fuel than Dixon that might have altered the finishing order in the last few laps had they gotten the opportunity to run out under green conditions. When Spencer Pigot lost control of his car and crashed into the pit road attenuator with five laps to go that ended any chance of the what might have been scenarios and Sato drove his car under pace speed across the finish line for his second career Indianapolis 500 crown. The decision by IndyCar not to use the red flag, which halts a race and freezes the field until green flag conditions can be run, is controversial because it doesn’t give fans (all of whom were watching the race televised this year due to COVID-19 forcing the race to be run without fans) an ending under the green flag. But when it comes to IndyCar even throwing the red flag on Sunday would’ve been controversial because you have your traditional IndyCar fan who believe the Indianapolis 500 should end at 500 miles no matter what – whether under the green flag or the yellow. For the majority of auto racing history races have ended under caution when accidents happened late in the running and the field could not go green before the originally stated distance of the race. But then a little under two decades ago the series of NASCAR came up with what’s known as the green-white-checkered finish instituted to give fans the exciting finish they deserve and since instituting this rule far fewer races have ended under caution. Also, NASCAR is way more liberal with its use of the red flag because it knows fans would rather see an ending at full speed even if forced to go five or so miles longer than being stubborn about a race being exactly 500 miles. All sports should strive to give the fans what they want. IndyCar said in a statement after the race on Sunday, “IndyCar makes every effort to end races under green, but in this case following the assessment of the incident, there were too few laps remaining to gather the field behind the pace car, issue a red flag and then restart.” I’m sorry, but if the red flag was flown immediately upon seeing Pigot’s impact with the pit road attenuator that simply isn’t the case. They could’ve had at least a two-lap shootout (green-white-checkered style). Sure, the cleanup would’ve taken quite a while given the damage to the pit road attenuator, but I think everybody other than Sato and his race team would’ve been perfectly fine with it. Dixon, the second winningest driver in IndyCar history, has been calling for the series to use red flags more often as far back as 2012 when he tweeted, “Think IndyCar need green-white-checker. Sucks seeing a race finish under yellow.” It’s the third time in the last decade the Indy 500 has finished under caution with Dario Franchitti winning the 2012 event under yellow when Sato tried to pass him on the final lap and crashed (it’s important to note that even under green-white-checker rules this would still result in the race being over as it was the final lap) and in 2013 when Tony Kanaan won the race when Franchitti wrecked with a few laps remaining. What makes IndyCar’s decision not to use the red flag even more controversial is the fact that they have used it before in this very race. In 2014, following two consecutive years in which the Indy 500 ended under caution, the series red flagged the event when Townsend Bell wrecked with laps winding down and that led to an amazing finish between Ryan Hunter-Reay and Helio Castroneves with Hunter-Reay winning in the second closest finish in Indy 500 history at that time. So, in 2014 IndyCar set precedence for using the red flag to give the fans a great finish. That makes the decision not to use it in 2020 inconsistent with past races and inconsistency in motorsports is something that always annoys fans (just ask hardcore NASCAR fans). It’s time for IndyCar to stop being so strict about races ending at the predetermined mile marker and give the fans what they want – an actual finish with cars speeding through the checkered flag. 
Do you think IndyCar should have red-flagged Indianapolis 500 to set up green flag finish?
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