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Elton Sawyer admits NASCAR should have thrown caution amid Atlanta Xfinity Series final lap wreck

JHby:Jonathan Howard•about 13 hours•

Jondean25

NASCAR Atlanta
Mandatory Credit: Jason Allen-Imagn Images

Last night during the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta, officials decided not to throw the caution flag as the field wrecked on the backstretch. For the second week in a row, drivers raced to the line at the end of a race.

So, what is NASCAR telling the Cup Series drivers today ahead of the Atlanta race? Well, they made a mistake. What does that mean? That also remains unclear.

Elton Sawyer spoke to the Cup Series drivers about last night’s call during the prerace meeting. Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports reports that Sawyer explained they made a mistake in the Xfinity Series race.

“NASCAR should have thrown the caution on the final lap of the Xfinity race with the amount of debris on the track,” Pockrass wrote about Sawyer’s explanation to drivers.

“Sawyer said their goal is to finish under green but if a similar situation happens today, they can expect a caution.”

“Based on last night race, our goal is to finish our races under green conditions,” Pockrass directly quoted Sawyer in a later post. “That’s our No. 1 goal. But also we’re not going to be racing through a debris field. So you can expect the caution to come out based on last night. That was on us. If a situation comes up like last night [there] will be a caution.”

It feels like racing to the line after a wreck has its issues, right? You don’t know how a wreck is going to play out, and you can have 100 wrecks and each one would be different in one way or another.

With this immediate “Sorry we messed up” what should NASCAR drivers expect at Atlanta today? Well, they don’t know what to expect because there are so many variables.

NASCAR trying to get things right at Atlanta

There are times when these late cautions or no-calls are going to change the potential winner of a race. Last night, Austin Hill was fully in control. Whatever happened on that last lap with the wreck, Hill would have been the winner.

However, what we do get with these calls and no-calls is a completely different running order throughout the field. So many cars make passes during these last-lap wrecks, others get caught up in the mess, and some are forced to check up and lose momentum while also racing to the line.

Is this NASCAR’s way of trying to get rid of Green-White-Checkered overtime finishes without getting rid of them officially? What is the sudden change between now and last season when the flag was being thrown relatively quickly?

Keep your eyes peeled during today’s NASCAR race at Atlanta. The Cup Series will try to deliver another epic finish for fans. Will NASCAR end up making the right call in the end?