Open up those pits!

By DAVID GREEN

Kurt Busch had one of those days at Watkins Glen Sunday. When he tried to get to pit road before a full-course caution made the pits off-limits, that was the beginning of the end for his chances to win that race and to get into the Chase for the 2006 Cup.

If I ran the circus, things would have been different -- for Kurt in that particular instant, and for race fans in general in many instances to come.

Once upon a time (it's been so long, many of NASCAR's new fans may not even know it), pit road was open unless there was a good reason for it to be closed. When the yellow flag waved, drivers were free to duck onto pit road at their own discretion.

Sometimes, the open pit road was inconsequential. But sometimes, a great, spontaneous moment of chaos was created and the whole nature of an event was changed.

Consider this scenario: The leader comes off Turn 4, just past the entrance to the pits, and the yellow blinks on. The guys running fifth, sixth, seventh and on back, not yet past the pit entrance, brake hard and turn left. Their pit crews, caught unaware, have to scramble into action.

The leader and the others who missed the chance to pit early fume in their cockpits during the slow-down lap. The early birds finish their pit stops and head back toward the track, where the safety car is out and cruising, waiting for the new leader to fall in behind.

Is it a bum deal for the guy who was leading? You betcha. But it was bum luck for him and good fortune for somebody else -- real, honest excitement, not the artificially inseminated "drama" such as the Lucky Dog and the green-white-checker finish that NASCAR now feeds salivating masses.

It's great for fans, who get to see those previous front-runners battle their way back to the front, if they're fast enough. It's great for the guy who's fortunate enough to have taken advantage of the windfall -- a Lucky Dog who can hold his head high, lucky because of real luck and not just a dumb rule. Even if he doesn't maintain his advantage, at least he had the chance to fight for it.

In addition, there's a big safety benefit, too. Instead of having all the cars jammed up on pit road at one time, putting crew members in increased jeopardy, the lead-lap cars pit in random spacing, depending on the gap between them when they were under green.

That benefit was never apparent in the old days, because there was no pit-road speed limit. The speed limit has been a life-saver and obviously it needs to be retained. But, unless the reason for the caution is in some proximity to the entrance or exit of the pits, there's no good reason to bunch the field behind the safety car on the racetrack before pit road is opened.

Except, of course, for one little thing. Pit-road closure has become NASCAR's version of the time-out -- and, obviously the perfect time for "a word from our sponsors."

That means we won't be seeing any changes in the pit-road closure rule. That's too bad. Not just for Kurt Busch last Sunday, but for all of us.