OK -- let's change the rules

By DAVID GREEN

Spotted on the television listings page of a Kentucky newspaper:

"Any more finishes like the crash-filled Daytona 500 and NASCAR's ratings will go through the roof. (Speaking of roofs, one driver crossed the finish line on his last week.) Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are pegged as favorites in the Auto Club 500 at Fontana, Calif. (3 p.m., Fox)."

Spotted in The Charlotte Observer:

"Perhaps some potential viewers who saw replays of Harvick edging Mark Martin as the field wrecked behind them last Sunday will tune in this week out of curiosity..."

It is safe to assume that those who are rushing to NASCAR's defense for giving its audience "an exciting finish" (at the expense of its rules) have a point. That kind of stuff sells to the masses.

It isn't that we curmudgeons who are complaining that NASCAR's judgment was flawed or that it ignored its own race-procedure rules don't want to see finishes measured in thousandths of a second. It isn't that we want to deny anyone a reason to leap out of his La-Z-Boy in the sudden ecstasy of a vicariously triggered adrenalin surge.

The heated, often acrimonious debate may be among those who, despite appearances, may not be that far apart in their points of view. So -- how about some compromises?

Sometimes the local short track has the best ideas. At most tracks in my experience as a fan or competitor, you know as a driver that you revert to the last green flag lap running order when there's a mid-race caution and, unless there's a serious crash, you race back to the checkered flag. If there's a serious accident, you get a green-white-checker -- not just one shot at it, but as many as it takes.

The road we've gone down with the GWC in NASCAR, why not use Saturday-night bullring logic for officiating Cup, Busch and Truck races? Why just one attempt at a GWC? Just keep doing it until we get it right.

What if somebody runs out of gas, you ask? Well, let's just give everybody a free trip to the pits for whatever services they may need, then line 'em back up and let 'em go. We've already junked the notion that the finish of a race is a fixed, definite number of laps or miles. Let's toss out the strategic implications of that notion, as well.

That way, we can throw caution flags when there's a genuine need to do so; not throw them when there's not; and, except in rare instances, let people race to the checkered flag and have a green-flag finish every time.

We can forget about the complications of videotape replays and loop scoring. If there was a thrilling pass for position that gets wiped out by a yellow, it's too bad for the driver who pulled off the maneuver; but, hey -- the fans will get a chance to see him try it again! And, perhaps, again and again and again.

Under such rules, we will have a better chance of providing the product that, virtually all of us agree, the masses desire.

I'm not being sarcastic. That's the way it works for the weekend warriors. It seems to me that's the sort of thing the mainstream audience wants to see. Why not give it to them?

Every sport has the same dilemma. How far do you go to pander to the audience's thirst for the spectacular without compromising the essence of legitimate competition?

In for a penny, in for a pound, I say.