Marchionne likened some of Liberty's ideas to those witnessed in the American Nascar stock-car racing series, which effectively uses standard cars and employs a number of artificial means to keep racing close.
A REFRESHER COURSE COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA
Caution flag and restart procedure
When the yellow flag is displayed and the yellow caution lights around the track come on, the field is frozen immediately at the moment of caution. All scoring ends immediately and cars are to slow to
pace vehicle (safety car) speed. Cars will line up behind the pace vehicle in the order in which they passed the last scoring loop on track (there are as many as 18 loops around the track, although the one at the start/finish line is the only one that counts for official race statistics). The exception to this rule is if the yellow flag waves after the white flag is thrown (or, in the case of an overtime attempt, if the yellow flag waves after the race leader has crossed the overtime line) or if the race will not be restarted (typically for rain; but sometimes for darkness if a track does not have night lights), in which case NASCAR will use video evidence to determine the finishing order.
When the caution comes out, the pit lane is immediately closed, a rule first implemented following the 1989
Atlanta 500. This is shown by a flashing red light at the entrance to pit road. Entering pit road when it is closed (with certain exceptions) is a penalty of restarting at the rear of the field. When pit road is open, a steady green light will appear at the entrance to pit road, and a green light will come on in the rear window of the pace vehicle.
During a "quickie yellow" all cars may enter pit road the first time by when it is opened. After the pit stops, the first car one lap down at the moment of caution (known as the free pass car) is permitted to go around the pace car and start the race at the rear of the field, but back on the lead lap.
During a full yellow, only lead lap cars may pit the first time by the pit road. Once the lead lap cars who have decided to pit have entered pit road, the free pass car will be sent around the pace car to earn their lap back. The next time by, all cars (including the free pass car) may pit.
Cars may pit as often as they wish at the expense of track position, but the free pass car is limited to taking fuel only at the first pit stop opportunity. If the free pass car is judged to have caused the caution (intentionally or not) there will be no free pass car.
At the one to go signal, the pace car will turn its lights off. At this point, any car that is ahead of the leader of the race will be waved around to the rear of the field. These cars are not permitted to pit until after the green flag comes back out and the race has resumed. The field will then line up double file for the restart. The leader of the race gets lane choice, but the third place car (and odd positions on back) will always start in the inside line, while the fourth place car (and even positions on back) will always start in the outside lane. The restart order is always this: Lead Lap Cars > Cars 1 or more laps down > Free Pass Car > Wave Arounds > Cars who have received a penalty.
Once the pace car has pulled into the pits, there is a restart "zone" consisting of lines painted on the outside wall of the track. The leader of the race is to begin accelerating inside this zone to resume the race. If they do not, the flagman controls the restart. The second place car may not be ahead of the leader at the moment of green flag, however either car on the front row may cross the start/finish line first.
[23] Passing is not permitted until the leader of the race crosses the start-finish line. Lane changes are also not permitted until after a car clears the finish line.
Per the NASCAR rule book, a restart is official once the legal lead car crosses the start/finish line. If the green flag is waved, but NASCAR calls off the restart because of an incident before the leader crosses the start/finish line, the restart is deemed aborted.
EVERYONE GOT THAT?
A good comparison that might be drawn is that between the premier league game and professional US gridiron football. I 'm pretty sure which one I'd chose.
