Cavin: The question of Rahal's fuel nozzle

Question: Why was Graham Rahal not slapped with a pit safety violation when he left the pits with the fuel hose still attached? That was clearly a situation with no ambiguity, like an on-track racing incident that calls for further review and action after the race has been completed. Such incidents like this, running over air hoses, or hitting tires in pit lane have traditionally resulted in immediate drive through penalties in the past. (John, Los Angeles)

Answer: Before the season, IndyCar made a change to its officiating relative to pit road problems. The reasoning: If the problem only impacts the guilty team, it's play on with penalties to come after a post-race review. I think IndyCar has been consistent with this (remembering Juan Pablo Montoya running over the air hose in the 500). In the past, a drive-through penalty would have all but eliminated Montoya's chance to win; same with Rahal in this instance. The difference in this case was that Rahal ended up causing a yellow by having the fuel buckeye be the debris on the track. I'm told race control did not know what the debris was at the time it called for a post-race review on Rahal. (How that's possible is another issue.) The bottom line here is, Rahal caught a break. Truth be known, he was owed one after a series of tough things going against him in recent years.

Question: Please do the favor of inquiring why Rahal's was able to get his car moving when the fuel probe was reinserted. Software is supposed to drop it back to neutral upon contact and before fuel flows. The software was working and the probe was detected, it prevented Rahal from going to higher gears until after he purposefully weaved the car and shook the probe loose on the track (another ignored safety issue?) The emergency switch that helps drivers get the car in gear after stopping on the track with the engine running will allow a driver to bypass the fuel probe safety. I think it's fairly evident that Rahal used this and created the safety issue from the cockpit, bypassing a key Indycar safety element. This takes it well beyond an accidental mistake by a crew member. (Scott)

Answer: Good questions all, and I asked an IndyCar official on my flight last night. He said IndyCar's tech staff has been asked to investigate, but at first blush it appears the software engaged when the nozzle was first removed. It seemed the nozzle didn't get fully back in, which probably explains why it came off the car so easily. Of course, the investigation might show exactly what you're suggesting. It will be interesting to see what IndyCar announces (or doesn't announce) when the post-race penalty is handed out later in the week. I expect a fine of about $10,000 and maybe a reduction of points.

Question: I hate red flagging races to give fans a green flag finish. Not only does it interfere with the natural process of the race, but I always thought it set up a potential disaster. Thankfully both Ryans and everyone survived that crash. Do you think it's worth it to give "fans" a green flag finish and have someone get hurt to appease these so-called fans? (Greg, Ohio)

Answer: I don't mind doing it once in a race if there are the right number of laps left, which there was in this case. I think IndyCar owes it to the fans to give them a proper finish, if possible. IndyCar did that and, of course, got lucky there weren't injuries in the Briscoe/Hunter-Reay incident.

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