Hypothetically speaking, If a driver runs out of fuel on the last lap and?

Question

has enough momentum to cross the finish line under his own (without help from another driver) then another driver comes along and starts pushing the car with no fuel to the finish line without the request of the driver out of gas... Does the driver in second place become the winner since the driver out of gas received help?

Read the question carefully now... the reason I asked because Kasey Kahne could have done that to Jr at Michigan and it looked like he started to. If he had made contact with Jr and pushed Jr to the finish would that had made Kasey the winner since Jr technically would have received help even though Jr would have had the momentum to make it on his own?

Answer 1

In order to be declared the winner in the case of running out of fuel the car has to make it back around the track under it's own power which Jr did he ran out after the parade lap as he was coming down pit road.

Answer 2

Why would kasey want to push jr. They are not team mates and if Kasey had the fuel to pushem he had the fuel to passem.

Answer 3

depends on which side of the bed the nascar officials woke up on, and who the driver was who got the help.

Answer 4

Fuel Mileage races suck, end of story.

Answer 5

The first car across the finish line wins the race and the nice guy doing the pushing takes second.

Answer 6

If the first car across the finish line got a push, but there was no contact at the finish line, then he still finished "under his own power" whether he was coasting or not.  If the 2nd driver was pushing him at the finish line, he would not be under his own power and 2nd place would win...............unless he pushed with out being asked to do so..........then he would be cheating to get the win.

go Jr.>>>>

Answer 7

I think some of the controversy is that the rule never states wether it's meant for under green flag racing on the last/white flag lap only....or under a yellow/white flag lap also...since once the yellow comes out on the last lap the field is frozen essentiually ending the race then and there. Now if a yellow came out in the middle of the race and you leave the line to pit or because you broke and sputtered to the apron then your SOL because the race is by no means over.

Hope this makes since.

BTW I never saw Kasey touch Jr. and Jr. did fire it up coming out of turn 4 and drove across the finish line under the power of the engine.

Answer 8

I believe you also have to maintain speed.  If your speed starts dropping off, I believe you can be passed.

Answer 9

Actually, I think you guys are wrong. As far as I have always understood, A driver cannot receive any help whatsoever on the FINAL LAP. So even if Kasey pushed him, but wasn't touching at the finish line, the 88 still would not have won. I will try to find this somewhere and post it.

Right. That is why the Biffle incident was so controversial. I still believe Bowyer won that race.

Answer 10

I would say it would be up to NASCAR to determine whether the driver who ran out of gas and received the "help", asked for it. If the driver in front runs out of gas, and in fact is stopped and can't finish under their own, then they do not deserve the win.

By that same token, if the driver behind them pushes them, and they were under their own power at the time, and did not ask for help, then I would think NASCAR should punish the driver who did the pushing because it would be to sneaky of a way for the second place driver to get credited for the win.

Case in point....Biffle at Kansas last year. He could not keep pace with the pace car, and was stopped on the track. NASCAR still credited Biffle with the win. A very controversial call. I was in the grandstands and thought Bowyer won the race. His team was celebrating along with Biffle's team.

As far as what Kasey did last week. I honestly thought it was more of a premature "congratulatory" tap. To be sure though, he should have waited until Jr. crossed the line to clear up any controversy that it caused. Vickers did claim that Kasey pushed Jr., and Kenseth pushed Kasey. However, nobody pushed anybody over the line, therefore they all finished under their own power.

SmokeJ....Stewart ran out of gas in Kansas in 2006, true....BUT, the big difference here is that Stewart ran out on the last lap of a GREEN FLAG RUN. There was no pace car on the track at the time. He maintained the lead and crossed the line first. Your comparison is laughable, and your attitude is uncalled for.

Answer 11

No, that's called a bump draft. And it doesn't matter if they're out of fuel or not, the driver who crosses the finish line 1st at the end of the designated miles of the race wins. That's basic racing information. Jr. could have run out with 100 laps of racing to go. If Kahne pushes him, it's on the 9 team. Not the 88 team.

Answer 12

goes to show how stupid kahne is....the idiot pushed a car trying to beat him....

guess those all state girls sucked his two brain cells out of his head.

Answer 13

you must finish under your own power

Answer 14

On the last lap of the race NO car can recieve ANY assistance from any other car. The rule book expecility forbids it. If the lead car runs out of fuel & cannot cross the finish line 1st then they do not win. And no driver would help another driver cross the finish line anyway. It's every man for himself.

Someone pointed out bump drafting. Bump drafting is totally different than assisting a car across the finish line by pushing them across.

FOUND IT~ It's the last sentence & it's was cut off but you get the idea:

The actual rule book states "...Cars may not be pushed past the flag person at the end of the pit road. Unless otherwise authorized, once the race is underway, cars may be started by hand pushing in the pit area only, but under no circumstances is any car to be hand pushed more than three pit boxes away from their assigned pit box or into the acceleration zone or onto the race track from the pit area. Cars may not receive any assistance after the white flag has been displayed, except those cars making pit stops ..."

It was included in nascar.com article in Jan 08 about the other 2 rule changes. The link to the article is below.

And yes any driver who runs out of fuel leading & can still coast across the finish line 1st wins the race. As long as that driver recieves no assistance from another driver. And crosses the finish line in the 1st position.