Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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Ive always had Sheldon in the category of wanting to drive so hard and win that it sometimes has reverse effects. Exciting to watch him imo. He takes chances that make him a hero if they work or a zero if they dont.

Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!

Ive always had Sheldon in the category of wanting to drive so hard and win that it sometimes has reverse effects. Exciting to watch him imo. He takes chances that make him a hero if they work or a zero if they dont.

Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!

Can someone explain the blend rule please?

It's been around in various forms, with various tracks and sanctioning bodies, but everyone acts like it's something the WoO thought up to favor their drivers.  I remember a rule like this at my local track back in the 90's.  

In a nutshell, in the past, if a yellow was thown because the flagman thought something was about to happen, and a driver never actually stopped, OR a driver gets involved in something but doesn't stop, they get their spot where they would have blended back in if the yellow wasn't thrown.  One big example of this was the battle between Lasoski and Brownie at the Knoxville Nats.  I don't think it was a WoO sanctioned race that year, but it doesn't matter because they use Knoxville rules.  Lasoski spun out, the yellow came out, but he kept going.  He was allowed to take the spot he was holding when he continued on.  That was in 2005?  2006?  Here we are, 18 or 19 years later acting like the Outlaws are inventing rules to help their drivers.  Silly really. 

Not pointing fingers at you Murphy, just making an observation that the conspiracy theories never end in this world.  

Thanks. I'm my part of the world, with the exception of traveling circuits like the WoO, a yellow flag would revert the lineup to the last completed lap. Does the blended rule allow some subjectivity on where the officials put a car in question?

Murph---I am unsure on how this is timed.  I think it is subjective, yes.  I know the decision in the mid-2000's to NOT put Lasoski to the back at the Nats was not popular---I remember the crowd loudly booing.  (and no, it was not DUDE!!)   Everyone cried foul, but in accordance to the rules, he did not stop, and the yellow was thrown after he came out of the spin and continued on.  So yes, he did cause Doug to throw the yellow, but he never stopped.  Inadvertent yellow was the call, and he was blended back into his spot----which happened to be the spot he was already running in.  Had a car or 2 passed before he straightened it out, officials could have put him back a spot or 2.

I'm not sure if you remember this one, but he ended up roughing nephew Brian up during the caution, passed him on the restart, and got in a fight with his dad, George, during the intermission.  That B-main was the highlight of the Nats that year----although he did charge to 4th or 5th in the A that year...............

Do you think the right call was made Saturday night ?

Further proof that his claims about "running businesses" for decades is completely false..............unless of course all of those businesses went under.  Then I'll believe it.  

The right call?  Depends on what you mean by "right" call.  Do I agree with the rule?  Not completely.  Was it called the same way I've seen it called pretty much everywhere else I've ever been?  Yes.  He didn't stop.  Same as the Dude at the Nats in the mid 2000's.  He was the cause of the yellow, but because he kept going, he got to blend back into his spot.  In a perfect world, the rule would state that anyone who causes the yellow to come out, is put to the back.  However, the subjective part in this case is, who caused the caution?   In many cases, there would be too much of a gray area as to who was "involved" in the caution.  I think that's why the rule is written the way it's written.  

If I'm driving down the interstate at 75 mph, a deer runs up to the edge of the road, I slam on the brakes, and a car rear ends me, I am the reason the wreck happened, but the guy who hit me is getting the ticket.  Sheldon got out of shape, but he didn't run into anyone---he got run over.  Was it his fault he got run over?  I would say yes.  Most would say yes in this case because it was pretty cut and dry.  Should he have been put to the back?  Only if the rule changes.  He got run over, and didn't stop, so technically, he blends in.  

I don't like the rule, but changing it to state that anyone who is involved in a yellow, goes to the back, is going to open up a whole new can of worms.  As much as I don't like it, it's probably a lot easier, and a much less gray area if they just let whoever kept rolling have their spot back.  Then it becomes more subjective vs. objective as we have to determine all cars "involved" and all cars spinning "not involved."  I don't remember a car that kept rolling being put to the back or black flagged unless they blatantly spun a car out.  As far as memory serves me, I don't remember an incident where a sprint car that doesn't stop is put to the back of the field.  That said, I have mostly attended Knoxville and World of Outlaw events in my life, so not sure how much the rule varies away from those.  

I've heard the term "fit the narrative" a lot over the past 5 years.  Talk about a perfect example.  Just 2 years ago everyone was screaming how the WoO was screwing over Sheldon (who is sponsored by NOS) and favoring Sweet (who was getting ready to flip the sprint car world upside down by challenging the WoO) and now.....................all of the sudden the WoO loves Sheldon more than life itself.  Just makes me laugh.  In my opinion, nothing to see here.  

I think RunWYB already posted the official Outlaw blend rule in this thread, but I want to post it again and highlight the pertinent part to why it does not apply to the Sheldon situation.

"Any car that spins, is involved in an incident, and/or has a problem but does not bring out the yellow flag and/or create a caution period, will blend back into the field where the driver is able to do so. If there is an inadvertent caution period, the Series Officials will determine the placement of the car(s) involved. The placement of the car will be where the car blended back into the field."

This is the only time the word blend is mentioned in the Outlaw rulebook, and per the rulebook itself, only applies to scenarios where either no caution is thrown, or in the case of an inadvertent caution being thrown, then Series Officials are then allowed to determine placement of the cars involved. 

At no point does it remotely indicate that blend rule can be applied to a Red flag situation. What RunWYB didn't include in the previous post that the Outlaw rulebook details very well is red flag rules. I think there are two specific rules that apply very well, one that IMO, makes this a clear-cut decision and closes the case on any question if Sheldon should have retained his spot. 

Under section Q (Flag Rules and Officials Signals), subsection C II states: "When the red flag is displayed all cars on the racing surface and in the pit areas must come to a complete stop in a controlled manner, while not stopping and/or driving through the area of the incident.  Cars are not permitted to move for any reason unless instructed by Series Officials.  Any car that moves during the red flag without permission will be penalized and/or parked." 

This is the lesser strong argument, though I think it applies - if Sheldon dropped the hammer and spun two times before stopping as reported, I would have to think one could reasonably determine he did not stop in a controlled matter.

However, the most damning rule of all lives in Section N (Restarts), where Rule G states clearly and simply: "Any cars that are involved in a red flag situation will be required to restart at the rear of the field, including cars that go to the pits during a red flag situation."

I don't know how anyone could reasonably read this rule and come to a ruling that does not put Sheldon to the rear. 

As for the blend rule, I don't recall exactly when it was instituted and I'm disappointed I can't locate any older Outlaw rulebooks to verify. I could be wrong, but I feel like it's a somewhat new rule - I just can't recall any instance of it from outside 5-7 years ago. egras point to the 2006 Lasoski incident at the Nationals, but as noted it wasn't Outlaw sanctioned nor ran under Outlaw rules, and I seem to recall there was a huge uproar back then. I was in the crowd that night and don't recall getting any explanation of why Lasosksi retained his spot - I checked the Knoxville Stories archives and it just says he was given his spot back, not citing any specific rule.

egras also questioned why the Outlaws would favor Sheldon now after their incident in New York in 2022. From what I remember about that situation, Sheldon was so far off the track that calling a caution for him would have been easily called out as favoring then. Regardless, there is a direct competitor that I'm sure would love the SJR 17 aboard and I'm sure the WoO would absolutely loathe seeing a HL driver win a fully Outlaw-sanctioned and ran event, though I feel that's inevitable. 

Some of this post is JMO but I wanted to utilized the actual rulebook the race was ran under to support my claim of it being a piss-poor call. 

Sheldon kept his spot because he did not stop UNTIL the call for the red flag was made on the radio.  Had the call been for a yellow flag instead of red, he would have drvien away from the scene (after a couple of 360s), and as the current rule is written, would have retained his position. The fact that he stopped when he could have continued means the stop was "in a controlled manner". The rule has always (in the nearly 30 years I've worked for the series) been interpreted as any car that is able to drive away and does not stop BECAUSE OF THE CONTACT is deemed "not involved". 

I can't remember exactly WHEN the "blend rule" was put into effect, but I believe it's been used for more than 20 years.

Reading the reasoning provided on the ruling provides some insight, though I still think the wrong call was made - it hardly matters at this point though.

I do appreciate Johnny taking the opportunity and time to explain and add the blend rule/Outlaw history - I must be getting more forgetful as the years pile on.

Jacksonville Speedway posted they are likely getting a WOO date again. Hope they make it a weekend race next year.

Sprintfan16 is right.   Thank you for quoting the rules.   

Rule N -  which is before the rule with “blend”  - states “Any cars that are involved in a red flag situation will be required to restart at the rear of the field, including cars that go to the pits during a red flag situation.”

The blend rule seems irrelevant in Sheldon’s situation.      He was clearly “involved in a red flag situation”.   “Blend” only appears in the rulebook 2 times in a single rule about yellow flags.         Totally irrelevant here.

Here is a link to the rules. 

Link to Rules

https://dirtcar.com/rules/series-rules/world-of-outlaws-sprint-car-series/