Green-White-Checker?

by Tammy

Two races this weekend finished under yellow (were there more? the two I watched did), the ALMS race at Lime Rock and the IndyCar race at Toronto. In both cases, there were terrific battles taking place for key positions. In both cases, accidents happened with only a handful of laps/minutes to go in the race, and the races went full-course-caution.

Cue the wailing and gnashing of teeth from disappointed fans who watched a safety-car parade to the checkers, instead of last-lap battles.

So here's the question? Should other racing series adopt NASCAR's green-white-checker rule?

For those who don't know what it is, in brief: NASCAR makes one attempt for the race to finish under green, no matter the lap count, by throwing a green flag for cars, then a white the next time by, then the checker. If there's a caution on that first lap between green and white flags, they try again. If there's a caution after the white flag waves, the race is over (aka, once the white flag waves, the next flag ends it).

Gimmicky? Perhaps. But it does combat the disappointment of teams not fighting it out until the end.

Problematic? Possibly, especially for the ALMS, which is based on time, not laps. But that could probably be surmounted.

What do you all think? Should more series adopt the G-W-C?