2009 Daytona 200 results
DMG's first public test was convoluted and confusing
By Kevin Duke, Mar. 07, 2009, Photography by Alfonse Palaima
A quote form the above story reads, …’A concerned corner worker threw a red flag, which stopped the race, even though race control didn’t call for it.’…..
I find that an interesting comment, and I am curious which corner worker stopped the Daytona 200 by throwing a red flag, without authority. I bet the Chief of Flags would be interested to know what corner threw the red flag without permission, and for what crash? Please let us know the source of this travesty! What is your source Kevin? This could change (yet again) the results of the 200. You should have notified the tower immediately, not air your observations in this paper. Oh, wait! I bet you didn’t actually see it, did you? You just made this up from someone else’s blog comments, didn’t you?
Cornerworkers in general are not allowed to touch or hold the red flag or have it near their hands because of the permanent race-altering message it portrays to the racers.
The Daytona 200 used two separate frequencies for flag control, and had generally 3 or 4 flaggers at each station. Using the two separate frequencies ensured we had accurate, discrete and redundant flagging information to ensure flag conditions were announced timely, track conditions could be communicated immediately to the racers, and it also kept channel chatter to a minimum.
I can assure you that both frequencies announced red flag conditions within a second of each other, because as I heard the call on my frequency, my other flagger was already reaching for it.
So, do tell Kevin. Was this just hearsay, quoting from unnamed sources that heard something from another person who thought they knew something?
By the way, you might have guessed I was flagging the Daytona 200, and I was stationed at flag station 9 , at the chicane entrance, so you can bet I know what I am talking about. I seriously doubt that Kevin Duke knows what he is talking about. Pretty easy to cobble a story together from ‘internet blogs’ and ‘anonymous sources’ isn’t it?
Please try and vet your sources more thoroughly next time, and not just cut-and-paste your stories together. That worked in college, but not as a professional writer.
Apology to slandered Daytona 200 cornerworkers NOT accepted!