Honorary Stop Great Move by NASCAR

For once, NASCAR as a sanctioning body completely deserves a heaping of praise.

Nope, there won't be rubbing, questioning or accusing in this post because its actions Monday afternoon concerning the true spirit of Memorial Day in the States is something a lot of fans won't soon forget. And should they, on any level -- whether it involve a national anthem singer or the allowance of a foreign-owned manufacturer in the sport -- there's one moment to fall back on.

That moment came at exactly 3PM Monday when NASCAR threw the red flag over the Coca-Cola 600, brought the field to a stop, quieted the cars and stood at silent attention in honor of the service of the men and women of the armed forces.

It was touching and certainly tear-inducing, and most of all, it was completely unexpected.

Hardly anyone at the track knew what was transpiring when the caution flag waved just shy of the top of the hour. Persistent rain showers that had peppered the track all weekend and eventually turned the race into the Coca-Cola 340.5 were originally thought to be the culprit. But the rain wasn't falling then, and the quick red flag left several teams wondering what to do next.

"They must know something we don't," said Jeff Gordon over his in-car radio, prior to NASCAR's race director telling the team spotters what was going on. Gordon thought they had spotted more rain hitting the track.

With the exception of maybe the FOX Sports crew, most of the track was left in the dark and the sanctioning body never announced prior to the race that they would stop all activities prior to the race.

Nope, this wasn't a grandstanding publicity stunt.

Instead, NASCAR brought the field to the front stretch, stopped the cars and had them shut off, asked all pit crew members to form a solid line on pit road parallel with the pit wall and asked all spectators to rise. For nearly two minutes, the FOX broadcast showed nothing but pictures of the silent Lowe's Motor Speedway that had stopped in its tracks and stood in remembrance.

"We are under caution on our most solemn of holidays, Memorial Day," said FOX play-by-play voice Mike Joy during the broadcast. "There is no crash, no blown engine and no rain. NASCAR, in what I think is an extraordinary gesture, has elected to throw the caution flag so that was we come to the 3 o'clock hour -- the time at which our president has asked all Americans to honor all of those who have served in the defense and protection of our country -- NASCAR is going to bring all the cars the front straightaway, park them, and shut them off.



"All the fans have come to their feet, all the flags have been lowered to half-mast and all of the crewman have come to the edge of their pit boxes all along pit road to aid in this solemn salute to all of those who have served."

The pictures, as they say, were worth a thousand words and then some. Mostly, though, they were worth chills and goosebumps to all of those who saw the events happening in front of them. It was a spectacular occasion that saw tears fall across the speedway.

On the Performance Racing Network broadcast, announcers Doug Rice and Mark Garrow mentioned that Hoots, the race director, said something across the NASCAR officials' radio channel to the tune of "Some things are much bigger than anything we're doing here" and he couldn't have been more spot on.

The race had reached a critical moment with more rain bearing down on the track, green flag pit stops nearing and competition starting to heat up. In fact, the rain arrived before NASCAR could resume the race under green flag conditions, but they eventually restarted the proceedings.

Still, to think that NASCAR had the guts to completely stop a competitive race at a moment with such high stakes really says something about the direction this sport is under no matter how many times we question it.

NASCAR, bravo to you, and of course, an even bigger hat tip to those serving and that have served in order for events like the Coca-Cola 600 to happen in the first place.