At last weekend’s Watkins Glen national, they decided to have a triple split start to give some separation between the classes in group 1 that had 72 cars. Something I’ve never seen before but overall worked out quite well.

Glen Track Map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ircuit_Map.png


After taking the left hand turn 10, I intently watched the corner workers in turn 11 to see if they dropped the double yellow. The pole car in our split start of showroom stock (SSB car) was just ahead of me and on the same portion of the track. He started picking up his pace, but the double flags in turn 11 remained. Unexpectedly the 3rd place SSC car went around me, and was directly in front of me (not side-by-side) and gained a position. The double yellow flags were still being displayed and we still had not passed this flag station. I wasn’t quiet sure what to do at that point. We reached the front straight and the green was being waived.

Once the race was completed, I spoke with the driver about the situation and wondered what caused him to go before the yellow flags were removed. I made it clear that his passing me wouldn't have impacted our finishing position and would be a good learning experience for both of us. He was a bit confused about the whole situation as well. He had a spotter on the front straight to call the start, and the green was being waived which prompted him to make the pass when he did. It was quite odd that the green was being waived for our split start well before the leader of this field could possibly see the starter stand.

I also spoke with the driver of the car who was leading this split field. He was given orders by stewards to go once he received the green. Not sure why that needed to be said, but maybe there’s more to it that I’m not aware of? He apologized for going earlier than when we could see the starter, but his spotter was also telling him that the green flag was being waived then.

I believe that the starter should not have given the green when they did. If this were to happen again, as each of these three drivers (pole, 3rd place starting position, and myself) what would / should have been done?