For its 75th-anniversary season, NASCAR has been battling multiple foes in the form of controversy, slander, and backlash. Having defeated all such foes in picturesque fashion, it has time and again been brought to its knees by one formidable enemy, rain. Earlier at the inaugural Chicago Street course, NASCAR was forced to curtail The Loop 121 Xfinity Series race, owing to heavy rain flooding the street circuit. 

History repeated in succession during the Quaker State 400 Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway as rain once again disrupted play. Leaving fans disappointed, NASCAR was forced to cut short the race by 75 laps. With the discontentment of fans coming to light, Hendrick Motorsports legend, Steve Letarte has spoken, demanding NASCAR turn back to old ways.

What did the HMS legend demand?

 Temperatures soared during the daytime with the overhead sun lighting up the Atlanta Motor Speedway. With no signs of impending rain, the Quaker State 400 commenced under clear skies. The first and second caution-filled stages went by smoothly, but things quickly went south during the final stage.

As a storm moved in the nearby areas, the speedway experienced its first few drops of the impending downpour. With the drizzle picking up pace during the initial laps of the final stage, NASCAR announced all 37 cars to pit during lap 185. The drizzle quickly turned into heavy rain, making it impossible to resume the race.

Forced to cut short its race once again, NASCAR announced the Quaker State 400’s conclusion, crowning final lap leader William Byron as the race winner. In a recent episode of the NASCAR on NBC podcast, HMS legend Steve Letarte sided with fans saying, “The only thing I think I would prefer, and maybe I’m being too picky, is stopping the cars seems a little tough for the fans.”

Giving the fans’ perspective, Letarte said, “But like remember we used to have a green-yellow status? You know, maybe we go back to green-yellow status, and what I mean by that is remember when we were drying the tracks?

‘Hey! We are gonna go green-yellow!’ Which means we are starting to count laps, but we are still under yellow. We’re gonna up the pace car’s speed from a very crawling 45 mph, that is awful, it’s so tedious. We are gonna up it to 90 [mph] and we are gonna go green. I wish that status was officially listed in the rule book.”

As the HMS legend demanded NASCAR bring back the ‘green-yellow’ status, let’s try to better understand what was its significance.

Watch This Story: How A Former Cup Champion Created History With A Banned NASCAR Car In 1971?

NASCAR’s unofficial “running yellow”

Everyone is familiar with green, yellow, and red flags and what they signify during NASCAR races. What many may not remember is NASCAR once used to wave the green and yellow flags in unison. Referred to as the “running yellow,” the green-and-yellow flag situation indicated a race’s restart while under caution.

Under this status, officials utilized the cars on the track to speed up the drying process. Keeping in mind the fuel strategy of the teams, all the laps run under caution were counted, minimizing delays due to refueling. Never inducted into to official rule book, do you think NASCAR should bring back the “running yellow” as an official caution?

Read More: Heartbreaking News for Tony Stewart as $110-Billion Sponsor Exits to Join Ross Chastain