it was a good time to re-iterate some of the finer points of black
flag avoidance. Many times, people just plain don't understand what
happened because their brain goes blank and their eyes turn red as
soon as the spotter tells them that they have been given a black flag
for something. LISTEN TO THE SPOTTER. He will tell you why you got
the black flag, and how to clear it.
First, avoiding black flags requires that you are aware of how the
sim awards them. It is up to you to know this, and I've found that a
valid discovery process involves racing offline against the AI. DO
NOT make the mistake of assuming that the sim accurately models real-
life Nascar.
1) DO NOT pass any cars on your way to pit road. If you do, you will
get a black flag. This is NOT a bogus black flag - it's a built-in
rule in the sim. This kind of black flag will NOT be cleared by
admins.
2) DO NOT pass any cars that have elected to pit while you have not.
This is NOT a bogus black flag - it's a built-in rule in the sim.
This kind of black flag will NOT be cleared by admins.
3) DO NOT pass cars on the inside on a restart (remember, the
"inside" is reversed on road courses) before you pass the
start/finish line.
4) If one or more cars wreck on a restart, go ahead and pass them,
and the admins will try to clear your black flag. When I say "wreck
on the restart", I mean that they're flailing around in the infield
spinnning and bumping into things, and they are most assuredly not in
the racing line. This will be especially true as we come out of the
last turn and just before the green flag flies.
5) Turn your spottter on "HIGH" and DO NOT use the text version of
the spotter. Listen to what he says to you. Many times, a black flag
is cleared by just driving thru the pits, and the spotter WILL tell
you this. If you stop in your pit stall in the case of a drive-thru,
the black flag WILL NOT be cleared.
6) You cannot clear a black flag until you've crossed the
start/finish line on a restart. This means you pretty much have to
complete a full lap under green before trying to clear the black
flag.
7) You cannot clear a black flag during a caution. If you are trying
to clear a black flag under green, and the caution comes out BEFORE
you cross the entry line to pit road, DO NOT ENTER PIT ROAD. This
will result in a penalty for entering a closed pit, and you'll be
forced to the end of the longest line, and your black flag will still
be pending. If you cross the pit entry line BEFORE the caution comes
out, you will be allowed to clear your black flag, and you won't be
penalized with entering a closed pit.
8) You must clear a black flag before you've made three green flag
laps. If you don't, you'll be DQ'd. Many times, your inability to
clear the flag is based entirely on your confusion over how to clear
the flag. LISTEN TO YOUR SPOTTER - HE ONLY TELLS YOU ONE TIME HOW TO
CLEAR THE FLAG.
If someone is awarded a black flag, and they think it's bogus, I
think the admin should force a caution in order to safely clear the
flag.
You better be double-damn sure the black flag is *really* a bogus
one. If the admins think there's too many claims of bogus black
flags, they're gonna stop clearing them, and you'll just have to deal
with it.