Despite a 16-car pileup early in the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 and a fiery last-lap crash in the rain-plagued event that ended after midnight Sunday, driverless “robot cars” will not be allowed in future races.
NASCAR chairman and chief executive officer Jim France said that although advances in automotive technology could make racing safer for the men and women behind the steering wheel of conventional stock cars, complaints from veteran drivers, along with the results of tests of the robot cars last year, prompted the decision to “limit the entries to human beings who, for the most part, act that way.”
A letter signed by former drivers Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison, which France received when the idea was first floated, said allowing robot-controlled cars could “dramatically reduce the likelihood of drivers getting into entertaining and memorable fistfights on the track and in the pits or garage area during and after the race.”
Kevin Harvick, the 2007 winner, agreed with Yarborough and Allison. “I’m one of the coolest-headed drivers out there,” Harvick said, drawing guffaws from several drivers in Sunday’s race, “but if some robot car screws me out of a checkered flag, what am I supposed to do, punch its computer?”
In tests at Daytona International Speedway last August, engineers were surprised to discover that robot cars actually get bored just turning left for 500 miles.
One driverless Chevy, after an hour of circling the 2½-mile tri-oval track, suddenly roared through the pits and into the infield, ripped up some campgrounds and flung itself into Lake Lloyd to, as it later texted, “cool off after this waste of time in Florida’s sun.”
And despite attempted design changes, France said a driverless car could not be programmed to draft the vehicle in front of it or slingshot around it. “Ultimately,” he said, “the robots wouldn’t change lanes without first using their turn signal and slowing to allow bunches of cars to pass before finding room in the next lane.”
Brian France, NASCAR’s former chairman and CEO and Jim France’s nephew, called “driverless cars on a racetrack or anywhere else stupid and pointless. I can’t see why anyone anywhere at any time would want or need one.” He relinquished the management titles to his uncle following his arrest in New York in 2018 for running a stop sign and later pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor DUI.
lowittlowdown 
Very funny, Bruce. And informative since this was the first NASCAR story I’ve ever read. Will it inspire me to watch my first race? Not a checkered flag chance.
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