Time for NASCAR to re-"tire" its rules

Used Tires (Photo credit: www.ericcastro.biz)

During the race at Martinsville, Ryan Newman blew a front tire. He tried to get to pit road, but was unable to weave his way from the top to the bottom of the race track. He made a judgement call--to stop on the track to wait for traffic to clear rather than to drive around with a damaged tire.

NASCAR said he intentionally causing a caution. What?! 

NASCAR made the decision to hold him in pit road for three laps, totally ruining what could have been a very good day. Newman lost more than 30 points, not to mention the positive momentum, which will undoubtedly affect his entire season. Newman was the previous winner at Martinsville and was running in the top 10 for much of the day.

I suppose the safety-conscious sanctioning body would have preferred that Newman drive around the race track with a flat tire at full speed threatening the safety of all the other drivers. 

Once again, Ryan Newman is the beneficiary of NASCAR's seat-of-the-pants ruling. Frankly, I'm sick off  it.