by Kathleen Richardson

Created on: April 22, 2008   Last Updated: May 13, 2012

NASCAR enthusiasts know that every race starts and finishes with the waving of a flag. From beginning to end, flags let racing fans, pit crews and drivers know what's going on every step of the way.

In the earlier years of stock car racing, flags were the only way to communicate with drivers. Today drivers and pit crews communicate using radios and headsets. Flags remain NASCAR officials' sole link directly to the driver. Because they are not used indiscriminately, drivers are expected to respond quickly and with caution.

Gentlemen, start your engines!

A flagman stands alert, high above the racetrack on a platform positioned at the start-finish line. He waits patiently for the words that precede every race: "Gentlemen, start your engines!"

Every engine comes alive. Pace cars wait at the front of pit road. The first set of cars lines up behind their pacer in the order that they qualified on the previous day. Then they follow the pace car out onto the track, taking a couple of turns around the track to set their tachometer speeds and bunch together.

Flagman goes into action

Everyone's in place as they circle the track and suddenly the pace car peels away from the pack and into pit road. That's when the flagman waves the green flag that starts the race. In a perfect scenario, the next flag to be seen would be the white flag that signifies the last lap is coming up, a flag only seen once per race.

Continuing that hypothetical debris-free, crash-free and allover problem-free

sequence of events would lead to the final flag the black and white checkered flag coveted by every driver on the track. The race is over! The winner has arrived!

In rare instances, the race may be started under caution because of the time of the day or the weather. Once the tachometers have registered, the yellow and green flags will be waved at the same time which means laps are now being officially counted. Whoever qualified for the pole (started in first place) will get credit for "leading" those laps.

Races aren't that simple

The odds are that the green flag will be seen quite a few times during every races, as will yellow and red flags.

A yellow flag, like a yellow traffic light, means caution, and signifies the potential for a crash. There may have been a fender-bender, leaving debris on the track. Or somehow an animal may have gotten on the track. It's the signal to slow down and slide into position behind the pace car which has returned to the track.

Following the caution, the cars take one or

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