Even though a NASCAR race takes many hours to run from start to finish, the competitors running in the race may be going up to 200 MPH on the track. At this speed, it is imperative to have traffic signaling devices easily visible to the drivers on the track.

NASCAR has nine colored flags on the stand at the start/finish line readily available for display during the race. The stand is elevated above the track which allows for the flags to be easily seen by drivers as they flash past underneath as well as crews on pit road and the spectators in the stands.

The flags most commonly used are:

GREEN Green means "GO" and signals the start of the race. The green flag is also used to signal a restart if the race had a CAUTION and/or DELAY. Cars are not normally allowed to accelerate to racing speed until they pass the flag stand. If this flag is displayed to the field rolled up it signals the race will start or restart the next time past the start/finish line.

YELLOW A yellow flag indicates that something hazardous exists on the track. Circumstances that can result in the display of the yellow flag include light rain, accident, and/or debris on the track. A car is prohibited from passing the pace car with the yellow flag displayed unless specifically directed to by NASCAR officials (as in the "Lucky Dog"). Drivers are required to hold the position in the race grid they are currently in unless NASCAR informs them to change positions. Cars will follow the pace car at pit road speed around the track while the problem is corrected or the track is dried.

RED A red flag indicates a stop to the racing action. In addition, once this flag is displayed, not only must the drivers stop their cars in order on the track or pit road (as designated by NASCAR) pit crews are required to cease all work on cars that may be off track at the time of the incident. No work is allowed during a red flag.

A race is never directly resumed from a red flag. The caution flag is displayed once the command to restart the cars is given and the racing field will circle a few laps to allow the cars to be warmed up before racing resumes.

WHITE FLAG The white flag signals the start of the last lap of the race. This flag is only displayed one time in each race. It the event of a race finishing under caution, the white flag will be displayed along with the yellow flag.

CHECKERED FLAG the most obvious of all of the NASCAR flags. "Taking the checkers" means that if

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