Beneficiary rule

The beneficiary rule, commonly referred to as the "lucky dog" or "free pass", is a rule in some motor racing leagues allowing the closest lapped driver to the front of the field to gain back a lap when a caution is called. The driver is called to move to the end of the longest line of the cars at the end of that caution period. This rule was instituted to prevent drivers from racing back to the start/finish line when a caution was called.

The rule was first implemented by NASCAR in the 2003 seasons of its three national series, and in all NASCAR-sanctioned series by 2005.

Background

Before the rule was installed, drivers would "race back to the caution"; however, there was a gentlemen's agreement not to race, but to slow down and not pass, to allow slower cars to get their laps back. During a September 14, 2003, Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway, Casey Mears came close to contacting the stalled car of Dale Jarrett while racing back to the line during a caution caused by Jarrett's crash. NASCAR chose to abandon the practice and stop racing immediately in the wake of the incident. The rule was created as a way of continuing the practice of yielding to the slower cars without sacrificing safety.

Lucky Dog (disambiguation)

Lucky Dog may refer to:

United States presidential pets

This is a list of pets belonging to United States Presidents and their families, while serving their term(s) in office.

History of White House dogs

The first White House dog to receive regular newspaper coverage was Warren G. Harding's dog Laddie Boy.

Pets also featured on presidential elections. Herbert Hoover got a Belgian shepherd dog, King Tut, during his campaign and pictures of him with his new dog were sent all across the United States.

In 1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt was running for his fourth term when rumors surfaced that his Scottish Terrier, Fala, had accidentally been left behind when visiting the Aleutian Islands. After allegedly sending back ships to rescue his dog, Roosevelt was ridiculed and accused of spending thousands of taxpayers' dollars to retrieve his dog. At a speech following this Roosevelt said, "you can criticize me, my wife and my family, but you can't criticize my little dog. He's Scotch and all these allegations about spending all this money have just made his little soul furious." What was later called the "Fala Speech" reportedly helped secure re-election for Roosevelt.