Wave Around

A wave around is a racing procedure, most commonly used in NASCAR, that allows cars running one or more laps behind the leader to gain back a lap during a caution period by driving past the pace car when the leaders pit.

When a caution flag comes out during a race, all cars must slow down and line up behind a pace car that controls the speed. During this time, the race leader and other cars on the lead lap often head to pit road for fresh tires, fuel, or repairs. This is when the wave around procedure takes effect.

Race officials will signal to any lapped cars—meaning cars that are at least one full lap behind the leader—that they can pass the pace car and continue driving around the track. By doing this, these cars essentially "wave around" the field and rejoin at the back of the group of lead-lap cars. They've now made up that lost lap without having to pass anyone on track.

However, there's an important catch: any car that takes the wave around cannot pit during that caution period. This means drivers must choose between getting their lap back or getting fresh tires and fuel. It's a strategic decision that teams must make quickly, weighing their current track position against their car's condition and fuel level.

The wave around rule exists primarily to keep slower, lapped cars from interfering with the race leaders when green flag racing resumes. Without this procedure, lapped cars that didn't pit could end up positioned in front of leaders who did pit, forcing the leaders to waste time and energy passing cars that aren't even racing for the same position.

Multiple cars can benefit from a single wave around opportunity, unlike the "lucky dog" rule where only the first car one lap down gets a free pass back onto the lead lap. Additionally, the lucky dog recipient is allowed to pit during the caution, making it generally more advantageous than the wave around.

For example, imagine five cars are running one lap down when a caution comes out. The leaders head to pit road for service. Officials signal those five lapped cars to pass the pace car and drive around the track. When everyone lines up for the restart, those five cars are now at the back of the lead-lap group instead of being a lap down, but they're running on older tires than the cars that pitted.

Understanding the wave around helps fans follow the strategy and positioning changes that happen during caution periods, which can significantly impact race outcomes.