Why the hell would they have these guys flying down a wet pit road when there was no speed limit in place? Wow.

Back in the 80s, "freezing the field" would have been more useful in NASCAR (CART continued USAC's practice of holding position as soon as the yellow is waved). In 2003, when it was introduced in NASCAR, there was no longer a need for it, as the SAFER barrier was soon to be installed at every track on the circuit. It's like NOT paying for car insurance until you total your car, when you BEGIN paying for insurance...