Talk about a tough decision.

Kokomo Speedway officials were put in a no-win situation in the final points race of the season Sunday night in the annual running of the Vince Osman Memorial when, in the closing laps of the sprint car feature, Billy Puterbaugh Jr. climbed over Scotty Weir’s left rear tire.

The contact resulted in both cars suffering flat tires and forcing them from the track.

After both cars pulled from the track, it was brought to the attention of the track officials that there were mixed signals coming from the on-track officials. Apparently some of the officials on the track had shown the field the one-lap-to-go signal, but flagman Jim Winnington had not turned out the caution lights that encompass the track.

When the pace truck pulled from the track, Weir cracked the throttle and Puterbaugh did as well. When Weir realized that Winnington was not waving the green, he checked up and Puterbaugh, with no place to go, drove over his left rear.

After conferring, officials deemed the contact was due to their lack of communication amongst each other, so they elected to give both cars their positions back if repairs could be made in a timely manner.

When it was announced that the drivers would get their positions back, the large crowd had mixed reactions. There were a lot of boos, but there was a large smattering of applause as well.

This was simply a case of no matter what was decided upon, there were going to be as many negative responses as positive. No matter what decision was made, there were going to be folks upset.

Listening to fans while exiting the track, there were those who said that Weir got “home cooking” since his car owner, Jeff Walker, is a mainstay each week. There were many, many who felt the miscommunication was all on Winnington.

I spoke with Winnington, and naturally he was upset — not only because the incident happened with him in the stand, but because of one car that didn’t take its position on the track after being involved in an accident that brought out the yellow that preceded the incident.

“If that car would have gotten into position like he was being told to by officials on the track and from the tower, this could have been prevented,” said Winnington. “I reached for the black flag to point at him to let him know if he didn’t get in I was going to disqualify him. And when I reached for it, maybe the leaders thought I was showing the green. I don’t know. All I know is that I had the caution lights flashing.

“What amazed me is the car I was showing the black flag sure found his spot pretty quick when I showed him that [black flag].”

In defense of the driver in question, it appeared that he was making the effort to tag the tail of the field, but the pace of the cars on the track didn’t allow him to drop back as quick as officials would have liked.

Eventual winner Thomas Meseraul noted that he saw the caution lights on and knew that the race wasn’t going green. Fortunately, the incident was limited to just the two front-running cars and it wasn’t any worse than two flat tires. I’ve seen a number of chain-reaction incidents that start at the front of the field where multiple cars get upside down.

And at the end of the night, the fastest car in the feature found its way to the win. Lost in the rumbling about the lap 23 incident was the drive put on by Meseraul. Deep down, it was hard not to pull for the talented driver who had been so close numerous times before. To start outside the next-to-last row and work to the top five is an accomplishment. To win is phenomenal. And to beat a former track champion who was driving the 2010 championship car speaks volumes.

So in closing, those who are pointing a finger at Winnington need to lighten up. He was the keystone in an incident that was unfortunate. I’d be willing to bet my paycheck that he didn’t make the drive to the track plotting a way to have two cars get into each other in an incident that could be any of a number of folks’ fault.

Despite that drama, the big crowd was treated to one of the best races the track has seen this season. And, judging by the number of people on their feet pumping their fists and applauding on the final lap, they were happy as well.

So now the track will sit dark until Oct. 15-16 when it will host the fourth-running of the Kokomo Klash. Until then, that gives us all a month to recount another great season of racing at the local oval.

• Brett Bowman is the Tribune’s lead auto racing columnist. He may be reached by e-mail at brettbowman29@aol.com or through the sports department.