alBalooshi

[none]

The clutch linkage on the car broke, meaning he could engage the clutch pedal, which is why the car would not go into reverse. When he got the car back to the line it would still roll forward. Watch the video again. He rolls forward into the pre-stage beams while Jason is still trying to make his final adjustments. When Jason was done, he looked and saw that Khalid was already pre-staged and knew he needed to get away from the car. By rule, once the car is pre-staged, the crew are no longer allowed to touch the car. Jason never gave Khalid the okay sign to go in, as is customery for the crew chief to give to the driver. That is why Khalid sat there and never staged. Veteran of the sport as he is, he should have known that once Vangergriff staged he had 7 seconds to go in or he would be timed out. In all truth, it probably didn't matter much because since the clutch pedal was inopperable, the clutch itself would have had way too much heat in it. It most likely would have grabbed as soon as he hit the throttle and blown the tires off, but we will never know.

That is what I thought when I saw it live. Never given the sign to roll in so he did not. Knowing he only had 7 seconds was only part of the problem. Not knowing everyone was clear made his decision seem prudent to me.

 

[Topfuel386]

It was another neutral switch/reverser problem like time Wilkerson has. What was reported wasn't correct. The car was pushed into the prestage beams. AlBalooshi will be fine he just needs a little time.

 

[flapjack]

It was another neutral switch/reverser problem like time Wilkerson has. What was reported wasn't correct. The car was pushed into the prestage beams. AlBalooshi will be fine he just needs a little time.

Interesting. I heard on the EPSN3 broadcast that it was problem with the clutch canon (or maybe I heard that wrong and they said clutch can). Actually, the latter makes more sense as the clutch canon has nothing to do with reverse.

Of course, I am probably wrong...

 

[Nunz]

A lot of people are really beating this guy up, IMO it's not fair. He's won in everything else, but TF is a different animal, obviously there's a learning curve. I remember reading Scelzi describe the first time he did a warmup in AJ's fueler. He was overwhelmed, and wasn't sure he was up for it (in so many words). And he had years of experience in TAD and TAFC, 2 very violent race cars. Obviously he adapted. Remember when folks on the internet thought he couldn't drive a fuel FC? How did that turn out? Give this guy a break, this sport looks real easy from the stands, TV or computer...

 

[Fast16Racer]

Yep, makes sense. AJ frustratingly making the "OK" sign to Jason as they walked away didn't make sense at the time, but now I understand.

AlBalooshi did the right thing. I'm sure he knew he was about to get timed out, but he had no idea who was around the car after the confusion. Good decision!

 

[Sandman]

I may be wrong, but I think the crew pushed the car into the pre-stage beam. But it's against the rules to completely stage a car by pushing it. Also, I gotta believe there's some weird stuff going on at AJR. I hear so many goofy things about how the sheik got his hand slapped by his Dad,cutting the money off from the team or Dixon screwed someone in a real estate deal causing him to get fired, then you throw in the fact the Del left at the height of his career accomplishment, etc. I don't have a clue what's going on, but before I threw anyone under the bus, I think I'd remember how sharp of a guy AJ really is and give the whole team a little time during this "rebuilding season".

 

[Rat]

I may be wrong, but I think the crew pushed the car into the pre-stage beam. But it's against the rules to completely stage a car by pushing it. Also, I gotta believe there's some weird stuff going on at AJR. I hear so many goofy things about how the sheik got his hand slapped by his Dad,cutting the money off from the team or Dixon screwed someone in a real estate deal causing him to get fired, then you throw in the fact the Del left at the height of his career accomplishment, etc. I don't have a clue what's going on, but before I threw anyone under the bus, I think I'd remember how sharp of a guy AJ really is and give the whole team a little time during this "rebuilding season".

I was thinking the same thing but I seen the past couple years NHRA kinda does what they feel like with that rule. It's in the rulebook but I have seen far too often crews touch cars staging and/or not backing up under there own power.

 

[Toejam]

Put Larry back in the car.........

Think he's getting a good laugh at all this?

 

[Draw 3D]

I was thinking the same thing but I seen the past couple years NHRA kinda does what they feel like with that rule. It's in the rulebook but I have seen far too often crews touch cars staging and/or not backing up under there own power.

I think this is the rule on staging that your are referring to:

THE FINAL STAGING MOTION, USING APPLIED POWER, MUST BE IN A FORWARD MOTION, GOING FROM PRE-STAGE TO STAGE POSITION

 

[Sandman]

Think he's getting a good laugh at all this?

Not trying to be mean, but I think anyone who was fired from a job would HAVE to take a certain amount of private satisfaction from seeing the people who thought they could do without him fall on their face week in and week out. Regardless of what Larry says in public. Wouldn't you?

 

[MHayes]

Not trying to be mean, but I think anyone who was fired from a job would HAVE to take a certain amount of private satisfaction from seeing the people who thought they could do without him fall on their face week in and week out.

I'm sorry Jim, but that made me laugh out loud!

You've got to be kidding me.....you really think AJ can't win without Larry Dixon or that their lack of success thus far in the season is attributable to Larry not being there??

Believe me, Alan is going to get the kinks worked out and they're going to start producing wins....with or without Larry and Del!

 

[Sandman]

I don't know why they are struggling and neither does anyone else on this forum. But they have the same owner, same crew chief, same crews and same cars. What did they change besides Larry and Del? Simple logic would seem to point to the fact that if you only make one change out of the whole combination and go from winning consistently to not even going rounds, maybe that change was not a wise one.

 

[Dave]

I don't know why they are struggling and neither does anyone else on this forum. But they have the same owner, same crew chief, same crews and same cars. What did they change besides Larry and Del? Simple logic would seem to point to the fact that if you only make one change out of the whole combination and go from winning consistently to not even going rounds, maybe that change was not a wise one.

Then how might you explain Tony Schumacher's struggles? They haven't changed a thing and still haven't won in over a year. It is possible to be unlucky or fall on hard times for no reason. The driver change was mere coincidence. If Larry were still driving this thread would be about how much he is struggling this year and what's wrong with the team?

 

[Nunz]

Once again, this stuff is way more complicated than it looks from the stands. Anyone who has been around this sport has seen numerous examples of high profile teams going through bad streaks. These are nitro cars, not Super Comp cars. Nobody is going to win all the time, and dominant teams aren't going o dominate forever. BTW, that's a good thing. It's so funny, when AJ's cars are winning, so many talk as if everyone else is racing for 2nd place. When he's not, everyone seems mystified and tries to come up with the answer as to why he's not.

 

[tomcat]

What seems lost in this discussion to me is Langdon's record. He has certainly done better than AB but not what we are used to seeing from this team. You know that he knows what to do and is one of the better drivers in the class so I happen to believe that this is just one of those "down" curves the whole team is going through and AB is getting the worst end of the comments. I'm and AJ fan from waaaay back and I have faith this too will pass. I just wish it would hurry up.

 

[Joker]

You know what Sam, how about a friendly little wager since everyone is so concerned about sending KA back to desert. He may not have won a round this year yet, but I got $100 that says he wins a race before the year is done. Bet?

Is that crickets I hear? Crickets I tell you. Come on Sam, why dont you put your money where your mouth is?

 

[HEMI6point1]

You know what, if I didn't have money troubles I would certainly take that bet.

I'm going to say that Albaloosh doesn't win a race until later in the season, at the earliest....

 

[none]

You have to admit this is a lot more fun than one team winning 15 races or whatever. There are a lot of good cars this year. You know that team is going to get going and this season is really shaping up to be exciting. I for one could not be happier.........

 

[Sandman]

Then how might you explain Tony Schumacher's struggles? They haven't changed a thing and still haven't won in over a year. It is possible to be unlucky or fall on hard times for no reason. The driver change was mere coincidence. If Larry were still driving this thread would be about how much he is struggling this year and what's wrong with the team?

Good point indeed. However, Tony has been right there, week in and week out. They qualify well, make it to lots of finals and go rounds. AlBalooshi has a 0% holeshot record, zero round wins and lots of ancillary problems that may or may not be his doing in the car. I know full well those cars have to be tough to drive and the learning curve is certainly got to be steep. I have no problem with the fact that they will fix the problems and will run good. BUt for now, there is no way on earth I believe Del or Larry would not be doing much better this season. There is no substitute for an experienced, championship level T/F driver. Same as if you put Dixon in AlBalooshi's Pro/Mod car, he'd be lost.

 

[NitroRichFire]

Think he's getting a good laugh at all this?

Xs2, Joe I'm with you on that statement!