Nitromater
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Alexis bringing the throttle whack back!
- Thread starter MHayes
- Start date
flapjack
Nitro Member
Oh man her pit is going to be packed with spectators. Not saying it’s a marketing ploy, but if it, it’s genius
vegasnitro
Nitro Member
She is not bringing the whack back ... Scott Palmer and Jeff Diehl have kept the whack alive. Scott has proved you can whack it and run competitive ETs and make the Countdown (2018). I am glad to see there is another team out there that see the spectator benefit and downright fun of doing it. Alexis ran well all weekend, so good on Del, Nicky and Alexis.
Scott Palmer, yes, Jeff Diehl, sometimes.
If it makes you feel better, maybe I should have titled the thread " A potential contending team whacks the throttle". The point being, if one of the true contenders starts to whack the throttle, maybe some of the other big teams will start again. I don't see Palmer or Diehl influencing that.
.
Nitro Member
Kinky
ZWeinstein
Nitro Member
That is awesome, looks pretty rich too so you might get a good nose full of nitro with the whack. I am glad that Del, Chuck and Alexis are whacking again in warmups, there is something about when a funny car whacks the throttle that is so cool, even more than dragsters. When Del and Chuck started racing again after Del left Kalitta's they whacked the throttle on warmup but for some reason stopped doing it by the next time I saw them race.
T.Smith
Nitro Member
I doubt it....sorry.
I'd be curious if they did that just because of the threat of rain and having so many guests there.
I agree, it’s a stretch, but one can hope. I guess we’ll see if they do it again in Phoenix.
Sean D, shondoo
Nitro Member
I have two questions:
1. What ultimately caused the teams to get away from whacking the throttle to set/seat the clutch (I assume that's what the purpose was.....)? Palmer obviously still runs pretty good with that being part of his procedure. Surely the gap between how he runs now versus the few hundredths he needs to be at the top isn't because of this, is it? It's such an entertaining part of the experience in the pits at an NHRA event......
2. How in the holy hell do some of these guys stand under the canopy and practically right over the pipes during warm-ups with no mask of any kind on??? I realize these guys do this week-in and week-out, but DAMN! Do you just get used to it over time? Was it as bad for you in the beginning as it is for most of us fans that sends us running for cover? Lol!
Sean D
1. What ultimately caused the teams to get away from whacking the throttle to set/seat the clutch (I assume that's what the purpose was.....)? Palmer obviously still runs pretty good with that being part of his procedure. Surely the gap between how he runs now versus the few hundredths he needs to be at the top isn't because of this, is it? It's such an entertaining part of the experience in the pits at an NHRA event......
2. How in the holy hell do some of these guys stand under the canopy and practically right over the pipes during warm-ups with no mask of any kind on??? I realize these guys do this week-in and week-out, but DAMN! Do you just get used to it over time? Was it as bad for you in the beginning as it is for most of us fans that sends us running for cover? Lol!
Sean D
A few years ago at Etown I asked Bob Vandergriff why the teams were getting away from it and he said they got more consistent clutch wear by just idling it while seating the clutch vs hitting the throttle. I said I don’t give a **** bring back the whack lol.
Sean D, shondoo
Nitro Member
BaldyLochs
Nitro Member
I remember back during the great nitro shortage.... oh those were very sad years. It was bad enough to practically think that these cars would soon be running on butane lighter fluid and they would eventually be battery powered; but when I bought a ticket to Heartland Park Topeka - Friday just after lunch.... as the first pro car fired up, fans hurried over to the ropes in excitement. The car idled, then fuel was turned off and the engine slowly wound down to a dead silence with no whack ..... I tell you it was like watching a heard of white tail fawns playfully prancing past a bunch of deer hunter’s tree blinds on opening day. Such long faces ensued. Like a bell that never rings.
