Cory Mac and Morgan Lucas - What happened? (2 Viewers)

[Sean D, shondoo]

Hey T, why isn't this sort of thing talked about prior to the run? I understand there is same gamesmanship involved and would never happen in many classes like Pro Stock. But in fuel, there's an obvious timetable, so why isn't this something that is readily agreed upon prior to starting the cars? Seems to me that burndowns are almost never an issue in fuel, and when they happen, they're usually unintentional, so why don't the drivers take that out of the equation?

Sean D

 

[clwill]

Hey T, why isn't this sort of thing talked about prior to the run? I understand there is same gamesmanship involved and would never happen in many classes like Pro Stock. But in fuel, there's an obvious timetable, so why isn't this something that is readily agreed upon prior to starting the cars? Seems to me that burndowns are almost never an issue in fuel, and when they happen, they're usually unintentional, so why don't the drivers take that out of the equation?

I think smart crews look at the others and know what kind of time it takes them to get ready. "Holy cow, that guy always does a patented John Force half-track burnout, let's let him go first." Or "they spend all kinds of time with the lid up, let's pace ourselves." That kind of thing.

Kind of like in sportsman when you have a door car up against a dragster, you'll always let the dragster (who can/does burnout through the lights) go first. You just know it, no discussion required.

 

[Kevin]

He sure takes his time staging, but in the past couple races he seems to have been burning out and backing up MUCH quicker than his opponent. Coil has been giving the death stare (like HURRRY up) a couple times to the other lane that I have noticed.

Coil / JF have been struggling. Change in tune up?

 

[Kevin]

Hey T, why isn't this sort of thing talked about prior to the run? I understand there is same gamesmanship involved and would never happen in many classes like Pro Stock. But in fuel, there's an obvious timetable, so why isn't this something that is readily agreed upon prior to starting the cars? Seems to me that burndowns are almost never an issue in fuel, and when they happen, they're usually unintentional, so why don't the drivers take that out of the equation?

Sean D

The teams are familiar with each others procedures and timing. But a team might change it's routine if a tune is modified for example.

Watch and you will ofyen see crew chiefs looking at the opponent to see how things are coming along in the other lane during staging procedures, occasionally even nodding to their counterpart as if to say "Yup we are good to go".

 

[T.Smith]

Hey T, why isn't this sort of thing talked about prior to the run? I understand there is same gamesmanship involved and would never happen in many classes like Pro Stock. But in fuel, there's an obvious timetable, so why isn't this something that is readily agreed upon prior to starting the cars? Seems to me that burndowns are almost never an issue in fuel, and when they happen, they're usually unintentional, so why don't the drivers take that out of the equation?

Sean D

Sean, for the most part I believe it is talked about in some form of capacity.

To credit Lucas Racing, when we raced Langdon at St. Louis and that other guy who drove the car last year, Randy Green made it a point to come over and tell us they don't take a lot of time to pre-stage.

We always ask because we don't race against these teams a lot and don't want to screw them up.

I could also see where one gets use to racing against certain competitors and you know whether they are short or long on time.

 

[Gordon]

All of these arguments and/or statements make sense for a situation that occurs on Sunday - but this was qualifying. What's the purpose of playing games, or waiting for the other guy to stage first during qualifying. I know there's some degree of gamesmanship going on, but by and large, particularly during the testosterone session on Friday night, one would think you'd want to get the car up to temp and stand on the loud pedal without all the games.