I'm watching round 1 of F/C and see the Johnny Gray/Courtney Force matchup. Her chutes come out about 300 ft or so and then she says something to the affect of the burst panel popping. So I rewind and see that all 8 are lit and the butterflies are at WOT loooong after the chutes pop out. The she let off the butterflies and THEN the pop is obvious. Must be one magical burst panel...
Nitromater
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Courtney Force's "story"
- Thread starter Sandman
- Start date
MM
Nitro Member
Only one chute fell out on the run. Lifted the back end off the track, causing the the tires to spin, engine over revved and backfired the blower causing the second chute to come out.
Most learning in drag racing happens minutes, hours, days after the actual event. I often study my 32 channels of Racepak data during lunch at my desk the few days after the race ... many problems are figured out sitting at work.
Courtney just had a first time event in a young career ... she knows now, but she didn't know right at that moment. Thank God nobody is interviewing me as I walk away from the starting line.
ADRL driver Frankie Taylor was walking by my pits several years ago and eyed something he didn't like about how I'd packed and set up our twin chutes. He took 15 minutes to walk me through several tricks he'd learned over the years to making them come out when you want them to, but not otherwise ... Now that I know I can see that all of the pro's do these things, but 1 in 1000 runs something bumps just the wrong way.
Courtney just had a first time event in a young career ... she knows now, but she didn't know right at that moment. Thank God nobody is interviewing me as I walk away from the starting line.
ADRL driver Frankie Taylor was walking by my pits several years ago and eyed something he didn't like about how I'd packed and set up our twin chutes. He took 15 minutes to walk me through several tricks he'd learned over the years to making them come out when you want them to, but not otherwise ... Now that I know I can see that all of the pro's do these things, but 1 in 1000 runs something bumps just the wrong way.
Gordon
Nitro Member
A lot going on in an extremely short period of time.
To me it's like the professional quarterback analogy - the pro game moves too quick for the college QB brain to interpret everything right away. Only after thousands of snaps does the brain slow the game down enough to fully see & feel all that's going on.
I'm sure in her mind, what she described is really what happened... but once she's made a few thousand passes, she'll feel differently if it happens again.
No big deal, to me.
To me it's like the professional quarterback analogy - the pro game moves too quick for the college QB brain to interpret everything right away. Only after thousands of snaps does the brain slow the game down enough to fully see & feel all that's going on.
I'm sure in her mind, what she described is really what happened... but once she's made a few thousand passes, she'll feel differently if it happens again.
No big deal, to me.
n/a
Nitro Member
Fixed it for ya!
FABMAN
Nitro Member
Don't understand your issue, if you're familiar with the Nitro cars these things happen from time to time plus she's learning right know and wasn't expecting that to happen at that part of track, experience will take care of that.
jackass
Nitro Member
Tony
Nitro Member
Ms Force didn't have the advantage of rewinding the tape as Mr Elliot did in the comfort of his living room or wherever he was comfortably viewing his "magical" TV. Didn't have a TV camera or interviewer in his face either.
Here's my issue: I used to do a lot of sand-drag racing and my times on a 300ft drag strip were comparable to the current 1/4 mile times. I can tell you this much, 5 seconds is an eternity and any decent driver should be able to easily dissect every inch of the run, especially something as dramatic as the engine blowing up. So go ahead and bash me, but I stand by my opinion of this "next big thing" in NHRA marketing and am positive time will prove my side, not yours.
none
Nitro Member
Jim,
What exactly is "your side"? I'm trying to understand the point you are trying to make. She was correct in saying the the burst panel popped, she just didn't know the one chute had come out first. It seems to me that a chute deploys early about five or six times a year. It happened to Morgan in Gainesville. He knew something was wrong, but he didin't know it was the parachute until he got out of the car and I told him. There was a time last year when it happened to Cruz, and he didn't know what it was either. He said it felt like the car wasn't going anywhere and when he was told the chute fell out he said "Well, that explains it."
Courtney knows she still has a lot to learn, and she is learning on every run. Just like any other rookie. She is going to be just fine.
Alan
What exactly is "your side"? I'm trying to understand the point you are trying to make. She was correct in saying the the burst panel popped, she just didn't know the one chute had come out first. It seems to me that a chute deploys early about five or six times a year. It happened to Morgan in Gainesville. He knew something was wrong, but he didin't know it was the parachute until he got out of the car and I told him. There was a time last year when it happened to Cruz, and he didn't know what it was either. He said it felt like the car wasn't going anywhere and when he was told the chute fell out he said "Well, that explains it."
Courtney knows she still has a lot to learn, and she is learning on every run. Just like any other rookie. She is going to be just fine.
Alan
I'm saying that neither of the Force daughters possess any talent as a driver. None. They are simple another part of the transformation of modern racing going from "sport" to "entertainment business". Rookie mistakes are inevitable and happen to everyone. However, Mike Neff was a rookie a few short years ago, and was blazingly fast, remarkably consistent and performed well all season. Then he lost his ride for a year. Yet Courtney and Ashley Force, despite not having one iota of talent were and are treated by the media as is they invented funny car racing, or at the very least are the saviors of the class. Let's suppose that (God forbid) JFR closed the doors tomorrow. Who in their right mind would put either of the Force girls in a car? Would you if you owned the car? I'm sick of seeing quality drivers like Tommy Johnson Jr, his ex, Melanie Troxel, Larry Dixon and a ton of others that built this sport sit on the sidelines while talentless people with money waste perfectly good rides. Tell you what, print out this post and save it, then come back in a few years and tell me what sort of splash the Force kids made in drag racing. Other than a few marked-up walls, and ESPN highlight reels,I doubt it'll be much of anything. Then they'll move on. It has nothing to do with them as women, either. I admire the real racers, regardless of gender. I think Lyn St James was one of the best racers I ever saw or heard of, and not just one of the best women, either. I think Hillary Will has the right stuff, and not just because she's from my hometown. Look at her reaction times, plus the fact she raced all kinds of cars prior to T/F. Same with Leah Pruitt. She earned her way, and she knows cars and racing. But the Force's in particular have never been in sketchy cars, nor have either of them had to do without just to race. A measure of racer is how much they will endure just for the chance to win. Blowing up Daddy's parts and smiling for the multitude of brainless media is hardly sacrificing anything.
Well Jim, you are blessed to have some kind of built in Racepak in your brain, but you are frustrated with something that has be painfully obvious about motorsports for longer than you have been alive ... the driver is responsible for bringing more than just driving talent to the team. And oftentimes that is not primarily what they bring. What about this concept is new to you?
Let's see the economy is not so good right now. You think that the scales might tip to the driver who brings money to the deal (oftentimes with the help of relatives/friends who want to support them)?
If you are interested in pure talent without the limitations of economics why don't you have all of the talented out of work drivers write a paper about driving a racecar and you can read them and judge the best. Crap, that wouldn't be any fun ... it seems that it takes money to expose the driver's talent. Who would have known?
This theme repeats itself throughout life. If you want to get truly frustrated, think about the talents of many of your elected politicians ...
Let's see the economy is not so good right now. You think that the scales might tip to the driver who brings money to the deal (oftentimes with the help of relatives/friends who want to support them)?
If you are interested in pure talent without the limitations of economics why don't you have all of the talented out of work drivers write a paper about driving a racecar and you can read them and judge the best. Crap, that wouldn't be any fun ... it seems that it takes money to expose the driver's talent. Who would have known?
This theme repeats itself throughout life. If you want to get truly frustrated, think about the talents of many of your elected politicians ...
Professor Dave
Nitro Member
Jim,
It must be wonderful to be so certain of your opinions. Unlike you, I'm going to pay attention to what I learned in stat class about drawing conclusions based on a small sample.
It must be wonderful to be so certain of your opinions. Unlike you, I'm going to pay attention to what I learned in stat class about drawing conclusions based on a small sample.
none
Nitro Member
Jim,
I think I get it now. And I certainly agree with you that there is a lot of talent on the sidelines right now. But I would say that since Ashley has a number of wins including two at Indy and has finished as high as second in the points in 2009 she has shown that she has what it takes. Courtney is four races into her FC career and you have determined that she doesn’t have any talent as a driver. I would like to give her a little more time.
John’s daughters had to complete college and take a few years in the SC and A/FD ranks before getting behind the wheel of a Funny Car. They didn’t just say one day “Daddy I want to drive” and get handed the keys. And while it’s true that they don’t work on the cars, neither does John so I don’t think you have to work on a car to be a good driver. Did you ever see Jeggie swapping a trans?
Your memory of Neff’s rookie season is a bit faulty as well. It took him two years to get his first win. As a Funny Car rookie Gary Scelzi ran over everything there was to run over but he turned out to be pretty good in the end. That’s not a slam on either one of them as they both know it’s true.
Here’s what I think is another good example; Kurt Johnson He got where he is because he is WJ’s kid. And it is certainly true that Warren made him work in the shop and at the track. But do you recall his rookie campaign? It didn’t go real smoothly. But last I checked he is an accomplished and tremendously respected member of the Drag Racing community.
I don’t fault any parent for giving their kid a start in the family business. Whatever that business may be.
Alan
I think I get it now. And I certainly agree with you that there is a lot of talent on the sidelines right now. But I would say that since Ashley has a number of wins including two at Indy and has finished as high as second in the points in 2009 she has shown that she has what it takes. Courtney is four races into her FC career and you have determined that she doesn’t have any talent as a driver. I would like to give her a little more time.
John’s daughters had to complete college and take a few years in the SC and A/FD ranks before getting behind the wheel of a Funny Car. They didn’t just say one day “Daddy I want to drive” and get handed the keys. And while it’s true that they don’t work on the cars, neither does John so I don’t think you have to work on a car to be a good driver. Did you ever see Jeggie swapping a trans?
Your memory of Neff’s rookie season is a bit faulty as well. It took him two years to get his first win. As a Funny Car rookie Gary Scelzi ran over everything there was to run over but he turned out to be pretty good in the end. That’s not a slam on either one of them as they both know it’s true.
Here’s what I think is another good example; Kurt Johnson He got where he is because he is WJ’s kid. And it is certainly true that Warren made him work in the shop and at the track. But do you recall his rookie campaign? It didn’t go real smoothly. But last I checked he is an accomplished and tremendously respected member of the Drag Racing community.
I don’t fault any parent for giving their kid a start in the family business. Whatever that business may be.
Alan
Although I'm not too old or too young by anyone's standards (I'm 50) I've been a drag racing fan since I was about 7 years old reading my Dad's Hot Rod magazine's in the late '60's and anxiously waiting for ABC's Wide World of Sports to televise 3 month-old races on TV. I was watching when Jim Nicoll's clutch cut his dragster in half, so I guess I've been a fan of drag racing for a few days now. I have no problem with money being part of racing, hell DSR is a money temple! But I do have a problem with sponsorship and public image determining the history of the sport. Respect should be earned, not given freely. What is going to be remembered by the next generation? That only good looking, well-spoken people can succeed? And only then if they have the bucks to bring to the table? Where's the next Bob Glidden or Al Hoffman or Jim Dunn coming from?
