When Cruz was interviewed in his pit he did say something about checking the timing system.I am surprised Cruz did not say something or protest that. Both were staged. Force rolled the beam, even for a fraction of a second, which is leaving before the tree is activated. Instant red light is what I thought. What gives?
Interesting. The slower of two double reds in eliminations is not disqualified. But why didn't both sides go red? I hope NHRA will be looking into this.TOPEKA - Funny Car Round 1 Eliminations
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This is what DRC says.....
That's never been how it works. In both the pro and sportsman ranks, at national events and at every track in the country, a double red light never turns on both red bulbs. The slower red light always gets the green light, even if they went red. See the Pro Stock final at The Auto Club Finals in 2014 between Jason Line and Erica Enders, where they were racing for the championship. Jason went red and gave the championship to Erica, but people forget that Erica went .002 red right behind him, but her red bulb never came on and she won the race.Interesting. The slower of two double reds in eliminations is not disqualified. But why didn't both sides go red? I hope NHRA will be looking into this.
Short answer is no.Should the red light have came on in Forces lane ?
Force definitely put out both lights. I think he rolled in super deep, grabbed the brake, and the car rocked enough to put the bottom bulb out, then when the car settled the stage light was back on, but barely. Also the stage beam did turn back off while the car was sitting still, right after Cruz left.
Thanks for the great explanation Alan! I've been waiting for your input! The true pure expert speaks. Not many have your experience...John rolled right to the back edge of the beam, The car was rocking. You can turn the beam on or off by moving less than 1/8 of an inch. He was barely touching the back of the second beam. We are talking fractions of an inch here. When you pull up to a stop sign, when the car stops it rocks back doesn't it? Not back a foot, but certainly back a fraction of an inch.
Here's the sequence.
Cruz rolled deep. Top light out.
John rolled WAY deep all the way to the back side of the 2nd beam and stopped abruptly when he went too far.
The bottom light went out.
John's car rocked back into the beam and the light came back on.
Cruz saw that blink and took off. (I spoke to Cruz today, he told me that.)
The tree flashed as John's car rocked into the beam.
Cruz was already gone. He actually got a rear wheel start indicated by the 60' time of .7 something.
John's car then rocked out of the beam again for a negative reaction time, but Cruz' red light was already on, so John got the green (The system won't throw two red lights in eliminations) and he never even hit the gas.
But he was in the beam when the tree flashed yellow.
As Cruz and I talked today I said "You could give every driver in the class 100 tries and they could never make that happen again." and he agreed, I have never seen it before and not many have watched more races than I have. I have seen it happen with the Pre-Stage. When a competitor goes a little too far and the top light goes out, then the car rocks back to turn it on. If it happens just right you get the green. If it happens wrong you get the deep stage red in sportsman racing.
Bottom line, it was pure luck for John, but it wasn't a timing system error, nor was it a conspiracy, and no rule needs to be added or changed.
Alan
Force can appy the old saying "I'd rather be lucky than good" because the way those cars vibrate and shake he could have easily red lit with that short of a "wiggle room".Bottom line, it was pure luck for John, but it wasn't a timing system error, nor was it a conspiracy, and no rule needs to be added or changed.
Alan