Doug Kalitta

[mick]

i'm pulling for doug and his team. the rules are the rules, and they have managed to put themselves in a great position
2/3 of the way into playoffs. so has leah and steve.

 

[ZWeinstein]

Long way to go, its gonna be a dogfight all the way until probably the final round at Pomona. In a storybook finish, Doug beats Leah on a holeshot in the final for the championship.

 

[none]

We all know Doug lost a championship to THE RUN. This time around it was the 3.737 329.99 run both he and Leah ran. She gets the lane choice because she did it first. They took the better lane that day. Great for TSR , but what are the chances of both of them running exact times and speed in the same round and would face each other in the next round. Scary for Doug

Just for the record, yes most teams did prefer the right lane. But, Leah lost lane choice for the semis and ran 3.772 331.77 in the left lane to beat Steve in the semis. Then in the final Clay was in the left lane and ran 3.758 331.99 for the win.

It is my belief that these days lane choice is more psychological than anything.

Alan

 

[Randy]

Just for the record, yes most teams did prefer the right lane. But, Leah lost lane choice for the semis and ran 3.772 331.77 in the left lane to beat Steve in the semis. Then in the final Clay was in the left lane and ran 3.758 331.99 for the win.

It is my belief that these days lane choice is more psychological than anything.

Alan

In the old days, having lane choice due to an oil down even the day before could be critical (back in the days of kitty littler and guys with brooms sitting on tailgates going down the track). The lane would be trash. But the cleanup procedures today brings almost any lane back to "good as new" for the very next pair.

I've said before, often times the only reason everyone stays in one lane is because the hero racer in front of them chose it. For the crew chief it's one less explanation he has to deal with when asked by the driver or team owner. Having said that, sometimes it's not the track conditions but the time of day/angle of the sun. Late afternoon at Pomona or Sonoma or even Pacific Raceways can be brutal in one lane more than the other. In the 1990's, I ran against Bucky Austin in Sonoma in late June. The Division Director at the time thought it was a good idea to keep running rather than wait 15 minutes and let the sun set, so he directed track personnel to have someone hold a sheet of plywood behind the Christmas Tree so the driver in the right lane could see it. Not a "bright" idea, but that's what he did.

 

[DG]

In the old days, having lane choice due to an oil down even the day before could be critical (back in the days of kitty littler and guys with brooms sitting on tailgates going down the track). The lane would be trash. But the cleanup procedures today brings almost any lane back to "good as new" for the very next pair.

I've said before, often times the only reason everyone stays in one lane is because the hero racer in front of them chose it. For the crew chief it's one less explanation he has to deal with when asked by the driver or team owner. Having said that, sometimes it's not the track conditions but the time of day/angle of the sun. Late afternoon at Pomona or Sonoma or even Pacific Raceways can be brutal in one lane more than the other. In the 1990's, I ran against Bucky Austin in Sonoma in late June. The Division Director at the time thought it was a good idea to keep running rather than wait 15 minutes and let the sun set, so he directed track personnel to have someone hold a sheet of plywood behind the Christmas Tree so the driver in the right lane could see it. Not a "bright" idea, but that's what he did.

I can remember a LODRS event at Tucson, way in the past, where the afternoon sun would shine directly into the starting line right lane sensors.

They had a guy stand on top of a golf cart with a big piece of cardboard, just behind the starting line, right outside the left lane guardrail, to block the sun until it set a little further!

The "Good Ol' Days"?

 

[timebombkal]

My point of the thread is, What are the chances of 2 cars running the exact same time and speed and the only tiebreaker is who did it first. And they had to race each other in the next round. Doug has no luck. I've been a Doug Kalitta fan since he started driving these cars. ONLY Michigan team left in nitro. Live 20 minues from them.

 

[r2]

My point of the thread is, What are the chances of 2 cars running the exact same time and speed and the only tiebreaker is who did it first. And they had to race each other in the next round.

Not only that ... They both had .083 lights. Crazy!

 

[Randy]

I can remember a LODRS event at Tucson, way in the past, where the afternoon sun would shine directly into the starting line right lane sensors.

They had a guy stand on top of a golf cart with a big piece of cardboard, just behind the starting line, right outside the left lane guardrail, to block the sun until it set a little further!

The "Good Ol' Days"?

I think Bakersfield had the same problem. The track runs from north to south, and the afternoon sun during certain times of the year would reflect off the shiny wheels.