Force and T Ped going at it in the shutdown? (1 Viewer)

[The Little Lizard]

Are you saying you don't believe in coincidence? Mr. Feld why not buy 2 drag racing associations? Then the WWE like competition can begin. Let's see..... "The Sheik vs. Sargeant Tony"

A friend and I were discussing this notion just the other day, while our conversation was very hypothetical, when you move to an environment of goal post changing, and even a minor degree of scripting one (not that I know anyone actually doing that?) would be moving in the direction of something a kin to WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). Thus, a sports association could be split into to components:

1. Sportman, i.e., WDRO-World Drag Racing Organization

2. Entertainment, i.e., WDRE-World Drag Racing Entertainment

Each would be their own separate entites, with their own CEO, or Even the #2 option would be totally separted and become its own new totally separate corporate entity, with separate CEO, board, and stock exchange offering similar to WWE. One could imagine any one who could orchestrate such a split could become very wealthy with stock of the new company and options, etc.

Just a hypothetical response to comments of Jack Issi

 

[Eracer]

Bottom Line....AAA will be back next year....I doubt AAP or Quaker State will be! both have been "rumoured" on this board as pulling the plug.

 

[Rich]

"'Owner group' shall mean (1) the same individual or entity; (2) two ore more affiliated individuals and/or entities (related by partnership, corporate affiliation, familial affiliation, marriage... Penalties for failure to comply with such a request for information, for attempting to camouflage ownership, or for otherwise attempting to circumvent or circumventing or not complying with this rule shall be imposed by NHRA..."

Page 39 of the rulebook.

And now even NASCAR has a similar rule. That is why Jack Roush will be going from five teams to four next year.

 

[Dan]

Truth be told it happened when Tony left. They were just both very civil about it publicly. Given the pent up frustrations from both sides, we all knew this would, one day, come to a head. Looks like today was the day.

Thats the truth. We did know this would happen someday, too bad it happended the way it did.

 

[jackass]

Bottom Line....AAA will be back next year....I doubt AAP or Quaker State will be! both have been "rumoured" on this board as pulling the plug.

Didn't Force have to cut back the deal big time to keep Castrol on for this year?...and a possibility that they might not be back long before this?... just asking..seems like a report somewhere said that on a couple sites...


i still think this is the best PR thing ever for the NHRA.. i bet track owners phones will light up on ticket sales.. and ESPNs viewership will rise..... not sure how the NHRA parks the teams but i would park those two guy across the lane from each otehr for the rest of the year....lol...


And Mike Dunn should get and emmy for his reporting..... i bet John Kernan felt like the old days in NASCAR...lol..

 

[.]

For the record, Don was man enough and had the balls to publicly admit and apologize for the Seattle dive. The one and only time DSR has ever done it.
Why?
Because DIVING IS WRONG!

I don't understand all you Greg Louganis types defending diving. Do you people even get lube?

Kudos to Cruz and tony for having the balls to speak their minds.
WJ does too!

 

[chop]

And now even NASCAR has a similar rule. That is why Jack Roush will be going from five teams to four next year.

Don't kid yourself,Roush will have the same amount of teams,just under another name.

 

[__]

So consider the question I put to Don Schumacher. You have a multi-million dollar sponsorship agreement, a team of drivers, crew chiefs, mechanics, and support staff who you're employing and who are depending on their jobs to support themselves and their families. You've worked all season to get into a position to win a championship, which will strengthen the relationship with your sponsors, most likely adding revenue from the endorsements which are sure to come after winning a title, not to mention the pride and prestige you and your team will feel after reaching the highest goal the sport has to offer. It's the last round of the year and your two drivers are about to race--one for the championship and the other for the event win.

What would you do?

Bill, the quoted portion above is the issue. Let me be clear - the issue is not with John Force, Tony Pedregon or Don Schumacher. It is not with the racers at all. The issue is with a sanctioning body that would allow this to even be a question that a team owner could pose. That a team owner is allowed to determine the outcome of even one race is detrimental to the sport. Let's also be clear - this is not just an NHRA issue. It is a motorsports issue. When NASCAR drivers from the same team are running 1-2 and one pulls over so the other can lead a lap, it cheapens the sport. When Rubens Barrichello was ordered to pull over to let Michael Schumacher win the the '02 Austrian Grand Prix, it cheapened the sport. When a sanctioning body allows its sport to be manipulated by team owners, the achievements of all that sport's participants are cheapened. Back to the NHRA, regrettably this isn't the first time the NHRA rule book has been marginalized for the benefit of a specific team. It's not even the first time this year. That's sad. That needs to change.

 

[Bross Hawg]

JF basically said so what. "My sponsors pay me to get in the Countdown and I did just that!" 2.09 reaction time? please.

yea...it was a .209 not a 2.09 RT...and he did exactly what he said. He got all 4 cars in the countdown.

 

[Paul]

Bottom Line....AAA will be back next year....I doubt AAP or Quaker State will be! both have been "rumoured" on this board as pulling the plug.

Are you sure about that? Last year at Indy Cruz announced AAP signed a multi year renewal. Cruz cut the # of employees back this year due to the lack of associate sponsors.

 

[Von Halen]

Gimmee a freakin' break. Neither one of them had an interest in actually throwing down! LMAO!!! They were inches away from one another on at least a dozen of occasions in that few minutes, so if they wanted to dance, they could've.

One was scared, and the other was glad.

Force took a dive. It is what it is. Like someone else said, this would never have happened if there were no countdown.

Does anyone believe this will not strengthen the NHRA's stance on the Countdown? Those emotions would not have been there without it. All the publicity this is going to garner, would not happen without it. I don't care for the Countdown, but I believe this just solidifies the NHRA's decision to keep it. Instead of having a runaway winner for the Championship at this point in the year, like we have had in the past, we now have a literal fight for the Championship with several races to go. NHRA has to be lovin' this.

The Peds should quit whining so much. Maybe the pressure of the rumored sponsorship losses for them, has them on edge. Maybe they were fighting to keep that last nail out of the coffin on their current deals. They know if Advance is on the fence, not making the Countdown ain't gonna help. Still, I don't believe they wouldn't have done the same thing had the shoe been on the other foot.

I don't think it was scripted, but I don't think all this publicity is a bad thing either.

 

[Terry]

I'm aware of the examples you cite. In none of those examples was the championship directly on the line. I will go back to my original question which I posed to Don Schumacher. Teams DO use team orders but when and where they use them may vary. But I know of no team owner in the sport who would tell his drivers to "just race" when the title hangs in the balance and the outcome of the matchup could give the championship to another team.

Bill, thanks for taking time to post here on the Mater. I am a fan of your work and have always had a great deal of respect for your opinions and insight. And I agree totally with your last sentence. All I'm asking for is a no-BS approach to what is being done. Either say nothing or tell it like it is via the realities you outlined above. Just don't feed us an interview trumpeting that it will be a straight up no-fix race in deference to the fans who paid good money to see good racing, etc. and then go out and give them a tank job.

I think Jim Becktel, another poster that I have a great deal of respect for, said a ton when siting how Conrad handled similar situations:

"Or maybe just give up the pretense and say it the way Connie Kallita said it when faced with a team decision? I don't think his honesty offended too many fans, did it?"

I totally agree that it will continue to go on, and all I'm asking for is don't try to sell it to us as real racing. Do it if you must, but either shut up about it or tell the truth.

 

[afx421]

all this would have never happened if they would have left the points alone, this stupid countdown caused all of this, the old way and cruz and robert would of never had a chance! thanks for another debacle NHRA

 

[haagar]

Even without the countdown this is a problem. It just gets pushed until later in the year when it is for the championship.

 

[Paul]

Where did Schumacher get into all of this?

That is exactly what I was thinking, why bring Don into this?

 

[TSK]

Dive equipment has always been needed in the Force camp ever since he went to more than one car.
Who really thinks Graham Light has the stones to punish Force for anything?
Light probably wets his pants at the thought of Force getting in his face.
Remember when Force got DQ'd at Vegas for leaving before the Tree was activated? He went after the ESPN camera man and actually pushed the camera. Nothing happened.
Mike Dunn hit the nail on the head with his analysis today, and I was glad to hear someone of his stature saying what needed to be said.

 

[Bross Hawg]

You had me until this sentence........

How can you feel any pride in a race or championship won with team orders?

Sean D

Have you been there? Tony used it to his advantage to get his own deal after winning his...

 

[You!]

No matter whose side you're taking on this, it's pretty clear who put it all into motion.

The ESPN director and pit reporters.

Force attempted to take the high road initially, but they stayed after him until he finally blew up.

So either the praise or blame should be placed on the tv crew for the shut down area incident coming to fruition.

 

[Demon]

Well, it beats the overall Boy Scout mentality that's been in the pro ranks for years (Bazemore excluded).

Boy Scout mentality?? Explain that one.Hopefully you're not insulting them.

 

[Ugly one]

Sweeney your spot on