Haddock booted for the season?

[SundayNiagara]

I'm sure there is more to this story than we know about. NHRA has to take safety seriously as the consequences of over looking a safety issue can cost them lots of $$$. Can you say vicarious liability? I'm sure the insurance companies have voiced their "opinion" on the safety violation enforcement policy. Plus, we don't need any bad press due to an accident.

This is a general statement, not targeted at Terry.

And you know darn well had somebody been hurt yesterday, there'd be bloody ink ALL OVER THE PLACE!

 

[Pete]

I would be the first to jump to Terry's defense on this one, but I believe NHRA is correct in their decision. Terry is only human, he can't be everything on his team. He has a different crew almost every race, even newbies. Can he have eyes on everything being done? What has happened to him this year:

shutoff for not having the blower restraint hooked up - human error
FC incident at Milan
Damaged the wing at Milan
Blew motor #1 in Dallas
Blew Motor #2 in Memphis
Toasted motor #3 in Memphis
Blew motor #4 in Virginia
Faulty safety equipment at Virginia - human error

alllll in 4 weekends and he would have just found some parts and slapped it together for Vegas and Pomona.

 

[Randy]

What about Cory Mac? He fireballed two engines yesterday and if I remember right he fireballed one in the finals last week too didn't he? Does NHRA need to have them take a break to regroup?

Last year Terry would have been out of business with the oil down penalties and fines anyway. I wouldn't doubt that NHRA isn't having a conversation with some of the teams that have found a way to blow things up at 900 feet now.

 

[clwill]

I like what Virgil says but what really bothers me is the way it was handled. Obviously, I was not there and not privy to conversations but yes, spark plugs can kill someone, so can errant wheels. If they really believe Terry needs to take a breath, then tell the guy (a) we really appreciate you being here, (b) you really screwed up and could have killed someone including yourself, and (c) you're down to your last bullet and need to regroup. Here's some extra travelling money for all your efforts but go home and regroup. Everyone including Terry would go home with their dignity spared and we would see Terry next year at the Winternationals and their wouldn't be a dark cloud hanging over him or the NHRA.

How do you know that wasn't how it WAS handled?

 

[club]

Before all this safety stuff parts were landing in the grandstands. Pushrods piercing arms, spark plugs hitting people, blower chunks landing in the parking lot, complete tire and wheel assemblies going a hundred miles an hour through the pits, and my all time favorite was when we all dove under pick up trucks in dragster staging past the finish line at OCIR in 1980 or so when Larry Bowers blew the clutch and bellhousing out of his dragster at the top end. A floater out of the clutch took off like a Frisbee, hung in the air, came down on the pits, hit some guy then flew across the freeway never to be found.

Had almost the same thing happen at OCIR but it was a blower and we went into some guys trailer. Probably about 1978 or 1979. Ahh those were the days.

 

[Paul]

Even though I'm "Mr. Safety" a two race penalty seems pretty harsh to me, sitting him down for 2 kind of seems like stepping a little too hard on his basic "right to work" rights.

To me a one race penalty with a pretty thorough pre-race inspection before the second race would have been more reasonable.

 

[Randy]

Even though I'm "Mr. Safety" a two race penalty seems pretty harsh to me, sitting him down for 2 kind of seems like stepping a little too hard on his basic "right to work" rights.

To me a one race penalty with a pretty thorough pre-race inspection before the second race would have been more reasonable.

The guy is out of parts, out of money, different "volunteers" every weekend to "work" on the car (that doesn't work in any class), borrowed parts, it's likely that his credit cards are max'd out and he looks tired. Someone is going to get hurt.

He needs a break.

.

 

[Solid Rock]

I read elsewhere that the tie wrap failed when he blew two spark plugs out.
Anyone else hear that?

 

[Greg]

The guy is out of parts, out of money, different "volunteers" every weekend to "work" on the car (that doesn't work in any class), borrowed parts, it's likely that his credit cards are max'd out and he looks tired. Someone is going to get hurt.

He needs a break.

.

So eliminating the ban for the safety issue.....what if I were to fund the car for the last two races, which allowed him to purchase enough parts for the team and field it? Would that be ok? There are a lot of "volunteer" crewmen out there in every class, and even though you don't know his personal finances, I'm betting that there are many teams out there without credit cards / credit lines that are beyond maxed.

 

[Speed1288]

I love Terry and what he represents, but im with NHRA on this one. If he's violating the safety rules something has to be done.The right decisions aren't always the most popular. Let him regroup and maybe come back stronger in '10.

 

[Randy]

So eliminating the ban for the safety issue.....what if I were to fund the car for the last two races, which allowed him to purchase enough parts for the team and field it? Would that be ok? There are a lot of "volunteer" crewmen out there in every class, and even though you don't know his personal finances, I'm betting that there are many teams out there without credit cards / credit lines that are beyond maxed.

If you want to step up and fund him then I would personally shake your hand. The fact that he has new parts because of you could be brought up in an appeal.

The problem isn't an all volunteer crew. I run my car with friends/family that are all volunteer and have been with me every time we race for 35+ years. The problem is, according to what I read, he has an all new volunteer crew every weekend. Imagine having 4-5 guys working out of your trailer and not one of them knows where the spark plug drawer is, let alone how to maintenance, start or run your car because they've never been in your pit before. The tie wrap is a perfect example of people not knowing what they are doing.

RG

.

 

[Greg]

If you want to step up and fund him then I would personally shake your hand. The fact that he has new parts because of you could be brought up in an appeal.

The problem isn't the all volunteer crew. I run my car with friends/family that are all volunteer and have been with me every time we race for 35+ years. The problem is, according to what I read, he has an all new volunteer crew every weekend. Imagine having 4-5 guys working out of your trailer and not one of them knows where the spark plug drawer is, let alone how to maintenance, start or run your car. The tie wrap is a perfect example.

RG

.

That's what I was wondering. Is it just the lack of parts, lack of money, the safety issue, or a combination of all of the above that is behind this move to ban him. He keeps all of his stuff at my buddy's shop just up the road, so I'll probably see them on Wednesday.

 

[FC Girl]

Imagine having 4-5 guys working out of your trailer and not one of them knows where the spark plug drawer is, let alone how to maintenance, start or run your car because they've never been in your pit before. The tie wrap is a perfect example of people not knowing what they are doing.

RG

.

It's a righteous pain in the A$$, we've done that at 1 race with 2 guys, will Never do that again and we're running alky, imagine that with a fuel car.

Whatever happens, Terry will be fine. This may sting a little, but we all know, sometimes a step backwards, is 10 forward. Good luck Terry, give em hell next year like we all know you can.

 

[T.Smith]

If you want to step up and fund him then I would personally shake your hand. The fact that he has new parts because of you could be brought up in an appeal.

The problem isn't an all volunteer crew. I run my car with friends/family that are all volunteer and have been with me every time we race for 35+ years. The problem is, according to what I read, he has an all new volunteer crew every weekend. Imagine having 4-5 guys working out of your trailer and not one of them knows where the spark plug drawer is, let alone how to maintenance, start or run your car because they've never been in your pit before. The tie wrap is a perfect example of people not knowing what they are doing.

RG

.

We have an all-volunteer crew...one of the requirements of being on this team is, that you make the commitment for the whole season.

 

[Randy]

We have an all-volunteer crew...one of the requirements of being on this team is, that you make the commitment for the whole season.

And if you screw up they dock you and cut your pay. LOL.

 

[Toejam]

I would be the first to jump to Terry's defense on this one, but I believe NHRA is correct in their decision. Terry is only human, he can't be everything on his team. He has a different crew almost every race, even newbies. Can he have eyes on everything being done? What has happened to him this year:

shutoff for not having the blower restraint hooked up - human error
FC incident at Milan
Damaged the wing at Milan
Blew motor #1 in Dallas
Blew Motor #2 in Memphis
Toasted motor #3 in Memphis
Blew motor #4 in Virginia
Faulty safety equipment at Virginia - human error

alllll in 4 weekends and he would have just found some parts and slapped it together for Vegas and Pomona.

At Seattle I had about a 10 minute conversation with Terry about the Tour, making ends meet, borrowing parts, etc... At that time he wasn't trashing everything every pass, in fact he was pretty consistant and good to his parts until Dallas! After the Blower Bang it seemed to all go downhill! Was it because that was the 19-20 race of the season, and he just put to many runs on the equipment???

 

[Huge]

That's what I was wondering. Is it just the lack of parts, lack of money, the safety issue, or a combination of all of the above that is behind this move to ban him. He keeps all of his stuff at my buddy's shop just up the road, so I'll probably see them on Wednesday.

Greg is he still working out of Jim's shop. I stayed there for a week after Englishtown to get his FC ready for a match race in Canada. Jim and his family are a great bunch. [While I was there I did the Texas buffet tour.]

 

[Greg]

Greg is he still working out of Jim's shop. I stayed there for a week after Englishtown to get his FC ready for a match race in Canada. Jim and his family are a great bunch. [While I was there I did the Texas buffet tour.]

Yep he still keeps everything there. I've known Jim since '94 and he has been one of my closest friends ever since. I remember at the beginning of the year, I walked into the shop to get something, and there were two funny cars, the Top fuel car, my pro mod, our second dragster that I drive on occasion, and a Super Gas Corvette in the shop. Pretty crazy.

 

[FuelFC]

So if you go back and re-read this thread do you honestly believe there is no connection in Nitromethane being a dependent drug?

Mr. Hartman is correct as per usual. I have watched $40K go out the door just to make the show and be a first round duck for the first round money.

Terry needs a sit to re-group. I didn't see all y'all complaining when this happened in the past to others? And Terry had more 'chances' than some of the past members of the 'time out in the corner' club. As well he has been reported to have pnuemonia. Again tell me you won't do anything for the monkey on your back to get the fix?

The crew person should have caught that at the latest on re-assembly and borrowed another vavle cover assembly. End of story. NHRA, NRA, PTA all in the right here. It was wrong and against the rules. Not a dig, but just the way it works.

If a sponsor cannot honestly look at what he has done with bought, begged, borrowed, and most likely blue parts as well thus far they weren't very serious in him in the first damn place in my opinion. He can still attend the races, and do one hell of a sell job on the sponsors one on one. He just cannot race there.

T, Randy, and Nancy have it right on the crew. If there is no commitment, there is no job, volunteer, paid, or otherwise. You start the year, you finish the year. You may hear of a pick up for a race if someone is short but that is a rare deal today and usually the person picked up has a good track record. With 75 minute turn arounds race day and most less like 60-65 minutes there is not much use of the words 'cheap and good help' in the same sentence anymore.

 

[mw6789]

What about Cory Mac? He fireballed two engines yesterday and if I remember right he fireballed one in the finals last week too didn't he? Does NHRA need to have them take a break to regroup?

I think Mr. Schumacher's bank account regroups rather quickly.