"Magic" nitromethane... (1 Viewer)

[Redman]

After a week to digest this mess, it really comes down to this for me (and Oakley).

There is no "magic" nitro. Which means it is not possible to get a performance advantage no matter what barrel you pump it from. Period.

If there was to be a public display of a rules violation, as was the case on ESPN by the NHRA last weekend, it should have been made VERY CLEAR that whatever the infraction was (or wasn't)... it did not involve cheating for a performance edge over the competition. Unfortunately, this is the message that was received by many. Even more unfortunate is the fact that DSR sponsors are lumped into the pile of misconception. Many fans were confused. I have spent the last several days explaining this (no such thing as "magic nitro") to Oakley employees, customers, dealers and my friends.

All the Wego, Pro Nitro, VP discussion should be between DSR and the NHRA.

I think it is everyone's best interest for the NHRA and ESPN to make this point clear (no possible performance advantage) on the next telecast. Fans don't really care about whether 4 barrels of nitro should or should not have been in the pits. They do care about the perception of cheating for an unfair advantage.

Jim

 

[Badcocrewman]

Great Post Mr. Jannard. I do not think it Can get Any Clearer than That. I hope NHRA does the correct thing and Rights the situation.

 

[willy]

You should go to NHRA, Jim.

Or the media or something..I love you ,Man..but this isn't the platform is it? It will just get contaminated like all the others..with those that take pleasure in seeing the bullsh!t!!

Your point has been made..and I understand it..but this is going nowhere fast (er). The positive are running 10 to 1..but I just hate it.

 

[none]

Jim
Even if there was a rules violation....which by all accounts from what I have read there does not seem to to be.It did not have a performance advantage. Second as you & Don both know from being business men you DO NOT scold people in front of others you do it in private. Hopefully Don's legal team will get that point across. Now on to damage already done....The monday after the Vegas race when I got to work one of my fellow co workers was saying "did you hear about Shoe?" "he got caught with illegal fuel" Well in his mind Don's already tried,convicted & hung.Luckily I've been telling him about what's really going on.

 

[Tony]

I watched Graham Light again on the Sunday eliminations ESPN telecast, and I re-read the NHRA press release, and I couldn't find where the NHRA made a reference that DSR "cheated".

Here's a verbatim transcript:

Graham Light: "Yesterday we discovered a violation of our fuel policy in the Don Schumacher pits. They were in possession of nitromethane that was not purchased through the official distributor. That is clearly a violation of the rules, and as stewards of that product, we take our responsibility very seriously, and there are very strict guidelines as to the purchase and use of nitromethane. And as a result of this violation, a hundred thousand dollar fine has been levied against Don Schumacher's team."
Dave Reiff: "Is that the biggest fine that this organization has ever had to levy?"
Graham Light: "Yes it is."
Dave Reiff: "There you guys have it. We will try to catch up with the Don here, and find out a little bit more about it."
Paul Page: "Oh Mike Dunn, that is big."
Mike Dunn: "Wow, a hundred thousand dollar fine, I mean that is huge, but I want to wait and hear what Don Schumacher has to say before I put any judgement on this thing, because this is a big story."
Paul Page: "Yea it's interesting the indication is just for possession, not necessarily abuse, based on what was just said."

The NHRA statement posted on NHRA.com:
Don Schumacher Racing fined for fuel violation
4/13/2008
NHRA determined that Don Schumacher Racing committed a fuel violation prior to eliminations Sunday at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas. Schumacher Racing has been fined $100,000 for possessing nitromethane fuel in its Professional pit clearly in violation of the fuel regulations as detailed on page 64 of the 2008 NHRA Rulebook.

NHRA has a strict policy regarding possession of nitromethane at events and takes its responsibility as stewards of this fuel and the sport very seriously. NHRA will not tolerate inappropriate possession of this fuel and will take swift and significant action with teams that do not comply with the rules.

 

[Redman]

I watched Graham Light again on the Sunday eliminations ESPN telecast, and I re-read the NHRA press release, and I couldn't find where the NHRA made a reference that DSR "cheated".

Here's a verbatim transcript:

Graham Light: "Yesterday we discovered a violation of our fuel policy in the Don Schumacher pits. They were in possession of nitromethane that was not purchased through the official distributor. That is clearly a violation of the rules, and as stewards of that product, we take our responsibility very seriously, and there are very strict guidelines as to the purchase and use of nitromethane. And as a result of this violation, a hundred thousand dollar fine has been levied against Don Schumacher's team."

The NHRA statement posted on NHRA.com:
Don Schumacher Racing fined for fuel violation
4/13/2008
NHRA determined that Don Schumacher Racing committed a fuel violation prior to eliminations Sunday at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas. Schumacher Racing has been fined $100,000 for possessing nitromethane fuel in its Professional pit clearly in violation of the fuel regulations as detailed on page 64 of the 2008 NHRA Rulebook.

NHRA has a strict policy regarding possession of nitromethane at events and takes its responsibility as stewards of this fuel and the sport very seriously. NHRA will not tolerate inappropriate possession of this fuel and will take swift and significant action with teams that do not comply with the rules.

So, if you are the average fan, do you see how it is possible to jump to a cheating conclusion? I do. I have heard from plenty that did. Like...

"Why else would this nitro not have been purchased from the official distributor if not for a performance advantage?"

"$100,000 fine indicates to me that it must have been an illegal fuel?"

All the NHRA had to do was clarify the situation a bit so there was not a possibility of a misconception of cheating. BTW, why was the alleged purchase/storage of nitro worthy of TV time? And the largest fine in NHRA history?

Jim

 

[Kelly]

Jim, thanks for your input and insight regarding this subject. I appreciate your sharing your passionate thoughts!

 

[TF CREW]

Basiclly this whole BS is because there were drums of nitro that DID NOT have the VP label on them, is how I understand it and someone got their panties in a wad because VP is the only fuel to be onsite.

 

[TJ]

Jim,

I understand what you are thinking but the fine is for a fuel policy violation.
The way it was worded was very clever and was not scripted by Light.
Check w/ NHRA and their group of ESQ's, which I am sure they concured w/, who did homework before dropping that announcement from the legal side of things..
I know how you feel and was bummed on the public dismay...DSR got duped.
Everyone gets burned in life but this will be fixed and should be history soon.

But the true fans know that DSR is top shelf and will see thru that..
See you in soon..

 

[FABMAN]

So, if you are the average fan, do you see how it is possible to jump to a cheating conclusion? I do. I have heard from plenty that did. Like...

"Why else would this nitro not have been purchased from the official distributor if not for a performance advantage?"

"$100,000 fine indicates to me that it must have been an illegal fuel?"

All the NHRA had to do was clarify the situation a bit so there was not a possibility of a misconception of cheating. BTW, why was the alleged purchase/storage of nitro worthy of TV time? And the largest fine in NHRA history?

Jim

Even the leaders of the top racing venue in this industry takes matters to the trailer and discuss the violation behind closed doors. NHRA has exceeded its boundaries here.

 

[Potknot]

After a week to digest this mess, it really comes down to this for me (and Oakley).

There is no "magic" nitro. Which means it is not possible to get a performance advantage no matter what barrel you pump it from. Period.

If there was to be a public display of a rules violation, as was the case on ESPN by the NHRA last weekend, it should have been made VERY CLEAR that whatever the infraction was (or wasn't)... it did not involve cheating for a performance edge over the competition. Unfortunately, this is the message that was received by many. Even more unfortunate is the fact that DSR sponsors are lumped into the pile of misconception. Many fans were confused. I have spent the last several days explaining this (no such thing as "magic nitro") to Oakley employees, customers, dealers and my friends.

All the Wego, Pro Nitro, VP discussion should be between DSR and the NHRA.

I think it is everyone's best interest for the NHRA and ESPN to make this point clear (no possible performance advantage) on the next telecast. Fans don't really care about whether 4 barrels of nitro should or should not have been in the pits. They do care about the perception of cheating for an unfair advantage.

Jim

All i can say is this I still support all DSR teams and Oakley products. It seems to me that the sole purpose of this STUPID rule was to prevent DSR from importing Nitro and thats all. I see it no different than a different manufacturer of heads, two different manufacturers but there is no HUGE performance difference between the two. It would be like NHRA saying all fuel teams had to run Alan Johnson heads. In my eyes the only people that look bad in this whole deal is the NHRA. Thats my $.02

 

[none]

I believe it can come down to a simple saying.

"It can take a life time to build a reputation and a minute to lose it."

Keep up the fight Jim and Don..

 

[Rajunz]

Even the leaders of the top racing venue in this industry takes matters to the trailer and discuss the violation behind closed doors. NHRA has exceeded its boundaries here.

So what you're really saying is that NHRA needs to go buy a Big Red Trailer!

 

[Alan]

All the NHRA had to do was clarify the situation a bit so there was not a possibility of a misconception of cheating. BTW, why was the alleged purchase/storage of nitro worthy of TV time? And the largest fine in NHRA history?

Jim

Really Jim, all NHRA had to do was be a bit professional and handle it behind closed doors. And the fine flabbergasts me....

 

[rocketman]

After a week to digest this mess, it really comes down to this for me (and Oakley).

There is no "magic" nitro. Which means it is not possible to get a performance advantage no matter what barrel you pump it from. Period.

If there was to be a public display of a rules violation, as was the case on ESPN by the NHRA last weekend, it should have been made VERY CLEAR that whatever the infraction was (or wasn't)... it did not involve cheating for a performance edge over the competition. Unfortunately, this is the message that was received by many. Even more unfortunate is the fact that DSR sponsors are lumped into the pile of misconception. Many fans were confused. I have spent the last several days explaining this (no such thing as "magic nitro") to Oakley employees, customers, dealers and my friends.

All the Wego, Pro Nitro, VP discussion should be between DSR and the NHRA.

I think it is everyone's best interest for the NHRA and ESPN to make this point clear (no possible performance advantage) on the next telecast. Fans don't really care about whether 4 barrels of nitro should or should not have been in the pits. They do care about the perception of cheating for an unfair advantage.

Jim

Thats very true

 

[You!]

The part of this that confuses me the most is the way NHRA handled it. Even if there was an infraction, which I still don't believe there was, why did NHRA brass feel it was necessary to make this front page news? This should have been discussed behind closed doors instead of on national television coverage.

They're not even smart enough to see how this hurts the sport as a whole by going off half-cocked on really a non issue. The casual fan might reconsider attending a national event now because he's heard that one of the top teams is doing something "illegal" when it comes to fuel. Again, the casual fan, not someone that would frequent a board such as this, is not going to understand what is really going on and find something else to do with his race fan kids that weekend the drags are in town.

Let's put it this way...did NHRA's actions help promote the sport this time? Maybe if they spent more time correcting their track conditions and figuring out how they are going to survive these even tougher economic times we're heading into, they might be worth their salt.

 

[n/a]

So, if you are the average fan, do you see how it is possible to jump to a cheating conclusion? I do. I have heard from plenty that did. Like...

"Why else would this nitro not have been purchased from the official distributor if not for a performance advantage?"

"$100,000 fine indicates to me that it must have been an illegal fuel?"

All the NHRA had to do was clarify the situation a bit so there was not a possibility of a misconception of cheating. BTW, why was the alleged purchase/storage of nitro worthy of TV time? And the largest fine in NHRA history?

Jim

It appears to me that NHRA's verbiage did not mention "cheating". However, in the interest of DSR, NHRA's credibility, and the professional business relationship that is of value to all parties involved NHRA should publicly readdress the charges against DSR so the "average" fan doesn't take the said charges out of context. In hindsight there have been a couple questionable components of this situation i.e. the amount of the fine and the public announcement by NHRA. NHRA should take this opportunity to show that they are a professional organization and clarify their previous statement so the average Drag Racing fan understands the charges without misconception. It would be a feather in their cap, and the right thing to do.

 

[hellfirejim]

The one thing that has been really bothering me is why NHRA chose to do this in the first place? What would be their advantage? The only thing I could come up with is to divert attention from the track problems.....

Look at it from this prospective, if there had not been this "nitro problem" what would everybody be talking about??? Most likely the lousy and inadequate preparation of the tracks we have been to so far this year. It is un-excusable for a professional series that depends on traction to perform have tracks that have lousy traction [but the same in both lanes] to having an obvious one lane track......

If somebody can come up with something different I am all ears....

jim

 

[drs]

jim,
why dont you and bruton just buy the damn NHRA and turn it into a damn good association. these morons in the association are nothing but two face jack asses with nothing better to do than penalize someone not having the right sticker on their nitro....when i go to the next race, i think i'm just gonna walk around and slap vp racing fuel stickers on all the barrels to make sure all my favorite racing teams stay intact.

 

[n/a]

The one thing that has been really bothering me is why NHRA chose to do this in the first place? What would be their advantage? The only thing I could come up with is to divert attention from the track problems.....

Look at it from this prospective, if there had not been this "nitro problem" what would everybody be talking about??? Most likely the lousy and inadequate preparation of the tracks we have been to so far this year. It is un-excusable for a professional series that depends on traction to perform have tracks that have lousy traction [but the same in both lanes] to having an obvious one lane track......

If somebody can come up with something different I am all ears....

jim

Regarding coming up with something different; like Mom used to say, "Consider the source". I doubt that they were trying to detract attention from the track conditions although I would agree with your comments on them.