OIL DOWN RULE...CHANGE??

[my friends call me Zappy]

Fast Jack said NHRA drops the oil down points penalty during the CD. Now i'm totally against the
penalty, but, a rule is a rule. Why is there a punishment during the season for oil downs but NOT
during the CD???

 

[.]

Fast Jack said NHRA drops the oil down points penalty during the CD. Now i'm totally against the
penalty, but, a rule is a rule. Why is there a punishment during the season for oil downs but NOT
during the CD???

I was always under the impression they reset the count. I might be wrong, but I don't believe they drop the penalty all together.

EDIT: Best I can find is that they get 1 oildown in the bank, no points penalty, but they have to pay the incremental oil down cash "fine", and the amount is more than pre-countdown races.

 

[Pete]

They drop the point loss, but still fine the team. It was put in place so a team wouldnt lose the championship due to an oildown. This was probably directed due to Capps missing the championship a few years back, due to an oildown....although they determined after the fact the oil was from the previous car.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

I might be wrong, but I don't believe they drop the penalty all together.

Listen to Beckmans interview after he blew the body off. The interviewer told him that, not only did he lose the rd. but the oil down
cost him valuable points Jack needed to stay top 10. Jack then states that he knew NHRA waives the points during the CD, but NOT
leading up to it.

 

[.]

Listen to Beckmans interview after he blew the body off. The interviewer told him that, not only did he lose the rd. but the oil down
cost him valuable points Jack needed to stay top 10. Jack then states that he knew NHRA waives the points during the CD, but NOT
leading up to it.

This makes sense. Up until the countdown starts, the penalty is the same as it has been for all of the races to date. After the countdown, the points and financial penalties are still in place, just like they were before, for all teams that don't make the cut.

For the teams that are in the countdown, they reset, get one in the bank, and then the increased monetary penalties start. But, there is no point penalty.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

I just don't get why a rule change.

 

[.]

I just don't get why a rule change.

Because as it gets closer and closer to Pomona teams will lean on parts harder and harder.

Sure would suck to have the #1 team in the Countdown sit out a couple of sessions at 2 of the final races so they don't lose points, wouldn't it?

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

If a rule is good for the first 18, it should be good for the final 6.

 

[.]

If a rule is good for the first 18, it should be good for the final 6.

Clearly they don't see it that way. They want these teams to make 4 Q passes. Not 2, not 3, but 4.

I guess they feel the increased financial hit is enough.

You have to remember, to some degree, an oil down is a bit of a judgement call. For a sport that measures victory down to .001 of a second, to have an official say "well, to me it looks like an oil down, so roll the equipment and take points away from them" this method just keeps that argument from ever coming up when it comes to championship points.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Is is ok for a points penalty to keep you from a championship in the first 18.........but not in the last 6????

 

[.]

Is is ok for a points penalty to keep you from a championship in the first 18.........but not in the last 6????

For chrissakes, I have no idea. It is what was decided. Petition NHRA and get the rule changed is all I can suggest to you. It obviously bothers you.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Yes the rule bothers me. But not just in some races, in all races. And not just the points, i'm against the fines as well.
I feel it's enough for a guy to blow a motor, without NHRA taking points and MORE money away.

 

[.]

Yes the rule bothers me. But not just in some races, in all races. And not just the points, i'm against the fines as well.
I feel it's enough for a guy to blow a motor, without NHRA taking points and MORE money away.

A lot of people dislike sitting through 5 or 6 30+ minute cleanups each round of fuel qualifying.
But, if you feel that teams saving 1500 bucks is worth 2 or 3 hours of downtime each fuel session, you can have it.
And, you can kiss live TV goodbye forever.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Punishing someone for parts failure just seems like kicking a guy when he's down.

as far as the "live tv" , I see no advantage of it. Did the viewing go up for the recent live broadcasts??

 

[I was NITRO BREATH]

oil downs cause horrible, boring delays. they were once common and seriously degraded the joy of going to the races. now they are rare and the oil down rules seem to be the reason. so... they should always be in place!!

 

[.]

Punishing someone for parts failure just seems like kicking a guy when he's down.

as far as the "live tv" , I see no advantage of it. Did the viewing go up for the recent live broadcasts??

As for live TV, you obviously don't read the threads on here, do you?

But, since you brought this up (which I think is just another roundabout way for you to complain about the countdown), why should the qualifiers of the K&N challenge, the Traxxas Shootouts, etc get their own qualifying order at their challenge race? Why not have them qualify in their normal, prescribed position based on point positions? And the racers that make it to the final round? Getting another shot at the track that nobody else gets? Oh, that just burns me up. You too, right?

Why don't they run the pros in the qualifying and first 3. rounds of eliminations in the same order they run the finals? PS/TF/FC vs PS/FC/TF at all races? I am sure this is just a big conspiracy that Graham Light has manufactured and it goes to show that he shouldn't run anything in the NHRA. That method is just simply unacceptable!

As for the parts failure, if you build a bomb, and blow it up every week, at some point you are a detriment to the sport, and you aren't going to race. The points and fines are simply warnings before they boot you out for good. Pretty simple actually.

 

[vegasnitro]

This was probably directed due to Capps missing the championship a few years back, due to an oildown....although they determined after the fact the oil was from the previous car.

What? This is the first I have heard of this. What year we talking about? Got any links?

 

[None]

You have to remember, to some degree, an oil down is a bit of a judgement call. For a sport that measures victory down to .001 of a second, to have an official say "well, to me it looks like an oil down, so roll the equipment and take points away from them" .

It would not be the first time Compton, Light, and Stewart pulled that crap.

 

[.]

It would not be the first time Compton, Light, and Stewart pulled that crap.

Just so I understand you correctly, you are saying that Compton, Light and Stewart have unnecessarily sent the safety safari out to clean up a track that wasn't oiled down and took points and money away from teams for no reason?

I am going to call BS on this. Do you have any sort of proof? Because if you do, you are just proving my point for me.

We do know, FOR FACT, that Tony Shumacher disregarded NHRA's direct order to shut off due to an oil leak. He should have been banned for at least 1 full year of competition for that stunt. He didn't care about anyone's safety or what condition the track was in for the racer behind him.

 

[PJ]

I think the rule has helped as we do have less oil downs then before. It is a tricky line to draw, you want performance and power but you don't want carnage and down time. I wish they were allowed a freebie per season and they can earn another one with x amount of clean runs. Start it over once the countdown starts.
Not sure I can think of another instance where rules on the field change during a playoff? Strikes, free-throws, off-sides and holding still apply regular and post-season in other sports (of course we could argue how closely they are called come playoff time).

Capps was docked 10 points the year he lost by 8 points. It was determined that he was not the one that left oil on the track but instead it was the car before him (I don't remember who). It was a big stink then but seems to have quietly went away, not sure why.