Pro Stock "Qualifying" (1 Viewer)

[twostep]

I reserved comment until I watched the entire event (that I pvr'd). Again, I don't have a problem with qualifying strategy but throwing races I don't like. Troy said he would do whatever necessary and he did. But a big point is that Richard Freeman said the teams came to him with this plan. If he and Erica had the integrity that they claim they have, they would have responded with "we don't operate like that".

Erica did respond with "abso-frickin'-lutely we don't operate like that". You be the judge if they operated like that.

 

[twostep]

Erica did respond with "abso-frickin'-lutely we don't operate like that". You be the judge if they operated like that.

Oh well, what the hell. In the grand scheme of things, this incident isn't going to affect anyone here. Anderson is at the very least a 10-1 favorite to win the Championship anyway.

 

[mgty3whlr]

Saw this.

 

[mgty3whlr]

The Memes are coming out of the woodwork after this weekend!! I Guess Elite is getting Desperate!!!

 

[Al]

The Memes are coming out of the woodwork after this weekend!! I Guess Elite is getting Desperate!!!


View attachment 9508

Actually this is very true. When Erica won her first championship in a winner-take-all final round against Jason Line, her dad was on the starting line and was interviewed by ESPN. I just checked my DVD to make sure, and her dad said he spent TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS to get her to that point !!!! Yes, he said TWENTY MILLION !!!!! WOW. Definitely a rich kid.
If she should happen to win the championship this year, she should thank Troy Jr., as he would be responsible for her winning the championship.
Go Greg !!!

 

[Just Paul]

I wonder if anybody bashing racing parents paying their kids way have ever stood on the starting line and watched their kids win-light come on? I do, and have, and it's the best feeling in the world trust me. First round win, race win, first Wally..... The memories and moments are priceless, dollars spent don't matter. If the parents can afford for them to race, the kids shouldn't be looked down upon for that. Jr. dragsters to top fuel.

 

[M Jones]

LOL, good luck enforcing that. Darn it, we ran over a screw in the staging lanes and now have a flat tire at the ready line. Oh well, guess I can't run

I agree with you, just thought there might be rule that you can get disqualified if you admit it is true

 

[GumbyWVU]

Don't understand how you can make the statement "The Countdown has not contributed anything positive." Because of the Countdown, every pro champion will be decided at Pomona. There are great battles in every category except Top Fuel. Without the Countdown, all the championships would have been decided at Vegas except maybe FC, making Pomona just another race. As others have mentioned, races were thrown before the Countdown existed so you can't blame the Countdown for the origination of thrown races.

Again, I was referring to qualifying games being played, not throwing races. And you believe to have the champs seal the deal at the last race is something positive, God bless ya brother.

I do find it ironic that the idea of having them being decided before the last race somehow makes the last race "just another race" when critics of the countdown have made the same statement about the pre-countdown races, but that is seemingly ok. Perhaps then we go back to the "old" days when whomever won at the finals was the champ? That would certainly assure the final race means something and we don't need a countdown to do that.

The countdown has not been beneficial, that I can tell, to any of the smaller teams in terms of having a chance to win a championship, and the larger teams are now apparently playing qualifying games (or certainly have the opportunity to) for their collective advantage. And as I said originally, had the points not been reset in the manner they are, Enders and Co. would not have been in a position to play qualifying games (if they were). Can't blame people for taking advantage (and not breaking) rules, but the countdown is flawed in this respect (among others).

 

[Al]

One last thing that we must consider in this "not good" scenario. Troy Jr. put NHRA in a really bad situation, and shame on him for doing that. His family (JEGS) is a big NHRA sponsor, sponsoring the awesome JEGS All Star program, among other things. And hats off to JEGS for doing that. Does NHRA want to discipline Troy Jr. and risk losing that ?? Back in 2002 Jeg Sr. repeatedly jammed his finger into Rick Stewart's (head starter at the time) chest when Rick ordered a rerun in the final in Seattle (when Jeg Jr. won) Nothing happened to him, Anyone else would have been fined for "contact with an official".
I can't blame NHRA for not biting the hand that feeds them. So don't expect any upcoming "Statement of action against participant".

 

[Ramjet]

I wonder if anybody bashing racing parents paying their kids way have ever stood on the starting line and watched their kids win-light come on? I do, and have, and it's the best feeling in the world trust me. First round win, race win, first Wally..... The memories and moments are priceless, dollars spent don't matter. If the parents can afford for them to race, the kids shouldn't be looked down upon for that. Jr. dragsters to Top Fuel.

This could not have been said any better and it is not only for ones kids. In 1994 my late racing partner and I put together a Jr. Dragster team with a guy who sponsered part of it. We wound up running 5 cars (sometimes six) for a few years. There was a total of 15 kids who got to run over the years. A few were relitives, but more than 2/3rds were neighbor kids who would otherwise never had a chance to actually ever participate in drag racing. We wound up with 4 Track Championships - lots of trophies and 1 Wally at the finals in Denver. The rules were the drivers had to keep their grades up - help do maintainance on their team car - learn strategy & sportsmanship - shake the competatiors hand if they lost and not gloat if they won. It's a special moment to see a couple of Geezers standing there with a grin on their faces when these kids went up to get their trophies and their pictures taken. Every kid won at least one race and some won track Championships. Years later some of these kids invited me (Del passed) to their graduations and even weddings. For that alone I believe the Jr. Drag Racing League program is a great thing and the money we spent was well worth it.

 

[M Jones]

This could not have been said any better and it is not only for ones kids. In 1994 my late racing partner and I put together a Jr. Dragster team with a guy who sponsered part of it. We wound up running 5 cars (sometimes six) for a few years. There was a total of 15 kids who got to run over the years. A few were relitives, but more than 2/3rds were neighbor kids who would otherwise never had a chance to actually ever participate in drag racing. We wound up with 4 Track Championships - lots of trophies and 1 Wally at the finals in Denver. The rules were the drivers had to keep their grades up - help do maintainance on their team car - learn strategy & sportsmanship - shake the competatiors hand if they lost and not gloat if they won. It's a special moment to see a couple of Geezers standing there with a grin on their faces when these kids went up to get their trophies and their pictures taken. Every kid won at least one race and some won track Championships. Years later some of these kids invited me (Del passed) to their graduations and even weddings. For that alone I believe the Jr. Drag Racing League program is a great thing and the money we spent was well worth it.

GOD bless you guy’s, wish I could have been part of that

 

[Dragracer]

Actually this is very true. When Erica won her first championship in a winner-take-all final round against Jason Line, her dad was on the starting line and was interviewed by ESPN. I just checked my DVD to make sure, and her dad said he spent TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS to get her to that point !!!! Yes, he said TWENTY MILLION !!!!! WOW. Definitely a rich kid.
If she should happen to win the championship this year, she should thank Troy Jr., as he would be responsible for her winning the championship.
Go Greg !!!

I can tell you for a fact that Greg Enders did not spend 20 million dollars.

 

[DanTheFan]

Erica did respond with "abso-frickin'-lutely we don't operate like that". You be the judge if they operated like that.

Anyone consider he may have intended to red light by a small amount to make it look good, missed it and then had to ditch?

 

[camaro]

to be fair, the dive only cost Anderson 1 round, as enders lost in the final! If greg loses the championship its more due to coughlin takin' him out first round.

 

[ZWeinstein]

I didn't say the countdown was the reason for sandbagging. My point was - and I thought it was pretty clear - this thread wouldn't be here if not for the countdown, that Enders & Co. would not have been in a position to do what's being alleged (or Greg in the past, or whoever) because the points would not have been reset to make her close enough to "do" this. The Countdown has not contributed anything positive and has enabled this stuff to continue in a different manner. Take it away and there's no shennanigans with qualifying.

When did Gary Beck and Larry Minor get reset in points with 6 races to go? And those other examples are just part of the semi-fiction of the NHRA history. I don't believe that any sponsor would sit by and watch their guy throw it.

The way I read your comment, and I may be wrong, but you seemed to say the Countdown was the reason for team orders and my reply was that team orders have been going on long before any countdown was ever instituted.

 

[PJ]

The way I read your comment, and I may be wrong, but you seemed to say the Countdown was the reason for team orders and my reply was that team orders have been going on long before any countdown was ever instituted.

True team orders have been around forever. I would say with the countdown created the opportunity for it to happen more. You have teams trying to make it so a dive to help someone in 8,9,10,11 make the cut happens. Then with the points tighter it creates more opportunity for teams to decide to chose that path.

I'm actually surprised that teams with multiple cars that have one start the countdown near the top and some near the bottom don't start diving all the way through the countdown. Why give away rounds early.