Roty

[Just Paul]

Thanks for posting Kevin.
It would be hard to vote for a driver with that may red-lights and holeshot losses in a full season, nevermind the fact PSB has a reduced schedule. I certainly agree with that 100%.

 

[yoda]

As a member of the voting panel, I cast my ballot for Brittany and I'll explain exactly why I choose to do so. Flame away if you feel so inclined but hopefully this will help some of you understand the thought process of at least one voter.

My first instinct would have been to vote for Adam Arana because he was the only rookie to make the Countdown and he did ride to a final round in Epping. Adam also scored bonus points with me simply because he had almost no experience before his debut in Gainesville. (on a personal note, I am a big bike fan and have a very solid relationship with the entire Arana family).

However, as the season progressed, Adam's development not only stalled, but he regressed as a rider. In 16 events, Adam had six red-lights and four holeshot losses. His last round win came in Denver which made him 0-for the Countdown and as a result, he dropped to tenth in the points. For those reasons, I could not in good conscience vote for him.

That left the choice between Brittany Force and Chad Head and if the award was determined solely by driving ability, I would have voted for Chad. Hands down. However, when I weighed all the factors I elected to go with Brittany.

By almost every measuring stick, Chad had an awesome year. He ran 4.01 and got the final in Reading and the Four-Wide in Charlotte. Hell, he even got his father to praise his driving ability and that might be the most prestigious award ANY driver could ever hope to receive. Yes, it was very close, almost a coin toss but in the end, I went with Brittany.

When I looked at Brittany's season, it was obvious that she made steady progress leading up to her first semifinal this weekend in Pomona. Her ten round wins included victories against Doug Kalitta (twice) Brandon Bernstein (twice), Spencer Massey (twice), and David Grubnic. Personally, I felt like she never looked out of place in the car and given the number of quality teams in Top Fuel, I think she more than held her own.

If you read the not-so-fine print, the ballot asks each voter to include additional criteria including fan popularity, media interaction and potential for future stardom and in those areas, Brittany was the clear cut winner. I can understand that many purists feel that the award should go strictly to the best driver and there is a part of me that agrees with that but in the end, I simply felt that she best fit the current "spirit" of the award.

As a side note, I'm not sure that everyone understands that the award is not chosen by NHRA but is the result of a vote among more than 100 members of the media. Teams my lobby heavily for their particular driver/rider but there is no internal pressure here to vote one way or another and I have no reason whatsoever to question the integrity of those tabulating the votes. Hopefully that squashes any conspiracy theories.

While I am not privy to the final numbers it was my understanding that the final vote was very close. In the end, I suppose we should all be happy to be having this debate since it means that there no shortage of talented up-and-coming drivers entering the pro classes.

Very happy that you put that much effort into casting your vote- I hope you were one of many that approached it that way.

But I still refer back to Post #1 for how most probably cast their ballot....

 

[mick]

........But I still refer back to Post #1 for how most probably cast their ballot....

hell yes, it's the 'Auto Club Road to the Future' award folks.
JFR rookie drivers win this award; that's just the way it is and I for one do not have a problem with that.
next year it mite be nice to see Ritchie Crampton get this nice bit of free press.

 

[the zone]

No member of John Force racing or AAA have a vote in this. It is media. Wish I was one of them but I am not, maybe in the future I will be.


Kevin outlined all the reasons along the same line I did. Racing results are certainly the biggest factor. And Like Kevin and I said earlier, Brittany got better as the year went on and Adam got worse. The non racing factors heavily weighed in Brit's favor.

I would think that media would not make it a popularity contest unless those voting aren't really Drag Racing media.

Nice to see Kevin does not get crapped on, like me.

As a media person I don't look at it as a fan but objectively..

My voted would have been Brit or Chad
Adam did not get it done in a weaker class when he was a top half qualifier more often then not.
Dean

 

[PJ]

As a member of the voting panel, I cast my ballot for Brittany and I'll explain exactly why I choose to do so. Flame away if you feel so inclined but hopefully this will help some of you understand the thought process of at least one voter.

My first instinct would have been to vote for Adam Arana because he was the only rookie to make the Countdown and he did ride to a final round in Epping. Adam also scored bonus points with me simply because he had almost no experience before his debut in Gainesville. (on a personal note, I am a big bike fan and have a very solid relationship with the entire Arana family).

However, as the season progressed, Adam's development not only stalled, but he regressed as a rider. In 16 events, Adam had six red-lights and four holeshot losses. His last round win came in Denver which made him 0-for the Countdown and as a result, he dropped to tenth in the points. For those reasons, I could not in good conscience vote for him.

That left the choice between Brittany Force and Chad Head and if the award was determined solely by driving ability, I would have voted for Chad. Hands down. However, when I weighed all the factors I elected to go with Brittany.

By almost every measuring stick, Chad had an awesome year. He ran 4.01 and got the final in Reading and the Four-Wide in Charlotte. Hell, he even got his father to praise his driving ability and that might be the most prestigious award ANY driver could ever hope to receive. Yes, it was very close, almost a coin toss but in the end, I went with Brittany.

When I looked at Brittany's season, it was obvious that she made steady progress leading up to her first semifinal this weekend in Pomona. Her ten round wins included victories against Doug Kalitta (twice) Brandon Bernstein (twice), Spencer Massey (twice), and David Grubnic. Personally, I felt like she never looked out of place in the car and given the number of quality teams in Top Fuel, I think she more than held her own.

If you read the not-so-fine print, the ballot asks each voter to include additional criteria including fan popularity, media interaction and potential for future stardom and in those areas, Brittany was the clear cut winner. I can understand that many purists feel that the award should go strictly to the best driver and there is a part of me that agrees with that but in the end, I simply felt that she best fit the current "spirit" of the award.

As a side note, I'm not sure that everyone understands that the award is not chosen by NHRA but is the result of a vote among more than 100 members of the media. Teams my lobby heavily for their particular driver/rider but there is no internal pressure here to vote one way or another and I have no reason whatsoever to question the integrity of those tabulating the votes. Hopefully that squashes any conspiracy theories.

While I am not privy to the final numbers it was my understanding that the final vote was very close. In the end, I suppose we should all be happy to be having this debate since it means that there no shortage of talented up-and-coming drivers entering the pro classes.

Thanks for giving insight to the vote and your reasoning. I don't think there was a clear cut leader among the group this year but still surprised that she won it. Not that she is bad, but nothing about her season was special. Her last name carried more weight than her round record did.

 

[the zone]

you are right PJ none were spectacular this year, but she did come on strong and the Force name does so much for this sport and having another one in drag racing does nothing but expose more people to the sport we love and that is a good thing.

Dean

 

[legendman]

If you read the not-so-fine print, the ballot asks each voter to include additional criteria including fan popularity, media interaction and potential for future stardom and in those areas, Brittany was the clear cut winner. I can understand that many purists feel that the award should go strictly to the best driver and there is a part of me that agrees with that but in the end, I simply felt that she best fit the current "spirit" of the award.

As a side note, I'm not sure that everyone understands that the award is not chosen by NHRA but is the result of a vote among more than 100 members of the media. Teams my lobby heavily for their particular driver/rider but there is no internal pressure here to vote one way or another and I have no reason whatsoever to question the integrity of those tabulating the votes. Hopefully that squashes any conspiracy theories.

While I am not privy to the final numbers it was my understanding that the final vote was very close. In the end, I suppose we should all be happy to be having this debate since it means that there no shortage of talented up-and-coming drivers entering the pro classes.

Appreciate the explanation. Thanks!

 

[legendman]

it is a series of 8 important criteria that must be analyzed. It goes something like this:

Q1 - is the last name "force"?

If no, please answer question 2. If yes, please proceed to awards ceremony!

:d

lmao :d

 

[turbo ken]

This years rookie group was weak at best, on another note I still think Vincent Nobile got "cheated" out of the roty a couple of years back because of Hector jr's name.

 

[TSK]

As if we're supposed to believe if Brittany's last name had been something other than Force that she would really have been given the award.

 

[DrRocket]

Asshhh, you guys are just mad because YOU didn't get it!

 

[yoda]

Asshhh, you guys are just mad because YOU didn't get it!

I'm changing my last name to Force so that next year, I can get it

(I wonder if I can get the award without having a car...)

 

[Leebone]

I don't think having the last name "Force" has anything to do with it. I'm sure when Autumn Hight starts driving, she'll have a good chance at the award.

 

[megadeth]

Boy that was a surprise! NOT!
Any time a Force is in the running it's a given.
They should already start giving the grand children the awards!

 

[megadeth]

The fact that they have media popularity as criteria tells me this award is a joke!
Nothing more nothing less!

 

[the zone]

haters will always hate whether or not it is valid or not. Wonder if any of the complainers would ***** if they had the same opportunity racers who have raced for Force have had.

I bet Gary Densham does not regret racing for Force and he is true blue collar. Worked hard for everything he's got.

Where does it say media popularity Bob, it says Media interaction meaning availability and it says fan popularity

Dean

 

[megadeth]

I don't hate Force at all, I was happy to see him earn his 16th championship!
I just don't like the favoritism!
That's what the ROY has become the most popular!
Say what you want it's pretty obvious!

 

[Huge]

I don't hate Force at all, I was happy to see him earn his 16th championship!
I just don't like the favoritism!
That's what the ROY has become the most popular!
Say what you want it's pretty obvious!

Bob, something a lot of fans may not realize is that John Force invests an amazing amount of time and money in practice laps for all of his drivers. His daughters all have a lot of laps in before they ever get to run their first race, and the more laps you run the better you will be. So, i'm not a bit surprised when his driver wins ROY.

 

[Raconteur]

Before I voted on the 2013 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award Ballot, I did read the not-so-fine print, which states, "Please consider the following criteria when voting: On-track performance; relationship with fans, media and sponsors; participation in NHRA promotions; number of events completed; and driver's potential as a future star of the sport."

Brittany Schwartz would not have won.

 

[megadeth]

Before I voted on the 2013 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award Ballot, I did read the not-so-fine print, which states, "Please consider the following criteria when voting: On-track performance; relationship with fans, media and sponsors; participation in NHRA promotions; number of events completed; and driver's potential as a future star of the sport."

Brittany Schwartz would not have won.

It's still a popularity contest plain and simple. The Forces are the darlings of the NHRA!
Whether he puts ton of money Into training them make the other drivers accomplishments that more impressive doesn't it?
When you have a sport when there are just 3 teams that win because of $$$ then the sport starts to loose its luster and attendance is starting to reflect it!
I want the sport to survive and it's current formula is starting to wayne.
They need to figure out a way to bring the cost under control. Yes the economy has something to do with it but is just one of many.

I'm sorry I don't have the answer but everyone agrees something needs to be done the sooner the better!