Vandergriff Fined $20k by NHRA (2 Viewers)

[NYNitro86]

Jesse- understand this. The "sub-par" surfaces that everyone states the ATL track was is no worse than any racing surface that thousands of drivers ran on for decades before every driver needed their lane "groomed" and a perfect match of the opposite lane- as we have been bamboozled to believe makes a great drag race. Not every track can be fly paper sticky and bowling lane smooth, and any good tuner will know that and any good driver will know whether or not they will be able to negotiate it. Bob had so much supposedly going against him in that round that had he given it any thought, he would have considered taking the pass at all. He chose to hit the gas- his decision. I have put my kid on quote "sub-par" tracks, but not because they were unsafe, but because the track just sucked. Tune accordingly and have confidence your driver can do their job and if that doesn't make you feel comfortable, put it back on the trailer. E-town is just an example of great racing in the day that took place in the same "sub-par" conditions.

one of the smoothest tracks on the tour, no bumps in transition from concrete to asphalt.

 

[twostep]

Nobody ever explained to me why the crews weren't allowed to check the track before Round 1 of eliminations. That what they said on ESPN2....no crews allowed at the starting line before they fired the first pair. Did this actually happen, and why?

As for perfectly groomed and bowling-alley smooth lanes, you didn't need to be so precise with lane prep when the cars were running 4.60/310 in the quarter mile, when they had 5000hp or so. Now the power level has doubled, the lanes have to be perfect and if the track temp is anything above 120 degrees, which it's going to be all summer long, the cars can't get down the lane. So, what's it gonna be? Big numbers at about 4 events and pedalfests deciding the rest of them, on a 1000-foot surface that is almost universally hated by the fans and quite a few of the racers....or do we slow 'em down a little and have 24 events with good, close 1/4 mile drag racing....with less expense on the part of the teams?

 

[FABMAN]

Nobody ever explained to me why the crews weren't allowed to check the track before Round 1 of eliminations. That what they said on ESPN2....no crews allowed at the starting line before they fired the first pair. Did this actually happen, and why?

As for perfectly groomed and bowling-alley smooth lanes, you didn't need to be so precise with lane prep when the cars were running 4.60/310 in the quarter mile, when they had 5000hp or so. Now the power level has doubled, the lanes have to be perfect and if the track temp is anything above 120 degrees, which it's going to be all summer long, the cars can't get down the lane. So, what's it gonna be? Big numbers at about 4 events and pedalfests deciding the rest of them, on a 1000-foot surface that is almost universally hated by the fans and quite a few of the racers....or do we slow 'em down a little and have 24 events with good, close 1/4 mile drag racing....with less expense on the part of the teams?

The problem with slowing the cars down is the crew chief he is constantly finding ways to make car run faster its in their genes they don't know anything else

 

[Huge]

,

The problem with slowing the cars down is the crew chief he is constantly finding ways to make car run faster its in their genes they don't know anything else

Very true...Plus, that's what they were hired to do, and if they didn't, they probably wouldn't last very long. I have never heard of an owner calling a tuner and asking him if he could help slow their car down.

 

[MHayes]

Nobody ever explained to me why the crews weren't allowed to check the track before Round 1 of eliminations. That what they said on ESPN2....no crews allowed at the starting line before they fired the first pair. Did this actually happen, and why?

I was at the track on Sunday evening and what ESPN2 reported is consistent with what I saw, which is the NHRA held most of the crew chiefs and teams off from looking at the track given that they were trying to finish the preparation and didn't want to have 50 people on the starting line to get in the way. The NHRA did allow the crew chiefs and teams from the first pair of cars (i.e. Alan Johnson, Aaron Brooks, and others) to examine the track before their run. After the first pair of cars went down the track, then they allowed all of the other crew chiefs and teams to do their examinations.

On the ESPN2 coverage, Mike Dunn said that this was the first time that most of the crew chiefs have been able to look at the track, which was said after the first pair.

 

[DragFan2]

Well, if you TRULY feel Bob was wronged by NHRA, you can put your money where your mouth is. Bob has started a kick starter type online campaign where fans can donate to pay the fine.

See Bobvandergriff.com for the link.

Chris and others, was this a joke about Bob V. and your comment about him starting an online campaign to pay the 2ok fine? There is nothing on his website NOW about this. If you stated this as a joke, then you got a few people to bite!