Wow, this seems excessive.
http://rpm2night.com/view/top-fuel-driver-vandergriff-fined-by-nhra.30107/
http://rpm2night.com/view/top-fuel-driver-vandergriff-fined-by-nhra.30107/
Light put money over safety, Safety Safari failed to provide a safe track, and Vandergriff gets fined. Anyone else see a problem here?
If you don't run you lose. Your damned if you do or don't.Doesn't any of the blame fall on Griff? He could have shut the car off, right?
If you don't run you lose. Your damned if you do or don't.
You can lose a round over a 59 cent part too, but that doesn't answer the question I asked.
Who forced Bob to keep the car running and stage it? He knew that he couldn't see the tree and still went ahead and bumped in. How are you going to come up with a way to blame NHRA for that?
The track was slippery but not unsafe. Tuners needed to tune for the conditions, drivers needed to use common sense in their decision making on the run. No body had a terrible light except for BV. No body over drove their car to the point of getting in trouble except BV. BV's bad decisions started when he chose the right lane for the run and continued right on down to the point where he made a complete a** of himself and got the race stopped because of his inabilities and bad decisions. Nothing that happened on BV's run was the fault of anyone but BV.
NHRA did the right thing for the fans, race teams and themselves in trying to complete the race Sunday evening. It makes the races more exciting when the track presents a challenge rather than the usual over prepared track where you just keep throwing new parts at it with all the power you can produce. Adjustments would have been made and the times would come close to normal in very little time.
Yeah I think Bob make have gotten pissed both at himself and the powers that be. But I agree that $20,000 seems a bit excessive. On NHRA's website they have this blurb, on what rules Bob broke, "....Vandergriff was fined for abandoning his race car on the track, remaining and walking on an active race track after exiting his race car, and for initiating a verbal confrontation with three NHRA officials...." When Bob won his first race didn't he do the same thing, and ran all the way down the track to celebrate the win???? And didn't they make quite a big deal about that celebration??? Both events were shown on the broadcast of that particular race..... I guess it's like the old "....the thrill of victory and agony of defeat line ...."
Yeah your right I was there, but there are a lot of times when they get out of their car on an active track. I think that rule infraction is like splitting hairs. I think it was more of the confrontation with the officials that got him into hot water. Still excessive I believe.When Bob won, he was the last pair down the track and the race was finished at that point, so it wouldn't have been an "active track" at that time??
If you don't run you lose. Your damned if you do or don't.
Never thought about it this way but to quote a friend, "
"The car owners in the pairs behind him should ante up and cover it --- he saved them their weekend ----"