I've read this thread in complete bemusement.
1. No one is going to openly admit they've thrown a race because NHRA has rules against it. Since NHRA can't actually prove one way or another that a racer did go in the tank, they can't do anything. Suppose NHRA accused Racer A of diving for RACER B? Without proof they'd leave themselves open to a lawsuit that they'd probably lose. You can't accuse someone of doing something and then punish them with a loss of points or something similar without absolute proof.
Some years ago a racer allegedly bribed the starter at a national event. The "problem" was that a third party witnessed the deal being made between the driver and the starter. That third party blabbed a month or so later. Outrage ensued. The sanctioning body president made some semi-public statements about fines, suspensions and more. That was before he had a conversation with his lawyer, who told him that to take action without absolute proof would put him in legal jeopardy, so nothing was done.
Six months later the starter confessed to me, on tape, that "he offered it, and I took it."
2. "Team orders" have been issued and followed in Formula 1 for decades. After a major crackdown the open diving slowed a bit, but it still takes place today. Heck, I think it was last year when an up-and-coming driver was actually ordered to crash his car so the Safety Car would come out on the track and tighten up the field. He talked because he was super-p-----. He lost his ride and the man who gave the order was banned from F1 for life.
3. Are you so naive as to think that the four Sprint Cup cars racing for Rick Hendrick wouldn't help one another despite their having different sponsors? Heck, you hear the drivers talking about it all the time, and you can see it taking place on the track. Same with Roush-Fenway, Richard Childress ad nauseum.
4. Regarding the so-called "disparity" in Jason Line's Reaction Times, get a life people! To suggest that his .070 light was a dive is ludicrous on the face of it. Most - and I said "most" - drivers can't possibly replicate their RTs run after run. It just doesn't happen, particularly with clutch-equipped cars. Remember, Pro Stock cars don't leave with the consistency of a Super Comp car.
5. I may not like or approve of diving, but I don't consider it "cheating." Just as every racer knows that the idea is to push the rules, but not beyond the breaking point, when building your car, it's the same thing here. Until a driver says at the end of the track, "Man, I'm sure glad Bill remembered he was supposed to lose! That was closer than I thought it would be," things are not going to change.
6. Dig into your memory cells. Some years back an engine builder and car owner teamed up and set themselves up perfectly. The engine builder rented powerplants to anyone with the money BUT those who did the renting had to agree to lose to anyone higher up on the builder's list. At the top was his primary client. Every customer had to lose to him. If, in the second round, say, Renter #4 faced Renter #2, guess who was going to win?
One customer was sick of it after the second race because he'd been forced to lose twice. He demanded his money back. My information is is that the engine builder refused, saying refunds weren't part of the deal.
Oh! Right, I forgot. Guess who won the title that year?
And you're worried that someone MAY have gone in the tank? Maybe once?
This was an entire season of largely fixed races. Now THAT was a travesty. This is nothing compared to that.
Jon Asher
Senior Editor
CompetitionPlus.com