The FINAL DECISION is up to OUR DISCRETION

[Tim Barrett]

During the 3rd round of Super Stock at the 4WIDE Nationals in Charlotte we saw something very strange unfold for the last car. A beautiful Corvette driven by Robbie Draughon was held in front of the water box for approximately 7 minutes. First we thought he was broke,,BUT by the look on Tabitha's fac,it didn't look good. We waited,infact the whole race was held up. I thought someone put oil down or they broke down track.
Well come to find out a Comp racer was entered in Super Stock also and had just made a run and he was Robbie's OPPONENT!! SOOO Robbie sat and waited,and waited all strapped in his Corvette,,for APPROXIMATELY 7 MINUTES!! We all know some drivers will do anything to distract our mental focus.
I've seen and experienced just about everything from an opponent to brake you're mental focus and concentration. This seemed totally unfair to Robbie and Tabitha because after waiting,,Robbie redlighted.
There's probably someplace in the rulebook that says,,Right or Wrong,,the final decision is up to our DISCRETION!!

[Mike Taylor 3601]

That's a long time to wait...

[James Perrone]

If the opponent was racing another class NHRA is gonna wait for him
Makes sense
Ever run 2 cars it?s tuff

[Nick_Siebert]

Originally Posted by Tim Barrett

During the 3rd round of Super Stock at the 4WIDE Nationals in Charlotte we saw something very strange unfold for the last car. A beautiful Corvette driven by Robbie Draughon was held in front of the water box for approximately 15 minutes. First we thought he was broke,,BUT by the look on Tabitha's fac,it didn't look good. We waited,infact the whole race was held up. I thought someone put oil down or they broke down track.
Well come to find out a Comp racer was entered in Super Stock also and had just made a run and he was Robbie's OPPONENT!! SOOO Robbie sat and waited,and waited all strapped in his Corvette,,for APPROXIMATELY 15 MINUTES!! We all know some drivers will do anything to distract our mental focus.
I've seen and experienced just about everything from an opponent to brake you're mental focus and concentration. This seemed totally unfair to Robbie and Tabitha because after waiting,,Robbie redlighted.
There's probably someplace in the rulebook that says,,Right or Wrong,,the final decision is up to our DISCRETION!!

You honestly believe that this Comp racer made the decision to take as long as he possibly could and risk the chance that NHRA runs without him, just to throw his opponent off?

You know that they don't just drive Comp cars back to the pits after the turnoff, right?

I cant speak for Robbie, but surely he was aware of his opponent having just gone down the track in the previous class. This shouldn't have been a surprise.,

This is ridiculous, yall will complain about anything.

[Mike Pearson]

Personally I would not have suited up and got in the car until my opponent was in the lanes beside me. If the official at the head of staging insisted for me to suit up pull out I would expect to roll out. Burn out, stage and make the pass irregardless of the other car.

[Speer Drag Racing]

As someone who double enters a decent amount over the years I have been in these positions. NHRA, or at least everywhere I have been, has been really good about dealing with these situations. At the Brainerd double earlier this year I was in the final in both stock and super stock. The staging lane people were well aware of this and relayed that with the tower to make sure everyone was on the same page when sending classes down. They also informed the racer I was racing against that I would be coming but will be a little late. At National events they typically re-arrange the schedule for doubles once it gets to late rounds.

I was not at this event but was watching on the live stream and saw this unfold. One thing I have learned lately is that there are two sides to every story. Three if you include actual true story. According to the timer on NHRA.TV it was only 7 minutes from the time the last SS'er went down until they did their burnouts. So was he not informed that Marion had just ran in comp? If he was told to go to the burnout box and then once he got there to wait I could see the frustration in that. I have a hard time believing that he nor NHRA had no idea that Marion was double entered and would be returning from comp soon.

Would love to hear the other side of the story but I highly doubt Marion was purposely waiting them out to get in their head.

[JP1738]

I was running Super Gas 3rd round and was the first pair out behind this fiasco. Honestly this was not Marion Stephenson's fault. He was in the last pairing of Comp, then had to come straight back in order to run SS. I don't think he could have gotten back any quicker than he did. Knowing he would have to tow his comp car back to his pit area (cause that's not a car you putt around the pits) and the fact he was in the last pairing of Comp, it's perfectly reasonable to see it'd take him about 10 minutes to get back to the starting line and another five to get himself ready and all his safety equipment.

I think the real blunder and blame should be placed on NHRA. They should have known he would be coming up late to run SS, they never should have sent Robbie to the water box in the first place. He should have been allowed to relax in the staging lanes until Marion showed up. But they sent him down to the track surface anyway.

Meanwhile, none of the SG racers knew the situation because nothing was communicated to us, so I sat there with my helmet on under the tower too thinking we'd run at any moment. This whole deal was a complete miscue by NHRA and Robbie for not having the awareness and foresight to know to wait. I love me some Robbie and Tabitha, but they should have known who there opponent was and where he'd be. They had no reason to pull down there even if instructed to. Shame in NHRA for telling them to do so.

[Chris1529]

The person running comp knowing that SS was out next should have not been in the last pairing in comp either. Why hadn't the staging lanes closed for SS before he got back up there?

[Mike Pearson]

Originally Posted by Chris1529

The person running comp knowing that SS was out next should have not been in the last pairing in comp either. Why hadn't the staging lanes closed for SS before he got back up there?

Sometimes you have no control over your spot in the pairings. Marion is an accomplished racer and knows how to race in multiple classes. His opponent in comp May have arrived in the lanes late for the pairings. Depending on which class ran before comp the scales could have been backed up. The driver has to stay with the car until it clears the scale.

[curtis reed]

How would just sitting in your car get in your head? Also, couldn't his wife just ask what they were waiting for if they didn't know their opponent was a comp racer?