Red light debate update.

[Jack McCarthy]

the redlight rule is probably UNFAIR.

i spend .10% of what ken meile spends racing
i ALWAYS hook perfectly
i solo for class quite often, pick up my $400, a wally and into the beer by noon at indy
i get the same enjoyment out of winning (maybe MORE!) than the fast guys

would any of you disagree that these too are UNFAIR ?

we all pick what we want (and afford) to race ...

see ya racing, and by the way i hope the track sucks !
captain jack

[John Kelley]

Originally Posted by Chad Rhodes

Bill, read very carefully what I am writing here.

1) i, and most others, believe what you are saying about it being fair, its right there if you do the math. SO give that argument up.

2) Things have been this way for a very long time. People have built their cars to these fundamental rules, whether bracket, class, or otherwise for decades, knowing the inherent advantages and disadvantages of faster or slower cars. And YES there are advantages and disadvantages to both.

3) stock and SS is not lagging behind the times here. If bracket racing and all other forms of handicapped racing were already doing the WORST redlight rule then i think you would have a lot more support. I would seriously suggest you speak to some track owners and division directors about trying this in their bracket program. If it becomes widely adopted, then you may have a case for S/SS going to it. Until then work on it somewhere else.

I personally feel like there are much bigger issues in stock/ss to be dealt with at this time (the DP/CJ cars, Payouts, and figuring out a way to get more younger racers involved, etc) than trying to be the mavericks of drag racing by changing one of the fundamentals of how we run a race.

Another LAME reply......seems to be the norm.... :-(

[Jack McCarthy]

and by the way i just used ken as an example, he is another guy with a 50 year old classic car but his is a tad faster... im sure he is not even close to a leader in $$$$$ spent per pass in the eliminator !!!!!!!!!!!!!

jack

[Bobby Zlatkin]

We probably should have stayed with the flagman and handicapped by car lengths. Oh, and what's all this color television crap. We were perfectly happy with black & white.
Progress & technology sucks.

[art leong]

Originally Posted by Jack McCarthy

the redlight rule is probably UNFAIR.

i spend .10% of what ken meile spends racing
i ALWAYS hook perfectly
i solo for class quite often, pick up my $400, a wally and into the beer by noon at indy
i get the same enjoyment out of winning (maybe MORE!) than the fast guys

would any of you disagree that these too are UNFAIR ?

we all pick what we want (and afford) to race ...

see ya racing, and by the way i hope the track sucks !
captain jack

My sentiments exactly

[Chad Rhodes]

Originally Posted by John Kelley

Another LAME reply......seems to be the norm.... :-(

Care to counterpoint anything that I said? Or are you jus going to be LAME?

[bill dedman]

Originally Posted by Jack McCarthy

and by the way i just used ken as an example, he is another guy with a 50 year old classic car but his is a tad faster... im sure he is not even close to a leader in $$$$$ spent per pass in the eliminator !!!!!!!!!!!!!

jack

Jack,
You're another one of my heroes. I WISH I could do what you accomplish on a limited budget... plus for its class, your car is FAST! (How did that 3-speed work out?)

But the idea that Ken Miele's car is also fast, but he doesn't win a lot of races seems to me, to be not in any way pertinent to the red light rule. I don't see the connection.

A bad rule is a bad rule. And, almost everyone admits, it's not a fair rule. I admire Ken's efforts, but even HE could to fall victim to this rule when he runs a faster-dialed car. That's not a likelihood, but it's definitely a possibility.

Let's do him the favor of trying to get it changed.

[John Kelley]

Originally Posted by Chad Rhodes

Care to counterpoint anything that I said? Or are you jus going to be LAME?

You skirted around the SUBJECT at hand.
It's like the battered wife syndrome...."he always beat me so I thought that was the way it was supposed to be"............. :-)

[John Kelley]

Originally Posted by Chad Rhodes

2) Things have been this way for a very long time. People have built their cars to these fundamental rules, whether bracket, class, or otherwise for decades, knowing the inherent advantages and disadvantages of faster or slower cars.

The Battered wife........
"Well he's been beating me since we got married 23 years ago so I figured that was the way it was supposed to be......."
But the breakout rule was changed...LONG AGO........ :-)

[Mark Yacavone]

For those of you who seem to enjoy this "status quo" so much, need to remember,

1975-6 flat out racing, when the most underrated combo usually won.

1977, when you had to be dialed ON the index throughout the whole meet, or

1978, when you had to dial under, one hour before the start of eliminations and be stuck with it all day ??

The changes that ensued when the newer electronics were available, were all positive; wouldn't you agree ?