Thank You and to those that are interested
 

I want to thank everone who posted, calls, texts and emails with congrats for my runner up at Pomona. I also apologize for not returning calls for a couple of days while I digested what happened.

Today, I met with Mike Rice and Jeff Foster. I told them at the beginning of the meeting that I was going to post the answers to these questions on the forum. I am satisfied with these answers and ready to put this incident behind me.

1. It is not impossible to have a roll back red light with the stage lock on. But, it requires a motion of at least of a half inch to the rear. It was the starters determination the car did not move.

2. The stage lock system is automatically programmed by category.

3. NHRA is going to renew their efforts including reminding photographers of the limits of the zones where no flash photography should happen.

4. In a perfect storm a situation like this can obviously exist due from a reflextive flash. NHRA is aware of this and it is the starters determination as to whether or not the the red light driver has moved and the red light was a result of the flash.

I believe that once that red light came on no good conclusion was possible. If I had been declared the winner, Jimmy would have been added to the list of racers on the losing end of this situation and I would have been the winner of a very controversial final.

I would like people to know what happened in the time immediately after the original final. It is obvious from the video I went down the track thinking I had repeated at the Winternationals.

I pulled over to where the other sportsman winners were stopped on the top end and was congratulated by the event sponsors, photographed holding a Wally over my head holding up two fingers and generally enjoying the victory for about 5-10 minutes. I was not made aware there was a rerun until driving down the return road near the scales. I even had an event winners hat in the seat beside me during the rerun.

I blame no one, none of these people knew. I only tell this part to explain the emotions I was feeling during and after the rerun.

Jimmy has reached out to me and I plan to talk to him and his father in Phoenix. After 30 years of friendship I am sure we can get past this situtation.

I still love NHRA racing. I have always loved working on and driving my cars. Paula and I love going to the races and having a great time with our friends and plan to do so as long as we can.

Thanks.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Nice post, Mike. The post speaks a lot about you. You have always been a true gentleman at the races when I have talked to you. Good luck to you at Phoenix.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

x2

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

x3

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

You are a class act sir. Good luck rest of the season, I hope I could keep my composure that well in the same situation.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

A real "stand up" guy.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Mr. Cotten - I applaude you for your sportsman conduct as most would be very , very bitter given the circumstances .And I'm sure with that same attitude you'll repeat - keep trying ..............

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Mr. Cotten, your comments and explanation have the words "professional", "humble", "gracious" and "class act" written all over them. You've gained a new fan with those words, and I only hope to someday meet you and your wife. May you have the best rest of the season sir. You've earned it.
God bless.
Walt

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Very classy, Mike. You have always been a class act.


I'm not buying this. Yes, there was a perfect storm. A perfect storm within their software that allows a glitch like this to happen.

It's clear from the frames I posted in the other thread that there was a flash, but it clearly came AFTER the red light came on.

If there was another flash it should be easy to see from one of the other video cameras ESPN had at the race. They had at least four cameras on the starting line. One in front of the tree, two hand helds on the starting line and one on a scissor lift. They also had a camera at the 330' mark.

In the video from the camera above it should be easy to see if there was another flash right before the red light came on, but I don't think there was and they will probably never show it to you. It's much easier just to blame the photographers.

Good luck this weekend, Mike. Go get in the final again.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

So thats were the Class comes from in CLASSRACER. Great job Mike.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Mike, anyone that knows you and Paula know that you are the class of the field. It has always been a pleasure to be friends with you guys for so many years. People like you and Paula is what keeps me coming back to the races. I know you handled this better than I would have and you will have many final round races in the future. Seems to me it should have been best out of 3 since you both had a red light .. Be safe and thanks for moving that bad boy Duster to super stock ... :-)

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Class act for sure, don't look back now just forward. Good luck to this weekend.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Both Mike and Paula are two of the nicest people I've met during my racing career.

Thanks a ton for posting about your meeting today!

It's really hard to come back up for a rerun when you've went down the track thinking you've won. I could not imagine it happening in a final round!!!

Good luck this weekend!!!

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

mike you and paula are allways stand up people in my hart. that was a hard one to take.and i can't put myself in your shoes because i was not there.good luck this year hope to see you and paula soon.that was a great reply from great people.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Great post Mike! I cringed when I watched the video and saw you celebrating in the car knowing that someone was going to deflate you shortly. Now after reading about the post race festivities before you were told about the rerun, I'm cringing all over again. I think it really shows just how big of a man you really are handling this situation the way you are.

I love your car and I wish you all the best of luck the rest of the season!

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

I'll bet Foster storms out of the meeting he has done it before. Foster is never wrong and his stuff is always right !!!!!!!!!! LOL;)

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Who would expect anything different from Mike, he is truly a sportsman racer.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Mike, you handled this with much more class than most of us would.
I feel privileged to be able to call Paula and you friends.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

two of the best people in sportsman racing.Dwight Allen and the clan. say good luck in the future

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Good job Mike, you show a lot of grit......

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Congratulations Mike, I think you are the real winner after all is said. Good Luck, hope to see you at Houston.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Mike, I agree with Toby, and I also agree with all the other guys who have commented that you are a class act! But we already knew that. My best to you and Paula. Jim

.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Mr Cotton, I do not know you personally but look forward to the day I get to shake your hand... You are a true gentleman. Keep at it and you will get your true rewards..... Mack Reeves

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Mike, do not know you, nevertheless, you showed a lot of poise and composure on this matter and I applaud you for showing a conduct considered fitting to few under the circumstances.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Mike,

I have to tell You that you have shown unbelievable Character and humility in these circumstances. Most people including me would have an extremely hard time with this, so I applaud You. Good luck to You and Paula.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Mr. Cotten:
You truly are a gentleman and a true sportsman. Thast would be a tough thing to overcome, but you did it with the dignity and class that it would require.The unanimous support you were shown on this post attests to that. I hope to walk up and meet you on your next trip west. You sure showed it to them rowing through the rounds like you did.We were there all 4 days running my Chevelle wagon, and you put up an excellent race. Thanks for being such an excellent sport about all this!

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Mike you and Paula have handled this like I knew you would. Class act indeed!!

I guess those Anger Management Classes you take are really working out.

Seems like you defintely are Having a Nice Day!!

See you soon.

RJ

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

A true gentleman and class act.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Mike & Paula, As we told you on the phone you were handling this with more dignity & class than I believe I could have. We are proud that you are our friends. Mike & Barbara McMahan

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Good words Mike, good luck in Phoenix! :D

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Belated way to go Mike, and I hope to see you next week at the divisionals here in town...

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Very well explained, sir. I do not know you, but I sincerely admire your grace in a situation like this. "Cool heads" really DO prevail when the heat gets turned up. What you realize and understand (and I wish many others would) is that sometimes...SOMETIMES...the best/right thing to do is simply accept the things that we have absolutely no control over, and move forward. Clearly you've done that and it's very admirable.

All you have to do now (and I'm not saying this like I think "it's easy" or anything) is go out there and WIN in Phoenix today! That would be wonderful redemption for last week's disappointing outcome.

Best of luck to you this season.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed-----Car#-Driver(Opp'nt)-RT-----ET-- Speed
1 Jimmy DeFrank 4689 Paula Cotten
E1 0.032 8.884 152.74 ****WINNER**** 0.020 11.120 117.48
SS/BS Dial: 8.84 (+/-): 0.044 SS/KA Dial: 11.09 (+/-): 0.030
Qualified: #21 8.887 -0.763 #48 11.017 -0.2

With respect to Jimmy, justice has been served.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Pretty girl did good!

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

What justice is that?


pS

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Didn't restore Mike's race win.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Atta boy..girl !!


Dic & Deb

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Based on Mike's comments regarding the "incident", I believe Paula's win provides him with some closure.

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

way to go paula great driving job lady!

Re: Thank You and to those that are interested
 

Karma