What was the reason for this?
 

http://www.dragracecentral.com/DRCSt...67394#indextop


Was the finish line cone in the wrong place?

Re: What was the reason for this?
 

from what i heard, the first car trough the finish line stopped both clocks.the foam block blew over and there wasnt anything seperating the lanes.

Re: What was the reason for this?
 

I have heard of reruns,but I have never heard of reruns of entire rounds in multiple classes.It took that long to figure out something was wrong?

Re: What was the reason for this?
 

[I have heard of reruns,but I have never heard of reruns of entire rounds in multiple classes.It took that long to figure out something was wrong?]

Actually, it took no time at all. They knew long before today. You see, they've KNOWN, for literally YEARS, that there are problems with the timing equipment at this track. That's right. INDY. Owned by the N H R A itself. No less than THE HOME of the U.S. FREAKIN' Nationals and they've allowed the problem to continue? Perhaps now that this has affected a national event, again (it's not the first time at a national here), they'll do something about it? Maybe, I don't know, invest in the best possible timing equipment? Provide a fair race track to compete on?

We got burned pretty bad there at the Fall Classic in 2007. I witnessed my husband post a perfect .900 run at that event, only to have to rerun due to timing problems in the other guys lane. I've been doing this for 17 years, I finally get to be there for a perfect run, and it's taken away. Not because of anything we screwed up, but because of faulty track equipment?! Thanks NHRA! Way to kill the fun! And make me want to chop up the bridge, pile up the wood, throw *someones* pit bike on top, waste the rest of my C16 on the whole thing, toss a match and roast marshmallows.

What? No, I don't hold a grudge. What kind of question is that?

Seriously, this habit, this affliction we all share is hard enough without this kind of junk happening. Who get's my entry fee money? Where does it go? Improvements? There is no excuse for any track not to have the best equipment there is, especially an NHRA owned track. How many other runs have any of you made that may or may not have been valid?

See you all in the .90 lounge.
We'll have 'tini's on the tailgate.

D3D

Re: What was the reason for this?
 

The facts the 1320 reflector block tiped over and was out of place by 12 inches this allowing the Infrareds see each other. As the first car went across the line it triggered both finish line sensors. The situation appered to happen on the last Pro Mod run prior to Super Gas. It affected 14 pairs of SG and 3 pairs of SC before it was detected and racing shut down to find problem. With no hard data of who crossed finish line first the data on any non-red run was susspect and to re-run them was the only fair resolution to the issue.
This was not an INDY or system error this was a human error not noticing the block was knocked out of place.

Re: What was the reason for this?
 

I think someone should have been able to figure this problem out just from looking at the timing information. Let's see. I know Super Gas guys cut races close and are running high MPH now, but when a normal Super Gas car (not some Alcohol Funny car running Super Gas) runs 9.86 @ 196 MPH and all 17 pairs (including SC) have a margin at the finish line of .001 or less, it seems like somebody might have noticed something was off a bit sooner. I'm actually only guessing that the margin was that tight for all 17 pairs since it was that tight for all the red-light runs that are still listed. The other original runs don't seem to be posted. The 10.12 @ No Speed might have been a clue as well. I know MPH isn't a guaranteed part of the time slip, but that doesn't excuse the fact that nobody at least took a quick look at the equipment to see if it was something easily fixable (you know, a blown over foam block or something totally obvious like that).

At least it was only 3rd round of the most prestigious national event and not some important run where any officials might want to be paying attention.

Anyone have the audio from the announcers? It must have been some pretty impressive racing with everybody taking the stripe with no margin. With racing that close, people must have thought they were watching Pinks All Out :).

Re: What was the reason for this?
 

Easy now........I agree someone should have noticed it about an hour sooner.....but they didn't.....Jeff Foster met with us and explained the situation(He's a pretty good guy..and we are lucky enough that he posts what really happened).....He was taking a breather at the time (getting more foam blocks ready after Pro Mod...touring the track...) after a very long day.....otherwise he would have noticed it right away......

I had to beat the same guy twice.....and was lucky to do so.....but things happen....the guys that had byes....did not get to rerun..so they were at a disadvantage in the next round....(unfortunately Tommy Phillips didn't need the extra run to put the hurt on me.....in round 4).....

CBS

Re: What was the reason for this?
 

It was surprising that almost all of the guys (5 out of 7) that won the original round on the red-lights or the bye-runs managed to win the next round even though they had to race guys that had just been down the track. I would have thought not having the run on Sunday would have been a huge disadvantage, but it looks like it worked out the opposite way. Anything fluky with the numbers or the track between the re-run and the next round on Sunday that explains this, or is it just a coincidence?

It shouldn't take someone like Jeff to notice a problem like this. It should have become obvious to anyone in the tower at some point during SG. At the very least, this problem should have never made it to SC. When a SG car runs 196 mph and another runs No Speed, anybody paying any attention at all should have noticed there was at least a problem with that. While the MPH numbers aren't guaranteed, they did indicate there was a problem that warranted at least some investigation before continuing to ensure it was only the MPH that was affected. At that point, a simple and quick look at the finish line difference numbers would have told the story that there was a major problem. It shouldn't take an electrical engineer to notice that the finish line cone is blown over and sitting a foot away from where it should be. The MPH issues were so obvious that it basically ensures that someone did notice at least those but made a conscious decision that "those SG guys don't need MPH info so we'll just keep running" without any further investigation.That this type of attitude prevailed during 3rd round at Indy is what disappoints me. It isn't like it was a time-shot at a points meet or something. I'm not surprised by this attitude anymore, but it still manages to disappoint me.

NHRA did do the right thing with the rerun after they finally realized the problem and should be commended for that. I'm not 100% sure what the best way to handle the red-light guys should have been. The bye run guys should have definitely been given another bye run during the re-run round. I would not have re-run the red-light races, but I'm thinking that those guys probably should have gotten byes during the re-run round as well. The red-light would have given them a free shot down the track without fear of breakout, so there shouldn't have been a problem with them getting a bye/time shot during the re-run round to equal them up with everyone else. Since most of them won the next round anyway, maybe they were actually better off not getting the extra run.

Re: What was the reason for this?
 

Out of the last nine NHRA division races I have competed in, I lost three times due to timing equipment issues, at three different tracks. Two of which are owned by the NHRA. The most recent of of the three was at Cordova. There I went to the tower and presented the time slip. The Director looked at the numbers and I was not awarded a rerun. Reaction time was way late, 60' was two tenths too fast, and the ET was a huge breakout.
The more racers I talked to during the rest of the day, the more I found that had unexplainable numbers. So I wasn't the only one.

As racers what other recourse do we have but to go to the tower. I would love to talk to Mr. Foster about the timing problems that I have had and how I should have handled the situation.

We have spent thousands of dollars to chase points and try to win races and maybe a divisional title, but it doesn't seem like timing issues should be part of the equation.

Now I'm just sounding like a whiner ... sorry... I''m just frustrated by the whole thing.

See you at Earlville.

Re: What was the reason for this?
 

I hear ya on that one.....but its not that easy to detect lazy photocells which probably caused your situation.....Jeff mentioned that the tracks have not had him out to review their timing equipment as much as they have in the past because of budget issues.....this is mostly the divisional tracks...as the national event tracks are reviewed at the national races by Jeff....

So again.....you must know all the facts before a statement is made.....

I guess the bottom line is you lost and it may not have been your fault.....which is frustrating.....


CBS