Red Light Madness (Bristol)

[THE LEGEND]

We had the same issue at the spring fling there last month. Lots of red lights in the right lane.

Now the dead heat is not actually a dead heat. the computer goes far ther than the printer shows
Chip

[Ken Kopecky]

Was it my imagination or did it look like the nose of the car body tripped the beams and not the front wheels. Same with Funny Car.

Sorry if I took a little detour on this thread.

Ken Kopecky
1454 E/SA

[Myron Piatek]

Originally Posted by Ken Kopecky

Was it my imagination or did it look like the nose of the car body tripped the beams and not the front wheels. Same with Funny Car.

Sorry if I took a little detour on this thread.

Ken Kopecky
1454 E/SA

I'm pretty sure that finish line beams tend to be more than 3" off the ground. There was some rule changes a while back in Pro Stock because some bodies had an advantage with a longer front overhang. Then there's always the "crown" in the track, rubber build-up, etc.

[Mike Fuller]

Was it my imagination or did it look like the nose of the car body tripped the beams and not the front wheels. Same with Funny Car.

Sorry if I took a little detour on this thread.

I think your right Ken.

[Michael Beard]

Originally Posted by THE LEGEND

We had the same issue at the spring fling there last month. Lots of red lights in the right lane.

I've had some red lights in the right lane at Bristol too... when I left too soon. Sheesh. The left lane is actually several thousands tighter there, typically. (could be a dominant eye issue, as I find that to be the case with most tracks) If a redlight or slow light is relative to an issue with the rollout (whether it be picking the tire up out of the beam, staging position, or a hanging photocell), you will see a correseponding difference in your 60', etc.

Originally Posted by Myron Piatek

I'm pretty sure that finish line beams tend to be more than 3" off the ground.

Downtrack sensors (other than the 60') are 5-5/8", give or take. I think NHRA spec may be just a smidge different... Jeff Foster could confirm. Pro Stockers and Funny Cars trip the beams with the nose all the time. The height of the finish line beam should be common knowledge and of principal concern in the S/SS ranks as well.

[C and W Racing]

If I remember right, they are 6" high. They have been that way for many years. It got changed after a race where the car that got there first triped the beams with his wheels and the other car triped it with the nose and got the win. So to try to eliminate that from happening again, they raised the beam so everyone would trip it with the nose. I could see though that some cars could still trip it with the tire if there car sets up high and has a lot of suspension travel under acceleration.
Chuck