NHRA's Response - Summernationals

[Michael Beard]

It's extraordinarily rare that I ever encountered a traction issue at any IHRA event, but one year at a Bracket Finals many years ago, we were there on Wednesday for an Early Bird Gambler's race. A couple of the local staff had recently quit, and didn't tell anyone, so they were short handed, and whoever the guy was on the starting line (IHRA starter wasn't due in until the next day) must've thought his job entailed nothing more than flipping the switch. I blew the tires off in a pile of rocks on the starting line. Didn't even throw stuff in my logbook. Parked the car in my pit, got out, and stomped toward the starting line. Didn't holler, just grabbed a push broom and started working. This guy didn't even glance at me sideways like "Who's on my starting line?" Nothing. After awhile, one of the EMT's must've felt bad for me, because he grabbed the other broom and started helping. We got the line back into shape. If you drag junk into the burnout box, you're going to get junk on the starting line. It still amazes me that people don't clean out their wheel wells/rocker panels. I still get funny looks when I'm cleaning mine in the lanes... often come up with half a handful of sand or pebbles, depending on where you're pitted. With the regular staff in place, it was fine the rest of the weekend.

I worked the starting line at Quaker City before and discovered (self-evidently) that if you KEEP the starting line clean, it stays clean. I'd be over the rail every pair to get any tiny dot of fluid or pebble. Let it build up, and you're going to have trouble bringing it back around. Ran two complete rounds of time trials with 260 cars without so much as a touch-up, and the place would still take your shoes off.

Sometimes you're going to have problems that are out of your control. The best thing you can do is recognize a problem when it starts, and get on top of it as quickly as possible. We run some big money bracket races in November, and cold temps come into play at night. We've learned: If the sun is down, any time there's not a car going down the track, the drag needs to be on the track. There's no more helpless feeling for a promoter than seeing the track not working.

I've got Redman in charge of the line at the Class Nationals next year, and we'll give him all the tools he needs to do what he knows to do. Done!

[Dan Fahey]

Good responses:

Here is some feedback.
Certified Referees go through annual refresher courses to keep us current on issues.
In fact I study a little bit all year long, reading, taking tests, discussing the art of reffing, staying fresh.
All management teams do this too. So does NHRA.

One person rarely by themselves can make a change.
Had it been only Mr. Barton do you really think that anything would change?

I do not care how much of a *** kicking one person tries.
Not going to make a different unless the issue is backed up by others.
Mr. Barton would have gotten more mileage by recruiting the racing community on the matter.
Class Racer is a venue to do it.
But too much was about his rage rather than the issue.
His attitude put me off.

Good sportsmanship is what Mr. Beard did to help out a tough under staffed night.
I have popped over the fence to help spill downs as well.

Far as I am concerned poor track conditions, well that is part of racing.
No more than if your opponent had a mishap and could not show up to the line.
Just part of the fates we experience win or lose.

It is really not that hard to get a Rule or HP rating changed.
Been successful getting many things changed writing a letter, editorial or article, including drag racing.

Again Mr. Barton's behavior is not acceptable.
We understand his rage but an adult he has to moderate it.
He represents the sport and impressionable kids see this.

Before Reffing a game I have to do a bit of preparation.
Learn as much as possible about the teams, coaches, history of their records.
Then there is field game management

I line up and speak with the kids and coaches making sure they are prepared.
Some teams can be particularly challenging.
Safety is always first. Which is Mr. Barton's real issue.

Then I talk to the parents to cheer and enjoy the game
and
remind them to "Behave Like Parents".

They laugh a little about it but they get the message.

Dan

[Chad Rhodes]

Dan, i think you are missing the point. NHRA continues to treat sportsman racers like cattle, and does not value our input on anything. Oh, they pay fine lip service at times, but they really coul care less. That was evident by the starters response to David.

None of us know exactly what transpired when David got out of his car. But NHRA heard him loud and clear. He stopped their show, and expressed his opinion. if the suits in Glendora aren't in a coma, they know that 99% of the racers stand behind David Barton. There is a time for civility, and it's been tried for years. Sometimes you have to lose it for people to understand that you're serious. It's like dealing with a bully, you have to stand up and defend yourself. It's very easy to trash can an email or letter. It's impossible to ignore a man standing in front of you expressing his opinion.

[Bruce Noland]

Dan,
Were you racing at E town? We were so busy that I never got a chance to study the sheets. You have a lot of advice to offer about soccer but I don'think I've every met you at a Divisional or National race. Please come by for a visit when you do.

[Pistol Pete]

Well said chad.

[Billy Nees]

Originally Posted by Chad Rhodes

Dan, i think you are missing the point. NHRA continues to treat sportsman racers like cattle, and does not value our input on anything. Oh, they pay fine lip service at times, but they really coul care less. That was evident by the starters response to David.

None of us know exactly what transpired when David got out of his car. But NHRA heard him loud and clear. He stopped their show, and expressed his opinion. if the suits in Glendora aren't in a coma, they know that 99% of the racers stand behind David Barton. There is a time for civility, and it's been tried for years. Sometimes you have to lose it for people to understand that you're serious. It's like dealing with a bully, you have to stand up and defend yourself. It's very easy to trash can an email or letter. It's impossible to ignore a man standing in front of you expressing his opinion.

Dan, I've been sitting here trying to figure out how to respond to your post. Chad has said it as good as I can figure. If the NHRA is behaving like parents then they're very neglectful parents!

[Gary Parker]

I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore..........

[Andys dad]

Originally Posted by Chad Rhodes

99% of the racers stand behind David Barton

IMHO - that number is incorrect

This forum is not even close to a representative sample of racers

We are not children and should expect better from ourselves than throwing a public temper tantrum and angry outburst

That would not work in my house or on our team

Ron

Im sure the majority of the racers on this forum are on his side. There is nothing wrong with speaking up once in a while. Unlike many, David works on every area of his car. Engine assembly, car assembly, tuneup, and ect! He spends countless hrs on his program. He has one of the fastest drag pack cars in the country, because of his hard work.
When somebody spends all that time and effort, and the results are out of his hands because of an organizations lack of effort at track prep, it can frustrating. He had enough and told them about it. He lost in the shootout because of wheel spin, and didnt have a chance to compete in a heads up in the eleminator for the same reason.
He felt the way to handle it was take his case to the higher authorities, maybe someone will listen. I support his position, and stand with him and the other racers that wanted to be treated fairly when we pay our entry fee.

[Bruce Noland]

Originally Posted by Andys dad

IMHO - that number is incorrect

This forum is not even close to a representative sample of racers

We are not children and should expect better from ourselves than throwing a public temper tantrum and angry outburst

That would not work in my house or on our team

Ron

This forum has nearly 12,000 members with many thousands of visitors each day. You can bet your bottom dollar that this forum represents the opinions of real racers!!! There are some who come here with these crazy notions of connecting soccer and other sports stories to drag racing. Simply, apples to oranges. Ever see a professional ball player argue a bad call with an official in baseball, football, tennis or soccer? Sure you have! None of us are choir boys or girls, we have our emotions to deal with, and any one of us can push back against an unfair situation.

I'll bet David has the support of the overwhelming majorityof REAL racers. The arm chair guys can chime in all they want but they weren't sweating their asses off trying to get 5 different cars to launch off a poorly prepared starting line. And with very little help from the starting line crew! I saw it all go down and totally understand why David had had enough.

For me this story is more about the poor race that nhra produced than it is about one man becoming frustrated. nhra sent us an apology for their lame effort, but they arrogantly fined and demanded an apology from David. Typical real world disconnect for nhra. They should have sucked it up and let it go.