Random pairing

Carl Battis · 05-17-2021, 12:44 AM

When I drove up to the lanes on Saturday I was directed by a track official at the back of the lanes which lane to line up in. As I drove past all the other cars already in line it dawned on me that I had been sent down a third lane, and not wasn’t going to be paired with anyone. I backed up about 100 yards and got back in line in the right lane. (As far as I know NHRA isn’t running any 3 Wide events thus far �� )

By the time I got towards the front of the lanes the same track person at the back had mixed in a bunch of Super Street cars in the left lane, and the entire process was now a giant goat rope. There were cars feeding into the line up from all directions. I got switched by a different track official at the front of the lanes into the left lane right before going under the arch despite having chosen the right lane....and now was lined up with a Division 4 top 10 driver instead of my original pairing. I guess the word of the day wasn’t so “random” after all.

Thankfully I won the round. Between the weather, disorganization, and several long cleanup delays it was a tough three days. The NHRA people put in some seriously long hours and deserve a hearty thank you for their efforts. As always it was a refreshing to see how friendly everybody is in Division 4. Thanks for hosting the out of town visitors.

e vassar · 05-17-2021, 11:07 PM

Yeah I couldn't figure it out either. We were told random pairing no heads up. So pairing 2 "A" cars or 2 "C" cars or whatever shouldn't matter because we're using dial ins...right? I didn't know if they would use multiple lanes and draw cards,or just do left and right. I got up there early and saw they were using 2 lanes. I chose the right one. I was the 2nd car from the front. When the signal was given to bring us up I was going up behind the 1st car. I was stopped, he told me to wait.a few cars went by,he told me to go,then stopped me again. Finally told me to go to the right lane. I was paired with a FS/A his 8:95 dial to my 10:66 . I was .048 to his. 008 so...you can guess how that went. Im not whining...Im really not..getting my butt kicked will hopefully..eventually.. make me a better driver. Just still dont know what random guidelines were used.

GTS340 · 05-17-2021, 11:49 PM

Sounds like the officials were caught off guard as well with random pairing in class racing. They needed 4 lanes to choose from possibly.

Carl Battis · 05-18-2021, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTS340

Sounds like the officials were caught off guard as well with random pairing in class racing. They needed 4 lanes to choose from possibly.

There were 8 available lanes when we drove up. Bottom line, the two individuals at the back and the front of the lanes made a total mess of a simple process.

05-17-2021, 12:44 AM	#1
Carl Battis Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 100 Likes: 24 Liked 183 Times in 36 Posts	Re: Random pairing When I drove up to the lanes on Saturday I was directed by a track official at the back of the lanes which lane to line up in. As I drove past all the other cars already in line it dawned on me that I had been sent down a third lane, and not wasn’t going to be paired with anyone. I backed up about 100 yards and got back in line in the right lane. (As far as I know NHRA isn’t running any 3 Wide events thus far �� ) By the time I got towards the front of the lanes the same track person at the back had mixed in a bunch of Super Street cars in the left lane, and the entire process was now a giant goat rope. There were cars feeding into the line up from all directions. I got switched by a different track official at the front of the lanes into the left lane right before going under the arch despite having chosen the right lane....and now was lined up with a Division 4 top 10 driver instead of my original pairing. I guess the word of the day wasn’t so “random” after all. Thankfully I won the round. Between the weather, disorganization, and several long cleanup delays it was a tough three days. The NHRA people put in some seriously long hours and deserve a hearty thank you for their efforts. As always it was a refreshing to see how friendly everybody is in Division 4. Thanks for hosting the out of town visitors. Last edited by Carl Battis; 05-17-2021 at 07:01 PM.

05-17-2021, 11:07 PM	#2
e vassar Member Join Date: Jul 2015 Posts: 380 Likes: 67 Liked 271 Times in 107 Posts	Re: Random pairing Yeah I couldn't figure it out either. We were told random pairing no heads up. So pairing 2 "A" cars or 2 "C" cars or whatever shouldn't matter because we're using dial ins...right? I didn't know if they would use multiple lanes and draw cards,or just do left and right. I got up there early and saw they were using 2 lanes. I chose the right one. I was the 2nd car from the front. When the signal was given to bring us up I was going up behind the 1st car. I was stopped, he told me to wait.a few cars went by,he told me to go,then stopped me again. Finally told me to go to the right lane. I was paired with a FS/A his 8:95 dial to my 10:66 . I was .048 to his. 008 so...you can guess how that went. Im not whining...Im really not..getting my butt kicked will hopefully..eventually.. make me a better driver. Just still dont know what random guidelines were used.

05-17-2021, 11:49 PM	#3
GTS340 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: Las Vegas, Nv Posts: 866 Likes: 267 Liked 1,340 Times in 407 Posts	Re: Random pairing Sounds like the officials were caught off guard as well with random pairing in class racing. They needed 4 lanes to choose from possibly.