Strange happenings in Stock race 1 in Tx.

[Jim Bailey]

And then there's Gainesville, where much like Norwalk, the cell service and internet is nearly non existent.....

[Adger Smith]

In the old days before all the electronic gadgets and win signs and lights at the finish line we just went to fuel check and the scales. The guy there waved you on or put you on the scales. Why does it matter on a dial in race, anyway?? Only time it really matters is on a heads up.
Like Ed wright said.. Just stop at the scales...You would think that when the place starts looking like a parking lot at fuel check and the scales someone will figure out a workable solution.
Does any one remember the tracks that you had to go to the tower and get your time card out of a box at the bottom of the chute/tube to tell your ET and win/loss was marked on it?

[340Cuda]

They only paperless et slip system I have used is the one at Tulsa and think it is great. I have no problem with it.

However in my opinion for this type of system to work there has to be a way for a driver to know easily if they won or not.

I think it is travesty that at least two drivers lost because they did not know they had won on the track.

[oldskool]

"...Does any one remember the tracks that you had to go to the tower and get your time card out of a box at the bottom of the chute/tube to tell your ET and win/loss was marked on it? "

Yeah, it was that way when I started, in '73.

The tube was made of PVC pipe. And if someone was not there to catch the slips when they dropped, you'd have to dig thru a pile of slips, to find yours.

Here's a couple of pics from '73, at our local track. I didn't even remember having this 1st pic. It shows me in the pits, just coming back from teching in. I pulled it to the track with a tow bar, & hadn't changed tires yet.

The 2nd pic is the one I'd hoped would show the time slip tube/pipe. The sign in the background was on the side of our little tower, & the time-slip tube was on the corner. But, it's just out of the pic. Anyhow, this brings back lots of pleasant memories.

[rboyle]

Agreed! I had a run where we were the last pair of Stockers at Cecil County, neither car started after shutdown and Super Street was running but exit to the left not right. Neither of us had a phone either. Had to get the attention of the tech on the otherside between rounds. I always have the phone now.
Plus weather station updates. Live timing. Double checking what your opponent ran previously. Etc etc.

[Jeff Stout]

Originally Posted by Adger Smith

In the old days before all the electronic gadgets and win signs and lights at the finish line we just went to fuel check and the scales. The guy there waved you on or put you on the scales. Why does it matter on a dial in race, anyway?? Only time it really matters is on a heads up.
Like Ed wright said.. Just stop at the scales...You would think that when the place starts looking like a parking lot at fuel check and the scales someone will figure out a workable solution.
Does any one remember the tracks that you had to go to the tower and get your time card out of a box at the bottom of the chute/tube to tell your ET and win/loss was marked on it?

Even into early 1980s Byron had a rain gutter for time slips to slide down and then pin up slips on bulletin board

[Jeff Niceswanger]

Back a few years ago Ricky Decker had his car shift twice while on the starting line. He was attempting to stage, and as he looked down the car had mysteriously somehow ended up in second gear. He puts it back in 1st gear, and it happens a second time. He was thinking WTH. So he makes his run. At the end of the track, on the return road he notices "2 missed calls" . His phone happened to be laying right beside the shifter box. Ever since that day, I have never carried a phone in my car. And if I forget, I turn it off. Maybe a fluke, but RFI is not something to ignore.

[Roy Kinslow]

Originally Posted by Adger Smith

In the old days before all the electronic gadgets and win signs and lights at the finish line we just went to fuel check and the scales. The guy there waved you on or put you on the scales. Why does it matter on a dial in race, anyway?? Only time it really matters is on a heads up.
Like Ed wright said.. Just stop at the scales...You would think that when the place starts looking like a parking lot at fuel check and the scales someone will figure out a workable solution.
Does any one remember the tracks that you had to go to the tower and get your time card out of a box at the bottom of the chute/tube to tell your ET and win/loss was marked on it?

I remember this very well at Ardmore Okla. in the early eighties. They gave you et , no reaction time . The mph was in milliseconds for the at that time 132 ft speed trap, you had to look at a chrondek chart on the wall to convert to mph. I remember by the end of the day it was sometimes hard to find our slip because there were so many in the box, seems alot of people didnt bother to go get them. There was one guy with a vega deep staging, I had no understanding why, but he won alot. Seems like a long time ago. My current super stock would've been a brand new car then.

[Dallas Kelly]

Most of the posts seem to suggest that accessing the competitor's run data is something they might do as they drive from their turnoff back toward the scales and/or fuel check. Conceivably, that is manageable in an automatic trans equipped car but, I'm aware that it's a very small number, but could someone describe exactly how a cutchless manual shift Super Stock accomplish this without pulling over and stopping on the return road? One hand is committed to steering the vehicle and the other occupied holding the trans in gear; no passenger permitted. Paper seems the only reasonable answer even if that requires NHRA to supply "another" minimum-wage employee to hand out time slips; I feel we all understand that this is the core dilemma causing this unworkable change.

[Brett C]

I cannot see the win lights at all. Several cannot. Why can’t the track crew or NHRA crew stand at scale and say win or not??? How hard can that be????