Re: No Blinders
 

Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in, Ive been bracket racing since the 80s and have had so much fun doing this, no blinders, no electronics or 2 step, footbrake only. I like to keep it simple and just race, it doesn't matter to me if it's a 7 second dragster or a 20 second street car..I'm in. Brian Seaberg

Re: No Blinders
 

Billy, cmon man . I love you like a brother. When I first raced my Camaro in 1994 a 2 step was legal . Twenty nine years later you just can’t decide they are no longer legal. I am all in for Tru- Start …I have no problem with that at all.

Re: No Blinders
 

Just when you think it's dead....it's alive!!!!!

Re: No Blinders
 

And now the NMCA just ruled the same way.
https://www.nmcadigital.com/blog/nmc...per-stock/2083

Re: No Blinders
 

M.J., I don't care about the use of 2-steps one way or the other. Just using it as a "bargaining chip"! Tru-Start would sure win me a couple of rounds. I'm old ya know. :-)

Re: No Blinders
 

If there was an illegal blinder installed and property damaged then fine them and give them a vacation ! Who are these clowns! Don’t punish everyone for the stupidity of one or two!
And on Two Steps….

How and why would you take away two steps after many years of running them. That’s BS!
Please Explain a bargaining chip Billy. With all due respect you cannot bargain for me.
It’s like I said before; this site does not set the standard for all Stock / Superstock racers.
I and M A N Y others like the two step. This will affect probably 85-90% of member paying racers.

Am I wrong ???

Re: No Blinders
 

Barry, If I might speak for Billy ( my brother from another mother)...
I think this is what he was alluding to:
About 20 years ago, when a few guys were deep staging and winning races, a few were trying to take them off their game, rather than minding their own business, and staging normally.
Supposedly NHRA took a vote, (I must have missed it) and the majority (most who didn't DS any way) voted to do away with the practice.
All the slower reacting cars and drivers wanted to do is leave on the third light flash...You know. kinda like the hard leaving, faster cars want to do with a blinder.
I seem to remember that the faster guys were no where to be found when sticking up for the little guys.
Some of them didn't even understand the concept, yet voted against it anyway.
What Billy and a few others (myself included) are saying is : Give us back deep staging and bring in Tru-Start, and we'll go to bat for you, this time.
So, far, I haven't seen one positive comment for our side, from the Give Us Back Our Blinders group.
You know, as long as I've been racing, it seems that the faster guys want to start out every game with two aces, dealt from the bottom of the deck ;-)

Re: No Blinders
 

Oh brother. How did we know this was going to happen?



We're now going to have another "the fast guys have all the advantages" whine fest.


Fine. We don't need the blinders. It is just a stupid rule, that unnecessarily punishes good people who did nothing wrong, for no reason. But that's okay. I like leaving off the bottom bulb, and blocking the other two, but I don't have to. If they want to allow deep staging, that's fine, too.


I really couldn't care less whether you "go to bat" or not. I've never cared about deep staging, one way or another. My issue with blinders is that they were legal, and there's actually no valid reason to make them illegal. But hey, if the slow guys crying helped them make the decision, oh well. And if you're okay not standing up and saying the rule was wrong, because you want to "trade" deep staging and true start for standing up, that's cool, too.



Like I said to a friend the other night, regarding another bogus NHRA decision, and what was said about it, "tell me again why I'm looking at sacrificing my financial security to go back to Stock or Super Stock".




:rolleyes:

Re: No Blinders
 

Great , Alan..You're on the record ;-)

You know, I've said this before. I don't care if they bring in T-S .
Same with D-S . That's why I have a stick shift car..

All I care about is me, me, me..Isn't that the way it's always been? LOL

Re: No Blinders
 

Thanks Mark.

Re: No Blinders
 

You know YAC, once upon a time deep staging, blinders and two steps were all legal. So some NEWBIES decide to race stock eliminator knowing full well that deep staging, blinders and two steps are permitted. Kinda reminds me of the JACKAZZES that buy homes near the Bandimere race track in Denver and then complain about the noise …:mad::mad:

Re: No Blinders
 

Brian, I realize that you didn`t run Waldos old B/S Mustang all that much, but are you saying that when you did race it, you removed the 2 step from that car, or at least disconnected it?

Re: No Blinders
 

In hopes of not starting a fight and just trying to educate myself on class history, what was the reasoning for taking out deep staging?

Re: No Blinders
 

Too time consuming.

Re: No Blinders
 

Jody Lang, Toby Lang, Scott Welborn , and other assorted drivers that went rounds deep staging ……

Re: No Blinders
 

I thought it was perceived that no mater what the deep stagers competition did staging, the starter would not activate the tree until the deep stager was ready.

It's not much of an advantage, but I believe it is an advantage.

Re: No Blinders
 

I BELIEVE that in bracket racing the deep-stager must pre-stage first. After the shallow-stager pre-stages, the deep-stager must stage and after the shallow-stager stages the deep-stager can go deep. AND he must have DEEP on his window.
Does that make any sense?
Larry, try getting an Escort or a Cavalier to "react" sometime. I've never really had much of a problem with staging shallow but some Racers do.

Re: No Blinders
 

You know me Billy I would probably do it a little differently. Remember I do race a pentastar car

Re: No Blinders
 

At the big bucks foot brake races where deep staging is common the starters are more alert. You can put DEEP on your window at local tracks and the starter activates the tree early you’re NOT going to get a rerun. For that reason alone I haven’t deep staged in 30 years, find a way to cut a light or go home.

Re: No Blinders
 

Hi Rory, yes I did use the 2 step and that's one of the many reasons why I hardly ran it and I sold it....

Re: No Blinders
 

,, Donnie Sabin #2 that year

Re: No Blinders
 

It sounds like they did find a way to cut a light, but some didn't like it. Racers have pushed against rules since the start of time. Rule interpretation is the corner stone of drag racing. Always has been, always will be.

Re: No Blinders
 

I know it's the silly season so bear with me.

The pre-stage light was put there for the driver in that lane's benefit..Nothing more.
Using it to red light or blue light a driver is beyond the scope of it's intended usage.
A typical NHRA over-reaction.

Turn off the blue light, the courtesy staging , the auto start, the time out, etc. and let the starter do his job (see Buster Couch)

How did we ever survive the 70's ?
Jerry McClanahan deep staged every round except the final, at the Amarillo World Finals...Nobody whined or complained or even said a word that I remember.

Re: No Blinders
 

LARRY!!!!!! You need a Neon!

Re: No Blinders
 

and "since the start of time" until fairly recently, NHRA Tech pushed back. Which is sorely missing here in the 3rd decade of the 21st century.

Re: No Blinders
 

To many cry babies most likely. So a sunvisor which is a factory item needs to be removed? I highly think NOT! Stop it already!

Re: No Blinders
 

OEM sun visors are still legal. What I pointed out is that most SS and Stockers have roll cages so the sun visor likely can't be flipped up and down. Based on that, mine will be in a permanent down position (which is totally legal per the currently written rules) but a much larger obstacle to my forward vision than my current 8 sq inches of blinder. If those are the new rules, so be it but not well thought out.

Re: No Blinders
 

Another EXCELLENT example of poorly written rules, especially those driven by insurance companies and lawyers.

Re: No Blinders
 

After my conversations with NHRA and reading between the lines, I have no doubt that this was a result of lawyers and probably a lawsuit. I also have no doubt that there will be no upcoming compromise on this new rule, it is what it is.

Re: No Blinders
 

So...
By that logic, we have to wait for someone to get run over by another class that uses blinders and sue before it's banned in that class?

(I have no dog in this fight, just asking)
:rolleyes:

Re: No Blinders
 

It's terrible if the no blinder rule was changed because someone got hurt. It would break every bone in my body at my age getting hit by a car. I don't go to but maybe 5 races a year. Can't remember hearing or seeing anything except Darin Grossi getting hit and run by a golf cart driven by a youngster last year. I've personally have had close calls with kids driving them. My first late wife got hit by a race car with obviously no neutral start. Car started in reverse while she was standing behind it in the lanes. Of course 30yrs ago a sorry was used before sueing.
Racing starts soon and can't wait. Last year Orlando had about 75 cars total between stock and superstock. Hope the time of year increases that total.

Paul Haszlauer
C/SA

Re: No Blinders
 

It will make a big difference

Re: No Blinders
 

Is it ok to remove the mirror for weight savings

Re: No Blinders
 

Your planning on no one chasing you?
How fast is Dumbo?

Re: No Blinders
 

Not as fast as the Fords or Chevys or other DP's in same class FS/D. But I'm working hard to get closer.

Re: No Blinders
 

be .000 on the tree and run dead on and you wont need a mirror.
Stan Hawes
Retired, not retarded

Re: No Blinders
 

You are probably correct about the ivory tower personnel.
My take is something like this is a concession the NHRA has made to the insurance provider. Probably saved the NHRA money on the rate, someway. I wouldn't be surprised that they had a few claims that were blamed on blinders or restricted vision caused by blinders.
Either cut a rise in rates or lowered a rate.

Re: No Blinders
 

There are people that don't know the cardinal rule of pit etiquette, race cars have the right away. Tracks like Topeka has multiple intersections from the north forty to the staging lanes, last year they had traffic control at the nationals to stop pedestrians and spectator cars from crossing when a race car was coming. Some people think it's a Walmart and they have the right away.
Randy Wells
I/S5628

Re: No Blinders
 

Some rules are made for the racers safety if a racer has a blinder on his windshield and he hurts someone or kills them, that racer could be liable >

Re: No Blinders
 

IF... this rule change is because of a specific incident involving a Stock/SS car, I would like to hear from someone who knows of or witnessed the accident or near accident. I have a hard time believing something like this would have happened and someone in our community doesn't know about it. Either somebody here knows the actual story or the other option is that this supposed incident didn't happen and this was just a BS excuse to get rid of blinders.