Video of Biondo's win over Fletcher's close call

Greg Gay · 06-21-2014, 06:09 PM

Respectfully, I need to take the other side of this argument. You are in a racecar, and you know the inherent dangers when you enter this race. Many will hold their nose when I say this, but when you put the shoe polish on the window, the same things that work in a bracket race work for us. Your job is to beat your opponent to the finish line while not beating your time, or to force your opponent to. If there is one thing that has always bothered me, it is the people standing at the finish line at New England Dragway, deciding if there was excessive braking. Maybe it goes back to the '70's when my father was disqualified for hitting the brakes before the finish line (a NED rule back then), but I have always thought that you should be able to do whatever it takes to win the race, and if that means locking up the front tires, then so be it. I remember seeing pictures of Lee Shepard in the RMS Corvette with the front tires just a smoking, and he was just trying to protect his index.

Two weeks ago at Lebanon Valley, Gene Monahan and I both dumped at the first speed line. We hit the finish line with both cars standing on their noses, and that was fine. In fact, it was fun. Gene won, and I wouldn't want to have someone say, "No, Gene's braking was excessive, Greg's was not. Greg's the winner." It doesn't work that way. We have rules for crossing the center line or hitting the wall, and they apply to all classes in drag racing. If John Force can cross the centerline after the finish line, then Thomas Fletcher can too.

Don't like the rule? Then change it, but change it for all of drag racing. Maybe you can't cross the centerline for 300 feet past the finish line. Fine with me. Thomas screwed up, or he had a mechanical failure (the left front tire was turning until the car was mostly sideways), but he didn't break the rules.

06-21-2014, 06:09 PM	#11
Greg Gay Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Vermont Posts: 385 Likes: 21 Liked 283 Times in 70 Posts	Re: Video of Biondo's win over Fletcher's close call Respectfully, I need to take the other side of this argument. You are in a racecar, and you know the inherent dangers when you enter this race. Many will hold their nose when I say this, but when you put the shoe polish on the window, the same things that work in a bracket race work for us. Your job is to beat your opponent to the finish line while not beating your time, or to force your opponent to. If there is one thing that has always bothered me, it is the people standing at the finish line at New England Dragway, deciding if there was excessive braking. Maybe it goes back to the '70's when my father was disqualified for hitting the brakes before the finish line (a NED rule back then), but I have always thought that you should be able to do whatever it takes to win the race, and if that means locking up the front tires, then so be it. I remember seeing pictures of Lee Shepard in the RMS Corvette with the front tires just a smoking, and he was just trying to protect his index. Two weeks ago at Lebanon Valley, Gene Monahan and I both dumped at the first speed line. We hit the finish line with both cars standing on their noses, and that was fine. In fact, it was fun. Gene won, and I wouldn't want to have someone say, "No, Gene's braking was excessive, Greg's was not. Greg's the winner." It doesn't work that way. We have rules for crossing the center line or hitting the wall, and they apply to all classes in drag racing. If John Force can cross the centerline after the finish line, then Thomas Fletcher can too. Don't like the rule? Then change it, but change it for all of drag racing. Maybe you can't cross the centerline for 300 feet past the finish line. Fine with me. Thomas screwed up, or he had a mechanical failure (the left front tire was turning until the car was mostly sideways), but he didn't break the rules.