Where's Paul Harvey with "The rest of the story" ???

[JEFF ESSMANN]

well heres my opinion
nhra publicly announced that they would not tolerate team orders in their races this is clearly a team order
doesnt mater who ordered it it was obvious. the points race is a tight race.jimmy defrank is ahead by 45 points on the national side and behind by 21 points on the divisional side according to the web site today.
nhra has no option but to act on this if nothing else dont award points to either driver after the semis
so now lets see how well they enforce their own rules nhra its your time to step up and stop the dumbing down of our sport and turn it back to what its supposed to be drag racing

[Irv Johns]

You guys need to lighten up, Jimmy already won 5 rounds . These guys are true racers , they drove over 2000 miles to race the Hemi at Indy ( and WON) Also they both have single digit numbers for this year, so nobody is giving them anything.I understand you point of its all for the show, but ther's no one there but a few of the late round losers and they are more interested in getting loaded up and heading home.These divisionals are mostly participant funded and attentended by their family and friends.So congratulations Jimmy, Jimmy Jr and Tony you guys are class and others are only jealous of you acheviements. Drag on .

[John Kelley]

Jeff,Graham doesn't know the Sportsman racers exist !
His directive was directed towards the Pros and NHRA's gimmicky "Countdown".
Nothing will happen in the Sportsman ranks !!! Bet on it !!

[Michael Beard]

>> And since JIM DEFRANK owns the cars, maybe it wasn't Jimmy or Tony's decision either.

Fine, then that's where I would place the blame.

"Hypocrite"?!? You think maybe that's one reason why the whole thing makes me so mad? I repeatedly asked to be able to race for it. I feel that I could've won the event.

>> Unbelievable dialogue here.

We agree on that. I'm out.

[Adger Smith]

I have been waiting for someone to bring up the issues Beard faced at Norwalk. Thanks Mike Carr.
We are all products of our past experiences in life. Michael Beard is no different. He has experienced a car/team owner's decision to take a round. That was the team owners decision, rightfully so. He has paid his $$ & dues to be in that position & make team decisions. ( I'm not going to debate the moral issues) I would say that calling Michael a "Hypocrite" is not the correct way to view his passion or position about throwing rounds/races. Yes, I know the on line dictionary defines "Hypocrite" as: hypocrite - a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives.
I would say he formed his opinion by first hand experience. Michael & I have spent quite a bit of time(remember he drove for me in 2004) in conversations about racing & I think I understand him. I would place a pretty strong bet on the fact that if the Norwalk car's team owner ever ask Michael to drive for him again he would probably pass on the opportunity. I feel his decision would be based on that team owner not sharing the same views as Michael on head to head team match ups. I know Michael & I share the same opinion about the quality of the people involved with that team. They, like the De Franks, are stand outs in this sport & stand up people. They are "TEAM" racers.
This topic/subject is just another one of those things in life that can be viewed as "Right or Wrong" from the position you are viewing it.

Just My .02 for free

[Tim Kish]

Since regardless of your actions you can never please anyone - Let's look at the scenario that they did run for it and Tony won - If Jimmy then loses the championship by one round everyone one here will change Tony's name to Morgan Lucas. If you think that the rare occassion that two team cars run each other is a huge advantage, start thinking about the fact they have twice the data to dial the cars from all day long at every event. That is alot bigger advantage I think.

Now to Michael's point if a 10-car team went around positioned themselves on the ladders to buy round wins and dominate the points as a result - That is "abusing the system"