NHRA Levied Actions Against Don Davidson

[Mark Lewis]

Do not know the details of the valve train in Don's engine. Valve lift could have checked good by the builder. After some runs, do not know how many, there could be a rocker arm stud that has bent or flexed enough to cause a different reading in the cam lift. Been there and done that, just did not get the t-shirt. Had 2 lobes that were .015 short and Holt decided he wanted to check 1 more lobe. Guess what ,.002 too much. Tapped the stud with a hammer and set up again and it checked below spec, although too late. There are variables that could give the wrong reading beside the lifter.

[njk53]

Although I don't agree with a $1,000 fine for such a tiny degree of an infraction, I do agree that the blatent cheaters should be fined for obvious rule violations. A $1,000 fine isn't chicken feed to most sportsman racers including myself and sure is an incentive for the obvious rule breakers to legalize their engines..

[JRyan]

Right Randall,

Fred didn't look right when I wrote it, but then I'm old.

Jerry

[Ed Wright]

It gets worse.

[farmco r/sa]

Originally Posted by ed wright

it gets worse.

lol !

[Adger Smith]

What gets worse Ed? LOL
Don't we know it....Living proof here.
It is bad when I can't remember & have to ask my Alzheimer ailing Father ;~)

[K Stubbs]

I love how NHRA wants to act like they are "supporting" the sportsman racer then place a $1000.00 fine on an honest racer who has made an unintentional mistake that most of us have made, but without a fine. As stated, there should be a "pre warning" or a post of the available fines for such actions. Even then, the argument will be, "why the fines now and not before". .007 is a very small amount and like Mark Lewis stated, could be a number of small things. I talked with Don the day this happened and encouraged him to have them check this with his lifter or check it himself so he could have an argument about "their" system not being fair to the racer (being there could be variances in their lifter and ours) NHRA should be ashamed of themselves for posting this fine on a web sight and not notifying the driver first. He should at least have been told this at the track right after the DQ. And you wonder why your car count keeps decreasing......

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by Adger Smith

What gets worse Ed? LOL
Don't we know it....Living proof here.
It is bad when I can't remember & have to ask my Alzheimer ailing Father ;~)

I'm right there with you. LOL

I hope they re-think that fine. It makes no sense at all.

[FireSale]

I went back through the race results and can't quite figure out when the DQ happened. Don shows in the qualifying list for Ennis but is gone from the elimination ladder at DragRaceCentral. At what point in the race did the teardown occur?

Dale

[Mike Brogniez]

The fine seems excessive, especially for those who do not have deep pockets and the communication could certainly be better so all can understand the cause/logic and learn from the experience.
NHRA and racers should find and agree to a more structured way to handle such situations and communication.
To this day I always found the NHRA field representatives to be fair and dedicated and I only wish the same could be said about the higher levels of the organization which ultimately call the shots.
MB