Frequency of double redlights

[Michael Beard]

Ya think that's bad? At least three different times at Pageland Dragway, I've been driving the stripe or dumping the other guy... and then realize that he was red. Oops!

[chevy620]

happened three times to me in last three seasons in probably 200 rounds of competition in both Box and No Box type racing.

I think blocking the red or having it delayed would be OK. We need something NEW to interest more people. What happens when all of us OLD GEEZERS have to use our energy to go cash the Social Security checks.

Why not a Pro-Tree like AHRA used to do. turn off the pre-stage light. .3 Pro-Tree, EVERYONE was late. That was some interesting racing. I know, not many of you remember that.

[Michael Pliska]

Originally Posted by chevy620

Why not a Pro-Tree like AHRA used to do. turn off the pre-stage light. .3 Pro-Tree, EVERYONE was late. That was some interesting racing. I know, not many of you remember that.

My local track was running AHRA with that system when I started racing. I had pretty quick physical reactions, so I was able to do pretty well.

As far as double redlights, I have experienced 3 of them this season, out of roughly 40 eliminations rounds. One was in my tow rig (I was the slower car), and my redlight was a lot closer to green. In my S/G car racing non-electronics brackets, I am usually the quicker car. I was the beneficiary of a slower car's double red-light earlier this year (mine by 0.002 to his 0.031), but at the ET finals I was slightly slower and red-lit (another -0.002), while the other guy red-lit by 0.045, but he crossed the centerline and lost anyway. I'll bet I average 2 double redlights a season since I started racing regularly again in 2007, and this year is the first that I've been the faster car on a regular basis.

Regards,

[Michael Pliska]

Okay, update my total to 4 double redlights this season. In this case, I saw the other guy's red-light so I raised my launch RPM to take a stab at the $100 perfect light bonus (I missed).

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by chevy620

Why not a Pro-Tree like AHRA used to do. turn off the pre-stage light. .3 Pro-Tree, EVERYONE was late. That was some interesting racing. I know, not many of you remember that.

We used to have that here at Tulsa. I liked to run cars about .5 slower, and just left when their car moved, the slower car was dead meat, and could do nothing about it. Several guys did that. One was killing us until the starter found he was watching him press the button.

Many faster guys take a shot at the tree when the slower car goes red, or just stop sitting on the converter for no reason. If they change it, I think the guys wanting it will be suprised at how little it actually helps them.

[bill dedman]

Ed wrote, "I think the guys wanting it will be suprised at how little it actually helps them."

Ed,
It's not a matter of "helping" anybody.

It's a matter of giving both cars an equal chance to red light... PERIOD. That's all it does.

I fail to see what's wrong with that scenario, or, why anyone who values sportsmanship and fair play could object to it. NOBODY has an advantage with this system. NOBODY.

That's not true with the system now in place.

This double red light system will work effectively to level the playing field, whether it's a race between an AA/SA car and an A/SA car, a AA/SA car and a W/SA car, or a V/SA car and a W/SA car.

It plays no favorites.

[Bobby Zlatkin]

A racer's "job" is to look for and gain every advantage. He's not looking to level the playing field, but to gain an advantage.

Now we're talking about taking one advantage away. This rule would help about 50% of the racers and hinder about 50% of the racers. What could be more fair?

However I can understand the 50% that it would hinder bitching about "Just leave things the way they were. We don't need any more changes." It's not to their advantage to make things more fair.

[Jack McCarthy]

i think you'd find it comes into play a lot more on evenly et'ed cars (ie h/sa vs e/sa) much more often than in huge spots...
anyway it would be FAIR ...

jack

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by bill dedman

Ed wrote, "I think the guys wanting it will be suprised at how little it actually helps them."

Ed,
It's not a matter of "helping" anybody.

It's a matter of giving both cars an equal chance to red light... PERIOD. That's all it does.

I fail to see what's wrong with that scenario, or, why anyone who values sportsmanship and fair play could object to it. NOBODY has an advantage with this system. NOBODY.

That's not true with the system now in place.

This double red light system will work effectively to level the playing field, whether it's a race between an AA/SA car and an A/SA car, a AA/SA car and a W/SA car, or a V/SA car and a W/SA car.

It plays no favorites.

I most always leave first, and don't really care either way. I think the slower cars are not going to gain what they hope to. How about both go red, both loose?

[Michael Pliska]

When I bracket race, I almost always leave 2nd (so I'm one of those guys who would be losing an advantage), but I think they should change the rule in the interest of fairness. Yes, it cost me more to build my car to be quicker, but I also get the advantage of better visibility judging the stripe. The slower car does have the advantage of the "clean" tree (no distraction of the other car leaving), so if you take away the red-light advantage it leaves us with one significant advantage each.

Regards,