Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

I'm actually fine with everything that happened last night. I'm fine with the work area and have come to grips that people don't understand how it works and that it is not just 2mins and then you have to stop, but 2mins and if they are not lined up then you are allowed to keep going.. Oh well though, rule isn't going to change and people who complain about can keep coming up with conspiracy theories of who is whose favorite.

As far as the scuffle. I'm fine with it too. I've said it plenty of times on here and say it in daily life that too many people have gotten too comfortable with saying crap, insulting, or being a smarta** that if they knew there was potential of getting popped in the mouth or dropped on their butt they might actually use a thing called manners. You can see when Sheldon stops at turn 2, he motions the guy to just push him back because no guaranteed time. Sheldon's tire is down so probably hard to maneuver and gets stuck. At that point the guy who is "attacked" later can be seen saying something to the official and I'm sure it's not advice. If he keeps his mouth shut or actually approaches it in a constructive manner then what happens later won't happen. Personally, I wouldn't do anything to anyone but tell the one guy keep your mouth shut and the official you are held to a higher standard. That's why in my kid's league there is a zero tolerance and zero talking to official policy. You speak to them you are gone

If you do what I said no work area then you can't be accused of favoritism . Or of doing something wrong or starting a fight . The car goes straight to the trailer the only ones that touch the car are the safety crew wrecker operator or push truck driver . Just think now much easier it would be nobody gained anything and nobody lost anything . Except maybe the fan in the stands with the show moving along faster        Glen Murra 

I brought this up on another forum the other day.  Sure it adds drama,  But some of these thirty lap features on a twelve second track are taking almost a hour.   I go for the race.  Not the drama.

Work should only be allowed on cars under red.  The whole two minute or no work time etc is just adding to the cost of teams trying to get a couple extra points.   You have a flat, Your done,  You break a shock, Your done.  Two spins,  You're done.    The whole thirty G war wagon with 40k worth of tools and parts on it etc is part of the thing that discourages any regulars or good teams that could compete from joining in.

Also would stop crap like this.   Yeah  the official was trying to help get the car to the work area.  Got his butt hurt and let it get the best of him.   No excuse for that.

Agree no more work area. When did this work area thing start anyway? I remember standing next to Karl Kinser at San Jose in the 90's and Steve got a flat and drove it to the trailer. Karl just watched the rest of the race.

I have yet to go to a race or watched a race where the work area clock was something that caused a delay in the show. There wouldn't be accusations of favoritism if fans would just know & understand simple roles or English language. 2mins to fix your car isn't a lot of time and doesn't impact your life. Plus if they are cleaning the track off and trying to get the order sorted out the problem isn't the work area at that point. 

Fights wouldn't happen if people kept their mouths closed and for guys who work on these things, put money, time, and effort in 2mins isn't a lot to ask

Justin Reimers has been pissing drivers and teams off for well over a decade. Nobody likes him because of his entitled, mouthy attitude. he's been in trouble several times for provoking arguments with drivers and crews. Only reason he's been allowed multiple chances to come back is because he's Carlton's son, end of story. He's honestly lucky he's gone this long without being punched in the mouth. No official should ever attack anyone, that's pretty obvious. But if there is a poster boy for running his mouth without fear of consequence, Justin Reimers is it. 

If it was an isolated incident where nothing has previously happen I still stand by let it go, both learned a lesson. If it is a situation where one has had prior issues and has a history or bad behavior then that does make it different. In that case they should have been let go long before the situation happened. I don't know any of the officals or 99% of the crew guys nor do I pay attention to any of the interactions they have but it does not matter who your daddy or grandaddy is you should not get multiple chances. Also at that point if multiple people are saying something about you then they all cannot be wrong, at some point you look in the mirror. Kind of reminds me of what my boss at the hockey rink said to one of the son's of a big executive for the pro team one night when he copped up an attitude, " I don't give a crap who your daddy or your paw paw is or what percentage they own, they don't own me and you don't own anything now go clean the toilets junior."

They should be out even if it is their first time. You're an official and that kind of behavior just opens up the rest of the officials that are trying to do their job. Schatz team member can point at this video and laugh at you, but he wouldn't be laughing if they acted like an adult and had Donny dq'ed for them being outside the assinged area.

Hell of a job by the other official of identifing the issue and handling the issue.

If Shatz team member files assault charges this would all be over. If he is such a dick, file the charges and get rid of him. WRG is not going to keep some punk ass around knowing a lawyers phone call may happen next time. If they do then there just flat out stupid.

Anyone who gets to races have seen the five car get a flat, go in for his two minutes, while they're waiting on him. Another car gets a flat just as the five is pushing back off and so on.   And a tire eater track.   first car gets flat, do the whole two minute thing. throw the green, next car with cords showing gets flat.  Repeat, repeat repeat.    Pull em to the infield. You're done.    What's worse is if this is in 40 degree weather and a eight minute feature turns into a hour and ten minutes,  Some cars popped two tires and burnt off a third.

i never liked the work area concept.  it bothers me more when it's some guy in the back.  do they really think they're going to drive back to the front when they were running in the back to begin with?  justin whittall was a good example at port on sunday. 

it does slow the show down.  how can it not?  that's 2 minutes they could be racing...and you add another 2 minutes each time there's a caution and somebody else wants to use the work area.  no other form of racing gives you time to fix the car other than however long the caution flag lasts.

Agree 100%.  I know work area time was not a factor here, as it was past halfway---BUT--Work area has always been a minimum.  Never a maximum, but some cannot grasp this concept.  If every driver is given the MINIMUM (not maximum) time allowed in the work area, there can be no controversy.  I know some are also annoyed with the number of guys in the work area trying to help.  Why?  They didn't get in my way.  If they all want to work in a cluster#$@k while I watch from the stands, or on TV, so be it.  Doesn't hurt me and makes for good entertainment during a red flag.  It also shows good sportsmanship between rival teams.  

As far as the official goes, I don't know the specifics, but don't have to.  Drivers and crews must respect the official.  There is far too much disrespect for authority in this country right now, whether we like it or not.  With that said, if something were said in the heat of the moment, there have to be other methods of discipline the official can pursue both in the moment, and in the days following.  The official could be facing assault charges

That was Sprint Car racing before the Outlaws came up with the concept of a work area years ago.  Get a flat, bend something in the front end, pull the busted up cars off and line them up.  The work area drags the shows out and keeps their drivers on the track so I get why they do it but it's a gimmick along the lines of nascars chase. 

Stan Meissner

Those of you with the load it up for a flat thoughts. Are you willing to give up seeing Gravel come from the work area/ back to 2nd ?

Some people complain that there's no more passion in the sport, that it's too sterile like Nascar. I'm with Nick14, it's all part of it. I can remember helping a friend at a late model track in the 70's watching his back so nobody jumped him from behind while he"had a disscussion" with another driver. Sprint car racing is intense, emotions are gonna be high, fights are gonna happen.

In PA most tracks have the 2 lap rule for flat tires meaning you have 2 caution laps to get it changed but that's only up until the half way point I think. That's reasonable but also keep in mind the car with a fresh RR has a big adavantage over the guys still out there on used tires. I think the 2 minute rule to fix anything should be done away with. Of course you should get the cars to the work area asap under caution or red so they can work on them but once the track is clear and cars are lined back up, it's go time. No waiting around. 

A

Question, and I'm not being a smartass, I'm asking because I don't know:  Is the PA 2-lap rule a minimum or maximum?  Do they have to stop working after 2 laps, or can they continue to work past the 2 minutes if the caution is still out?  That is the confusion for many with the WoO rule.  They believe once time is hit, all work must stop, and the race must go green and that's simply not the case.  

Just like Dalton from Road House said, "you're out of here, you've got the wrong temperment for the trade"

There's always barber college. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7M1IBMzfi4

It's a maximum of 2 laps but they can keep working. If the caution stays out past those 2 laps they can rejoin the field. If there's a caution or a red on the next restart, they can still rejoin the field as long as you're not more than a lap down. 

A

Sorry to be a bit of a smartass, but I'm a little baffled by people that are ok with X amount of laps but not X amount of minutes. It's the same thing except they evened the playinf field. That way someone having issues at say a Jacksonville can't (rightfully) argue they're at a disadvantage as someone with the same issue at Knoxville. I would also bet that in most cases a significant portion of the 2 minutes has passed before the field is even set and ready to restart.