Who's cheating? 3/22/05
So, imagine my delight when I got a call from one of my sources telling me that they had "proof" that some of the Top Fuel cars that would be competing at Gainesville were "cheating" and had a traction control device installed and had been using one for several years (they even gave me the name of which prominent tuner was using it but I'll get to that issue later) and that officials were looking the other way because it was an important team. I also have to cop to the fact that the accusations piqued my interest as a racer, tech-head, and writer who has written on and about that the subject more than once. So, I decided that as long as I was going to Gainesville to the drags I would do some serious investigative journalism to verify or debunk the caller's alleged "proof." The proof that my source offered up was that there was video tape of certain Top Fuel dragsters showing complete runs from the starting line to the finish line. The cars in these videos would begin to smoke the tires during a lap and then inexplicably the smoke would dry up while all the time the blades of the injector never moved from the WFO position. The fact is I heard from more that one person who viewed these tapes. Armed with that "proof," I sought out big-name crew chiefs (all of whom asked not to be named for obvious reasons) that I have known for 20 years or more and related to them the "facts" that I was given. I asked each one point blank if they believed one or more current Top Fuel teams were using traction control devices; all but two said they didn't think so. To be frank, each side made good arguments pro and con, but to a man they also told me that actually defining what an illegal "traction control device" is on a Top Fuel car is very hard to do. More than one tuner told me that the current MSD electronic timers and timing controls can advance or retard ignition timing so quickly and precisely that, if a tuner maps the timing curve just right and the timing is pulled from the engine at just the right moment in the timeline, tires that were starting to smoke could suddenly quit. Kind of sounds like that system could be considered "traction control" doesn't it? Another crew chief told me of a device (which allegedly a lot of cars had used in the past) that works off of a signal from the G-meter found on every fuel car. When the G's started going negative, as they would when the tires are spinning, a fuel control device could be triggered by a signal from the G-meter to slow down the engine. Several of the folks I talked to were positive that many of the top teams at NHRA events had the devices but, either because so many cars had the devices that they couldn't throw all of them out or because some of them had major sponsors, NHRA was turning a blind eye to the fact. But again, no one offered any real proof. Now, I'm not saying it couldn't be happening, just that there isn't any real proof. After I had talked to the crew chiefs and a couple of drivers, I talked to my old friend Joe Pando from MSD. Since that company designed and built the traction control detection device that NHRA mandated be installed on all Pro Stock cars and currently makes the only ignition system used on Top Fuel cars, I figured Joe could shed a little light on the subject. We discussed the situation for a while and then he dropped a bomb on me. He told me that the MSD ignition system used on all fuel cars has a program imbedded in it that will detect a traction control device just like the Pro Stock ignition has! He also told me that the device has been in place for some time and that NHRA can download information from the ignition system that will tell them if a traction control device has been used. He went on to tell me that as far as he knew only two cars (one funny car, one dragster) had ever tested positive for traction control and that neither of the cars were "hitters" or had won a race. Joe said the opinion was that no traction control was being used. Armed with this information I started weighing all of the "evidence" I had gathered. I thought about the huge number of tire-smoking passes I saw at Phoenix just a couple of weeks ago, I considered what I saw at the four fuel qualifying laps and eliminations at Gainesville, and I thought about what I've seen from racers such as John Force, Whit Bazemore and Tony Schumacher over the past year. I thought about the fact that the two teams that are continually being accused of using traction control are those of drivers Tony Schumacher and John Force and tuners Austin Coil and Alan Johnson. Now, let's review a few real facts. John Force spun the tires hard and lost in the first round at Pomona and then apparently softened his tune-up in eliminations at Gainesville to get down the track, costing him lane choice and perhaps the race. Tony Schumacher's tuner, Alan Johnson, looked pretty inept for three qualifying attempts at Gainesville, getting into the field on the last lap, and then proceeding to spin the tires in the second round. Hardly the performance you would expect from cars or teams equipped with traction control devices. And let's consider another fact. When everyone was just sure that NHRA Pro Stock hitters were using traction control, MSD, NHRA and the racers were forced to spend a lot of time and money to come up with a program to catch and prevent racers from using traction control devices. And how many racers have been caught with traction control devices in Pro Stock? The answer is none. The same racers who were dominant before still are now. I'm fairly sure that same scenario will apply in Top Fuel when all is said and done. I'm not naive enough to think that no Top Fuel racers, including the famous ones, have never had or used traction control devices in the past. Racers will use anything to win. But there is absolutely no proof of any kind that I can find that anyone currently is using an illegal traction control device in drag racing's professional classes. If someone can absolutely prove it, I'll be the first to publicize it. But until there is proof positive, I'm tired of the character assassination of drag racing's best and brightest. I'm tired of every pro racer who goes on a winning streak being accused of cheating by their peers and pinheads with pen names writing in chat rooms. If there is cheating going on, what do those being beaten by the cheaters have to lose if they go public? I believe this: when stars such as John Force, Tony Schumacher,
Greg Anderson, and others are accused of cheating, the real loser
isn't the racer, it is the sport. |
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I
have to admit that I'm addicted to the History Channel series that
deals with conspiracies. It's not that I believe that there was
a gunman on the grassy knoll when President Kennedy was assassinated
or that astronauts really didn't land on the moon and the whole
deal was staged on a movie set on the Warner Brothers back lot,
but I do find the speculation and collecting of circumstantial evidence
entertaining. My interest in all of the conspiracy theories is recreational
not fundamental. 
