TRACTION CONTROL?
Ya know Jeff, I am starting to look forward to your columns.
Anyway, I like your subject matter and the way you address
it. Great Job! Just finished your article on traction control
and thought that it was great. I will tell you a little
experience that I had in 1992 at Atlanta or maybe it was
Gainesville.
I was doing the bottom end for Strasser and Hartman FC
and Ray Strasser and I were standing on the starting line
watching the guys run in front of us. John Force pulls up
to do his burnout but is stopped for whatever reason and
his back wheels are directly over the water trough that
runs across the starting line burnout area. At this time
period, Force's car was equipped with small wheels under
the chassis for safety in case of tire failure. When he
stopped over the trough, the small wheels were in contact
with the ground and the rear tires were held off the ground.
Now all of this is happening three feet in front of me.
When John started to move forward, the rear tires spun for
an instant then locked solid. The car would not move. Finally
he shut it off and the crew had to get a wrench and relieve
fluid pressure off the brake calipers to get the car to
roll forward. I believe at this time they had two sets of
calipers on the rear disc. Now I can't swear this is traction
control but it did look like it. I believe it was at Phoenix
in '93 that he dropped his pants to show he was hiding no
traction control.
I do remember seeing Bernstein's FC make runs at the IHRA
races with the butterflies never moving but the tires dry
up quickly from hard smoke. Lots of video of this happening.
Maybe he was just good with a brake handle?
I think anything that someone can come up with in the realm
of computers, someone else can overcome. That is drag racing.
I look forward to your next article.
Dave Benjamin
617FC
MAYBE NOT?
"The same racers who were dominant before still are
now." -- not true.
Team Jegs was a killer before the MSD/tech rules.....an
incredible number of shake-free runs......shortly after,
they were mid pack at best.
But the real bottom line is, NHRA should be working with
MSD to perfect a traction control system...not outlaw it.
How many tire smoker passes did you see at Phoenix? They
could tune the limits on electronic traction control till
you have full pass percentage in the 90% range.
Rich Pauza
WE'RE CHECKING, DOUG
On your article on Smith buying NHRA: Who really owns the
NHRA? I have been a member for 25+ years but have never
known who owns it. Could you tell me? Thank you.
Doug Thomas
WHERE IS THE TARGET MARKET?
Hi Jeff,
Thanks to the miracles of the info superhighway I stumbled
across your article of 03/04 titled "Drag Racing Television
and You."
I have been praising and pounding and praising on NHRA,
ESPN/2 and POWERade (Coke) for a few years now... (you recall
the sandwich method of criticism). I wanted to write to
you to say how your article could have been written this
March as well.
One question I have been unable to get the answer to from
any of the three above organizations is: Why are there no
(zero, zip nada) NHRA POWERade ESPN2 drag racing commercials
on the tube when the most race fans are watching? (During
any/every NASCAR race, pre-race, post-race, winner circle,
NASCAR Today, Inside NASCAR, NASCAR Now telecast.)
Don't you think the best place to pick up new viewers is
from the place where the most motorsports fans are? It has
seemed simple to me for a long time. Perhaps there is an
unspoken rule against such a move...?
Don Finley
Choctaw, OK
