27 replies to this topic

[bomber315]

a few things from mercer this past week, maybe someone can explain them to me:

 

#1 friday night: in the OSW we were told that the top 5 from each heat transferred to the feature, the rest go to the B.  Top 5 from the B go to the A.  Then how can a car finish 6th in the 2nd heat, 6th in the B Main, but yet still make the show??

 

#2 Saturday night: when was the decision made to cut the number of laps in the features??!?! as many times as bucky announces the "drivers meeting in a hour and a half" "pill draw ends in sucha sucha minutes" you would have thought he would have announced this! maybe i missed the announcement, but if that is the case so did EVERYONE else i talked to. 

 

#3 what happened on that restart after Denochick took his ride?  it seems like someone forgot the go pedal was on the right and shit got stacked up real fast towards the middle.  any drivers see it better?

Edited by bomber315, 28 September 2015 - 12:19 PM.

[Hot Dog]

a few things from mercer this past week, maybe someone can explain them to me:
 
#1 friday night: in the OSW we were told that the top 5 from each heat transferred to the feature, the rest go to the B.  Top 5 from the B go to the A.  Then how can a car finish 6th in the 2nd feature, 6th in the B Main, but yet still make the show??
 
#2 Saturday night: when was the decision made to cut the number of laps in the features??!?! as many times as bucky announces the "drivers meeting in a hour and a half" "pill draw ends in sucha sucha minutes" you would have thought he would have announced this! maybe i missed the announcement, but if that is the case so did EVERYONE else i talked to. 
 
#3 what happened on that restart after Denochick took his ride?  it seems like someone forgot the go pedal was on the right and shit got stacked up real fast towards the middle.  any drivers see it better?

1. It'd be easier if you said who you're talking about because I'm not sure who you mean. My guess would be an alternate due to a car not starting.
2. No clue
3. It's the leaders race to start, the guys behind him couldn't keep their dick in their pants.

Edited by Hot Dog, 28 September 2015 - 11:01 AM.

[bomber315]

1. it makes no difference who it was.  The fact of the matter is, there were 21 cars on the pit board and it didnt appear that the 21st car was listed as an alternate.  I was trying to analyze the mylaps website but my results were inconclusive.  I am told that 21 cars took the green flag.

 

3. isnt there a rule about the leader having to start between the cones? why would they make a rule that says the leader has to start before a certain place?

Edit: im not necessarily saying it was the leaders fault.  i couldn't see incredibly well from where i was. and thats why i asked the question in the first place

Edited by bomber315, 28 September 2015 - 01:09 PM.

[Hot Dog]

1. it makes no difference who it was.  The fact of the matter is, there were 21 cars on the pit board and it didnt appear that the 21st car was listed as an alternate.  I was trying to analyze the mylaps website but my results were inconclusive.  I am told that 21 cars took the green flag.
 
3. isnt there a rule about the leader having to start between the cones? why would they make a rule that says the leader has to start before a certain place?
Edit: im not necessarily saying it was the leaders fault.  i couldn't see incredibly well from where i was. and thats why i asked the question in the first place

I don't think the 6 car started Friday night. And it depends on the track but at most the leader doesn't have to start until the cone on the front stretch. The guys behind him started going early and stacked up

[bill49]

The lineup for the restart was not done correctly cars in the back were moved to the front and vice versa.I dont know what the communication problem was but the race should not have been restarted  until the line up was correct.As far as what position on the track do you start the race in a single file lineup, I cant find it anywhere in the rules that says the flagstand is the spot.We got smashed up in that mess along with a few others so of course it was frustrating.Overall it was a good weekend and the track did a good job of keeping things moving and keeping the cars teched

[Hot Dog]

As far as what position on the track do you start the race in a single file lineup, I cant find it anywhere in the rules that says the flagstand is the spot.

Go to mercerracewaypark.com, under driver info there's a link for 2015 rules of conduct. Open that and under section 21, labeled restarts, it says
"it is the leaders responsibility to restart the event at the designated point. All restarts for the sprint cars will be single file at the cone on the front stretch. Drivers must stay in single file order, strictly nose to tail and may not pass until they pass the cone".
So there it is, it's on the guys who couldn't keep it in their pants and fired before the leader.

Edited by Hot Dog, 28 September 2015 - 04:39 PM.

[MeXican_BOB]

Who is this bucky fellow? any why was my driver told he had to wear a helmet  when he was just seeing if the steering was okey from a wreck in the heat. all he did was coast around the pits!

[Hot Dog]

Who is this bucky fellow? any why was my driver told he had to wear a helmet  when he was just seeing if the steering was okey from a wreck in the heat. all he did was coast around the pits!

Most tracks have that rule, it's an insurance issue.

[bill49]

Its no passing before the cone not start the race at the cone.

[Hot Dog]

Alright the rule is clearly wrong and they let it go to screw everyone that ran the guy in front of them over because they went earlier than the leader opted to. You can fire anywhere from turn 4 to the cone. It's been the same since the mid 90s when they moved the cone from the backstretch to the front. The rule says it all, it's the leaders responsibility to start the race and you can't pass them until the cone. Logic would say he doesn't have to fire until the cone.

Edited by Hot Dog, 28 September 2015 - 05:39 PM.

[3799]

The leader can start anywhere between the cone in turn four and the one on the front stretch. Virtually every driver starts coming out off turn 4. Andy Priest chose a tactic Kenny Jacobs used often and lugged them way down. You can argue it wasn't a fair start because most guys were not ready for what he did, but it was within the rules.

[Cool1]

I was in the pits Saturday, and heard the announcement "if you are in a car, and it is moving for any reason, you must have a helmet on, no excuses". This has been a safety rule for years.

[bill49]

Thats your opinion, my opinion is the rule is not clear lets leave it at that.Andy is an excellent driver no disrespect towards him.Point is the other drivers dont understand the rule and it caused a problem.The bigger problem was the lineup for the restart cars were not positioned properly in the line up

[Dir Track Fan]

I was at the OSW race Saturday and sitting in turn 4.  What I saw was the problem being Matus in the 22.  Coming thru turn 4 he was beside the 41 car trying to get a rolling start on him.  If I was the leader I would have waited for him to fall back as well.  When Matus speeded up the 3rd , 4th, etc. cars stayed in line behind him.  When he slowed to fall back into single file everyone stacked up behind him.  I don't understand what everyone was watching but the leader never changed his pace he just waited for the 2nd place challenger to fall back in line.  Not sure of the exact rule for where to start but if the 2nd place car would have stayed in line I don't feel any of it would have happened.   Final thought............could the flagman have waved the yellow and warned Matus to stay in line ???  That would have avoided everything.  All in all in was a big two days of racing.

[jo73]

I don't no what the car count was Saturday night, but, Friday Mike mentioned 200. If they had the same numbers each night it is understandable that some inconsistent positioning occurred. Yes I no it's not fair to the guys that got misplaced. It's unfortunate but it happens.

As for Andy's starting techniques. He's the guy leading the show, it probably wasn't appreciated by a lot of guys but it's been done for years.

[bomber315]

after watching my video several times this is what i see. Priest leads the field very slowly (as stated in the official press) release thru turn 4 and then takes off.  This is a legal tactic.  The first 5 cars appear to all go at the same time and get away from the mess that is caused when the 6th car fails to go full throttle.  Im guessing there was some type of mechanical trouble.  Of course my video is hard to see with the glare of the lights and dust but here it is:

 

It is the race leader’s responsibility to restart the event at the designated point. All restarts for the Sprint Cars will be singlefile at the cone on the front stretch. Drivers must stay in single file order, strictly nose to tail and may not pass until they pass the cone. Any cars(s) that hit the

cone or drives under the cone will be penalized two positions.....The leader may start the event at any time between the two cones in turnfour. If the leader has not accelerated once the front row reaches the second cone, the greenflag will be displayed at the discretion of the flagman.

 

the complaint i heard was that priest was past the cone and that once he passes the cone it is "game on".  i know for a fact that i heard that the leader is to "fire" any time BETWEEN the cones.  Where exactly the leader went WOT is really not even the cause of the broken parts from what i see.  

 

im not trying to point fingers here, my original post was simply asking a question.  As you can see i didnt have the best vantage point.  All i know for sure is several cars came off the track fuming pissed off.

[bigracer25k]

I am so glad that I will not go to Mercer again. That was the most unorganized place that I have been to. The show's whent on forever. The only thing good about that place is seeing it in the rearview mirror.

[Cool1]

How will we survive?

[BaconBits]

Clearly your spelling ability is constantly inconsistent.

Edited by BaconBits, 28 September 2015 - 10:28 PM.

[bomber315]

Yeah I have been waiting on someone to point that out. unfortunately I don't think it's possible to edit thread titles so I guess we are all just going to have to deal with it. Just like racing drama. Btw what I meant to say was consistently.

Edited by bomber315, 28 September 2015 - 10:58 PM.