First one..... When the class has been called to go to the staging lanes, and the cars have been counted and determined if there will be a bye run, and the bye contestant has been picked, is it still proper to allow a "late" car to show up and nullify the bye? How long does the staging crew have to wait??
Second.....when you are at the front of the lanes, and the stage guy directs you and the other car to enter the burnout box and the other guy hasn't even put on his jacket , helmet and belts, shouldn't he get DQ'd for delaying the process? The reason I ask is because I was directed into the burnout box, told to do my burnout, then I had to wait up near the line for a good minute getting overheated while I had to wait for the other clown.
Just asking.....seems to me that some guys just don't have very good race manners...

#1 shouldn't happen because the bye should be predetermined long before you are called to staging. If the guy shows up just in time to run with the bye ( last car ), he is too late and should be DQ'd.
#2 Every track is different on the time allowed to stage after you have been waved forward. If I had to wait a minute, I would back out and back in to the water box, forcing the starter to start the process over. This would include you turning on the pre-stage light. You should not be turning on the stage light until your apponent has turned on his pre-stage light. Then I believe he has 7 seconds to get in.

I normally won't start my car to pull out of the staging lanes until the other car is ready also. If he can't or won't start after I'm moving up to the burn out box I will shut my car off in the water and wait until he is doing his burn out or instructed to restart and do my burnout As far as the car count the track should know how many cars are enter in each class, if a racer breaks or decides to not race then the staging crew will have to deal with that If I'm upset or have a suggestion on how to help the track run the races smoother or better and if I have a complaint about the way the races are being conducted I will tell the track manager in the most respectful way I can, which sometimes is really hard to not let my emotions kick in Remember the old adage about being able to catch more flies with honey than vinegar People won't, don't learn how to fix things if someone doesn't let them know it needs fixing Good luck, let us know how that turns out

At some of the smaller Tracks there are no Rules,but at the Big $$$ Bracket Races.When you are called to Staging soon after they will announce how many mins it will be to they close the staging lanes.If you are not there you do not get to run.They let the Drivers know when to start getting ready and if you are not suited up and ready unless your car will not crank you are out!Most times you get 3 mins to get your car started and up to the line,if you fail to do so you are out.They used to let cars go to the back of the line if they had cranking problems,but like with everything else people took advantage of that so they no longer allow that any more.
If for any reason you leave your car and the line needs to move up you out!When you have close to or a little more than 300 race-cars and have 1st round buy backs,there is no wasting time allowed!

PS I guess after all I do like some Rules,because thats the way a Race from start to finish should be run,matters not if its 300 or 30 race-cars.

I do understand that sometimes a racer may need a few seconds to maybe a minute to get ready if for some reason he or she is not in their car. I see alot of racers and even me sometimes get out of their cars to wait when their staging lane is cut off and its a ton of cars in the other lanes. But I always try to watch and when they start on the lane next to mine where I know my lane will be next I get ready and get in the car. Many times I will wait until the last minute to put my helmet on when its really hot out. But I always try to make sure I will be ready within a few seconds to 30 seconds. Then when I pull in the water to do my burnout I dont start my burnout until I see the other car pull into the water also. And of course after the burnout I pull right up and prestage and then wait for the other racer to prestage if they are not yet. As was stated I dont go in and stage until the other driver is prestaged as thats the way I was taught and they call it courtesy staging. If the wait gets too long like yours was I agree with what others said as I would back out and back up to the burnout box again and hope the track starter will signal me whats going on. I dont have a problem waiting a bit if a racer has a problem as I figure it could happen to me one day.

I will never forget when we were bracket racing my buddies Cuda one night and in the third round when we rolled into the burnout box the other racer was under his car working on it. The starter said we could let the rest of the racers race to give the guy time or we could just go up and stage and he will be DQ'd. It was my buddies Cuda and he decided to wait and give the guy a chance to fix his car. Turns out he was fooling with the shifter and he was ready when the rest of the racers were done. I was hoping he would not loose after waiting for him and he did not as he ran an 11.50 on an 11.50 dail as the other guy missed a gear and we won the round and ended up winning the race when he ran 11.49 in the final as the other guy redlited. It paid off to be very kind that night. Ron

Another solution to #1 ( which the group I race with does ), is to randomly pair everyone off for all rounds. You can't make it to pair off with your opponent, your out. This also eliminates "fish hunting" in the staging lanes.

Just to clarify problem #2......There were 3 staging lanes. The staging crew have a predetermined order as to what lanes are paired to run off. I was under the impression that if you are at or near the front of any lane, you had better have your gear on and ready to advance.
Personally, I try to make sure I'm suited up and strapped in to go when I'm no closer than about 4 cars to the front.
Maybe I'm being a little pissy, but some guy's will do anything to throw others off their game. As it turned out, this fellow drilled me with a .006 light and I had to stick my foot thru the rad to catch and nip him at the stripe....a tad too fast with a breakout....MOV was .002 !!!

In Grudge Racing anything goes in Bracket Racing if someone wants to act like an idiot and can get back and get loaded up and gone before I get back.Its all fine and well by me if he/she goes into work Monday morning bragging about it.....but if they fail to be able to get loaded up and gone before I get back...when they are able to go back to work they will not need to tell anyone anything they will be able to see what happened.
While that may sound like a joke its not,I have a lot of $$$ in my car and I'm in good shape and if Fighting is what it takes I have no problem with it.

NHRA rule is that you have until the first car of the next class is pulled up.

Used that up a couple times..

Won the round too..



Chris..

I don't race enough to give any advice or comment on these situations, but I will say that I have learned that it pays to just be calm as these things transpire; and they WILL transpire.

One time I pulled into the waterbox and went through my routine at the same time the other guy did. we pulled to the stage beams at about the same time. but when I went to pre-stage, he backed away. I sat there for a good 30 seconds or so and watched as he and the starter began a conversation. I backed out of the pre-stage beam and started watchning my temp guage rise. I got all bent out of shape let myself get frustrated. Luckily I ended up winning the round, but afterward when I went to ask the guy "what that was all about?" He proceeded to tell me that my dial time was entered wrong on the board and he was getting them to fix it for me. Boy did I feel an inch tall. Here I was getting angry, and the guy was actually trying to help me with something I should have noticed but didn't!
Bottom line, a calm approach will usually pay off.

I have had this done to me a couple of times. Made it to the front line to go out onto the track and all of a sudden there was anouther car in the other lane. Asked the head of the stageing line and he said that I only had a byrun on a single only if there was no one left to race and the guy that I had to race, won the round before and I had to race him.The other time I was like you doing the burnout and anouther car showed up.Beat him by playing a stageing game. He got caught by a fast tree. I kind of knew the tree would activate fast.Watched the races before and noticed when it took a long time for the cars to stage it would be a quick lite. All you can do is not get off your game. All tracks are differant in rules.
As for a racer taking his time to get ready thats just not right. The tracks I race you have to be ready and at the front of the stageing ready to race or they send the next guy and you are DQ.

For bye runs, it depends on the race and class. In King Street the races are laddered so you know who you will be racing or if you have a bye. In most of the trophy classes, it is just whoever shows up to pair against, but if there is an odd number most of the time they will choose who had the best reaction time or closest to their dial-in from the previous round. The track crew usually won't allow the last guy who shows up to get the bye run, just to prevent the game of everyone showing up late to the staging lanes.
The track crew won't let you advance to the burnout box if your car is not running and you are not ready to race (belts, helmet, ect.)
If the other car dies and won't start after the burnout they may hold you to see if the car can be started. You are normally allowed to backup and do your burnout again if you have been waiting. Just let the track crew know.