Drag racing rules

Since racing for the year is done ..Not much to talk about

How would you feel about this

You are racing a basic small NHRA track and its for the smaller version of a gold man.

Not a huge amount of cars, something like 60 or something like that

and its index bracket racing 1/8 mile

the mark is set for 6.50

You take a couple time trials , adjust your throttle , car works well, driver does his part . things go well ..


You find yourself in the Semi finals

Your opponent goes red at the hit, you think well .. lets run it out an see how close I am to 6.50 now

car goes 6.49 with a 9 ..and you get slip, says win , you think

well, this might be fun

on the loudspeaker you are called to tower and told you went past index and are out, opponent is back in ..



How does the court of Moparts rule on that one ?

It's always been first or worst ...red light was first, and worst in my opinion!

he went red,but you did breakout,other driver must of went up there and cried,different tracks have different rules,when he went red your win light came on,on the slip it said your won

Never assume you have won until you see the slip. Run the race as if your opponent was right next to you. It's like in an old western movie shootout, when the guy who has been laying there, presumed shot dead, lifts his gun for one more shot.

Sounds to me that the guy that lost cried and must be a track favorite, so they gave in. In a bracket race if you go red you lose even if the other guy brakes out. Index racing could be different, but its the same concept, other than you have to adjust the car instead of changing the dial.

A lot of tracks are switching to that now. Its worst not first. Norwalk has been doing it for over a year now.

The rule at every track I’ve ever run at, is the first to redlight is out and the win light goes on immediately for the opponent. Unless there is a dispute, in which case - I’ve seen the pair being allowed to run again based on the race director’s discretion. Sounds like a bunch of rookies running the show at the event.

Anywhere I've ever been a red light by my opponent has always been a free pass to run it all out.

I wonder if you had a bye and ran under the index if they would DQ you. Sounds like some home cooking to me.

When your opponent red lighted you won the race. I have done exactly like you and run it out, and broke out. NEVER have the track officials tried to say I lost.

If there was no track event handout about that rule, i cry foul. Simply on the basis of past practice at bracket events. Was it worst package, like .01 red + .01 under equals a negative .02 package? Doubtful here, since you only went .001 under. At any case, i say foul.

If they were going to stray from what the traditional well established practices have been for years, it should have made clear to the drivers before eliminations started.

First I have ever heard of this. Red light always loses unless opponent has a worse infraction such as crossing the centerline. I have personally broke out but won races when my opponent had a red light. I have also won on race when I had a red light but my opponent crossed the centerline.

From the NHRA Rulebook "Basics of Drag Racing"

"Another form of disqualification is a foul start, or “red-light.”
This happens when the driver reacts to the Tree too quickly and
drives away from the starting line before the green go signal.
Should dual infractions occur — a red-light and a breakout,
for example — the driver who red-lights would be classified as
committing the worse infraction and lose."

I think the is spelled out in more detail in other places in the rule book but this was the first thing I found.

I think you got a raw deal.

First / worst. Per NHRA.
Unless now it's like kids' "sports", a trophy for everyone...

With true-start option that many tracks now use - as far as redlights go - its the worst red that gets the looser slip - this makes the advantage equal from a bracket standpoint - meaning the faster car no longer has the advantage of letting the slower car make the first mistake.

You got screwed, period. NHRA track? They run NHRA rules? It's in the rule book, Section 2, page 7, breakout rules. I would want to see it in writing if it's some kind of track rule. But it has always been, when one car redlights, the race is over at that point. That's about as basic as it gets. The only exception is if you would have crossed a boundary line.

The only other thing that's recent is the Trustart or whatever they call it where the driver with the worst red - in the event both drivers are early - is the loser, regardless who has the handicap. But even with that, the race is over when someone's red light comes on.

Even the safety rules - bars vs cages, license, certs, etc - don't apply until you go 6.39, so they couldn't use that for a reason.

What Norwalk( thankfully) went to, along with lots of other tracks, has nothing to do with what the OP had happen.
In his case he broke out after the opponent red lit.
Never seen losing for doing that anywhere.

Love trustart.
Its nice to take the wallet out of racing to some degree.
Wallet has been more destructive to this sport than anything

You got hosed, unless you hit a barrier or cone along the way The red light takes precedent over all but those situations. Red lights area free time shot for you. Only way you can not get the win is hit a cone, cross the center line, or hit a barrier PERIOD. ESPECIALLY at an NHRA sanctioned track

Truestart has ZERO to do with this situation. It is only in play when both go red and the worst red gets the loss. Takes the advantage of being the faster car automatically winning if the slower cars goes red. Great addition to the sport IMO, much more level playing field. After all rule is first or worst. Slower car goes .005- red so he is first, faster car goes .010- red, he has the WORST of the two lights and should be the one who is done. The only instance where the first or worst rule doesn't mean squat is red lights with NO trustart

Big Al .. the kone killa !!

The OP got cornholed.

6.50 index.
let's say racer A red lights.
racer B sees this, and decides to run all out.
racer B goes 5.90.
is that the same as racer B running 6.499?
at what point does breaking out, after your opponent red lights, become the worse infraction?

Never. Any sane race director will give you a warning if you go faster than you are supposed to with your cert, equipment, etc.. Especially in the semis of a money race. He got bent over. Did the person who redlighted get put back in? Who's kid or buddy was it?

first or worst ...red light was first

I agree, the race was decided before the "slow" car left the line.
Otherwise, it's just 2 cars running parallel.

Soooo, if you both went red or broke out would both of you have been tossed?

Nope. Not unless both cars cross a boundary line. First car to red light or if on Trustart, the worst red light is the loser. The rece is over when either car redlights. Both cars go green and breakout, the one farthest under is the loser, regardless who gets there first.

Yep 100% your win, FULL STOP.

Is crossing the line (after the other car RL) a safety violation even with no wall contact? He didn't hit anything, or interfere with the other car.

but what if the track had its own rules per the governing board and it was printed in there “rules section” on their web site?


Pro ET (P)
1. 6.60 to 8.90 seconds
2. Electronics: Prohibited
3. Computers: Prohibited (Unless Stock OEM Equipment)
4. Data Recorders: Prohibited
5. Delay Boxes: Prohibited
6. Transbrake: Permitted
7. Line Lock: Normal 2 Wheel Line Lock Permitted (4 Wheel Line Lock Prohibited)
8. Automated Shifter: Permitted
9. Throttle Control: Throttle must be manually operated by the Drivers and Electronic, Pneumatic, Hydraulics, or any other device may in no way affect the throttle operation. A Dead Stop under the carburetor or gas pedal is Permitted. Throttle timers and counters are Prohibited.
10. Ignition: Stutter Boxes Prohibited, Starting Line or "High Side" Rev Limiters Permitted
11. Switches and Buttons: All Switches and/or Buttons must be std mechanical connection type.

Can’t believe this actually happened. Most tracks run true-start these days, I’ve benefitted from it once so far, winning on a double red-light. But giving someone who redlit the win over a free-pass breakout?!?!?! No way. If it actually happened, OP got hosed. If it were me, I’d have laughed at the official at first, told him the get a clue, and completely lost my cool if he persisted. Probably never go back.

Here’s a question: anyone ever see a double centerline cross? First to cross is out???? What if one car tags the wall, then the other crosses the centerline?

Cross the centerline or hit anything, you're out. Both cross, both out. Red lights don't matter at that point.

Big Dad you got hosed, light that mans house on fire Halloween night
JUST KIDDING about his house
I do hate being cheated by race officials or any on else

Pro ET (P)
1. 6.60 to 8.90 seconds

are we blind? Track put a cutoff on pro class.... with a period!

Is it vague and presumed to be a gray area? Apparently. Should it state in bold print the consequences of breaking this rule? Probably

Is there a chance I would have shown up and totally blind to this even being possible?? Very likely! I would have been super pro duck served up 1st round.

I’d actually hoped to make a stop at this track on my dakota tour last year and had this pointed out to me. Asked them and they were very clear that if you run faster than 6.60, you must run super pro. No ifs, ands, butts. Different rule, but that’s how they want it.

It really gets you when the management is the problem. A few years ago my opponent messed up on the line and I won the pass, they said we had to rerun so I went and talked to the manager and convinced him I rightly won, he agreed. My opponent then took his turn and convinced him we should rerun. I didn't even know it until they called us back up after that round for the rerun. I was seriously ticked. However as unusual for me as it was I kept my cool and went back up and reran him and beat him the second time. Before the night was over I did let the manager know that he was totally wrong and that I didn't appreciate it. Didn't do anything but make me feel better.

When I raced last weekend it was my first race in 2 years. Lucky they had a drivers meeting before the race for all cars running in NSS. They said you all know what True Start is as we use that ? I said what the heck is that and then they told us. Worst redlite looses if both go red and faster driver does not see if slower car goes red. I was like ?????????? never heard of that but what the heck. Ron

With True Start locally, first car to leave gets a green light. It only goes red if that first car's red is worse than the second car.

Watched a mid 12 second car race a 8 second dragster and the first car was well down the track before his red came on.

I don't think it belongs in NSS, but it does even up the chances for someone with a slower car.

I don't know if it's a safety violation, but it's an automatic DQ. I've seen Pro races on TV where they had to go back to the replay because the exhaust has blown over the cones, but tires were running the stripe, so no DQ.

Redlight is the loser.

We have some local track favorites that let's just say get special attention also. Example: This so called track favorite individual had to work & showed up late & missed qualifying. He shows up while going into eliminations. 16 cars have raced to be in the field. He gets to line up as a 17th car and gets a bye run. Next round, still uneven number of cars, he gets another bye run and again all the way up to the finals & guess what he wins the race in the finals!!!! A lot of unhappy people that day.

I haven't raced in the past 2 years so I was unaware of the TruStart implementation. It really warms my heart because I had an extended correspondence with NHRA on this subject in the 90's. I even went as far as having a simulation developed that showed over 1,000,000 runs that the impact was to the slower car. NHRA would not acknowledge our simulation results and their basis for keeping the first redlight rule was that they were not seeing the same result in actual National and Divisional test results. Glad somebody finally got smart!!!!

The NHRA didn't get smart, just some local tracks and/or divisions(?). Don't hold your breath waiting for the NHRA to do the right thing.

Norwalk is the only track I race at that uses tru-start.

Tru-start has nothing to do with running quicker than your predicted time after an opponent loses by redlighting, and then being declared a loser. That's some BS rule that some track official made up and goes against all normal procedures that have been in place at every drag race. It's BS. I would have told them so, and not gone back. How could you dial 6.60 if 6.599 gets you thrown out regardless?

NHRA doesn't run Tru-start because they don't run Tru-start. Simple as that. Bi#ch about NHRA all you like, this kind of stupid stuff doesn't happen at their events. They are typically consistent in the way they run their shows, regardless where you go. Typically.

Kyle Seipel and Peter Biondo started the "True Start" program and are using True Start at the big $$$$$ bracket races they run. Other tracks like Norwalk are starting to use it.

The racer that got screwed by running too quick after opponent red lighted should have parked his car on the starting line and waited till they could provide a written rule showing breaking out vs opponent red light is a loser.

EXACTLY...you got hosed.

Seen stuff like this happen lots of times at Podunk drag strips.....