its not just the force haters , topics like this happen all the time on here , its just entertaintment for me to read what bs gets posted on here . like i said half the people on here who post **** make it entertaining . thinking he just laid down for her is a joke , i hang out with some pretty credible racers etc etc . ive know sportsman racers who were down to last race of the yr and in it for the world (championship) and when it comes time to race friends they arent going to be given anything AND THATS THE WAY REAL RACERS WANT IT . like reinhart and others who race have said many times b4 ( sorry we didnt hook up , nitroplate party at bristol be there , i know u will) RACERS RACE , thats what they do!!!!

The coverage on ESPN's Sportscenter wasn't kind. They suggested a dive...and then giggled. They even joked around with a "sunday, sunday" reference. Nothing looks worse than a scripted drag race. I witnessed a rigged race while announcing a few years ago. The promoter was in the booth with me when I realized what was about to happen. I called him on it (off air), introduced him as the announcer for the final, gave him my mic, and walked away. There's no glory in that kind of racing.

And yes Terry, it looked a lot like Tony P when he was on the team. The person I feel for is Ashley. It would have been nice if her first win was a clean one. She'll always wonder in the back of her mind what really happened. John will always know...

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Mopar to ya'!
Johnny Mopar

Uhhhhh......what about her 4.83 w/lane choice?

To make it look better there were many different ways to throw the race.

Other than a .170RT & instant tire smoke........

IMO if it was scripted then 6 (count 'em, 6) other opponents, not to mention qualifying order (so that they met in the final) would have to be scripted also.

So that would stand to reason it would take every F/C team out there, PLUS the NHRA.......to pull this one off.

Well john you have added a new wrinkle to this debate. Something i never thought about. Ashley doesn't know whether her dad threw the race????Hmmm....

Didn't Ashley run quick enough to win regardless?

If..IF John wanted to throw that race, there are two things that come to mind..

1. Why wouldn't his team just cut the blower belt and he'd lose the belt, it sure would look better, or run a very soft set up? There are many ways they could have set his car up to lose & look better than what really happened!

2. If it was team orders, why would they have Ashley's car set on KILL risking her losing it also smoking the tires, or worse.. they would have set her up to run 4.95 and be safe...

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"When I die, I want to die like my grandfather, who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming in panic like the passengers in his car."

Once again.......all LOGICAL questions and statements, not driven by emotion or bias.

Indisputable to a discerning mind, yet somehow very difficult for a conspiracist mentality to comprehend.

Oh, wellllllllll..........

REX

All good points Rex. I have not accused John of diving, but it certainly looks like he did, and that's the way it was reported. That's the shame in all of this. It's very unusual for John to strike the tires like that, and after a horrible light. Both of those facts suggest a dive.

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Mopar to ya'!
Johnny Mopar

Why does this suggest a dive when in every other race where this occurs nobody says anything??????? There were examples of this happening all the time and yet it seems to be important to some to jump up and shout. "it's a dive" all the while feeling really proud that they are discounting the fact that just maybe she won it on her own without help from her father or his team.

The reason it looks like a dive is because that is the way you want to see it. Man up and accept that fact because that is the way it is....

John has been going into tire smoke all year.

His left leg is very weak, don't forget it has only been 7 months since very serious leg injuries.

and this was the first time this year he actually went that many rounds.

So those actual facts suggest a tired leg and a overheated clutch.

People conveniently forget that this is NOT the John of old, going on 60 years of age with injuries that would still have younger lesser men walking with a cane.

Competing at the highest level of motorsports.

I rest my case.

REX

I am not saying it was a dive but her car was not "set on kill" in the final. Ashley ran a 4.83 in the final. John was running those all day long, a 4.82 and a couple 4.84's in certainly worse track conditions earlier in the day than in the final round. If you set a car on kill, won't it overpower the track and smoke the tires?

In a word, no. Why would it?

Since the .83 was only a hundreth off of low ET of elims, I would say the car was set up very aggressive.

Guido was there to win or go home a loser.

Simple.

REX

So, which is it? In one post you say her win isn't "clean" and in the next you say you're not accusing John of diving.

If it's not clean, it must be a dive. Do you personally think it was or wasn't a dive?

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http://tinyurl.com/5uz3lt

WHO CARES?!!! Everyone in their right mind cares. Who wants to watch a fixed race? If I wanted that I would watch a stick and ball sport.

I don't know what to believe about that race. But I'm sure John wanted a race-to-the-finish line dual and not go into smoke 100' off the line. I think that's what he is mad about. But Ashley did have a good, consistent car.

Just too bad that John's 1000th win had to come at his 500th race, in the final round, against his daughter, with her possible first win. You couldn't have scripted it any better. What are the odds that all those factors would have come together at on place on the same day?

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NITRO! Some is good, more is better and too much is just enough.

John

I agree 100%, the only way most of these people would give her and her team credit is if she would have won on a hole shot against someone on another big team. And even then some wouldn't.