Jim Hughes Disqualified!?!?

#1 06-01-2008, 02:32 PM

Seems Jim Hughes was DQ'd from Super Gas after winning two rounds and from Super Comp before 1st round for a situation that was caused by NHRA.

The following is from another racer who was on-hand to relate exactly what happened:

Quote:

To all concerned:

I am parked next to Hughes and here is what happened.

Jim and several other racers were in line for 1 1/2 hours to get their credentials and they ran out of tickets. His waiver for both cars was signed in front of NHRA tech officials. Everyone that was in line was told to come back tomorrow morning to turn in the waivers and collect a ticket. Everyone that was in line had his/her car number written down and turned into the NHRA credential trailer. Yes, there was a list and both car numbers were on it. Friday morning Jim went to the credential trailer and still there was no tickets available (not until after 2nd time run). For whatever reason he forgot about his waiver form and found it as he was cleaning the trailer and imediatley took it to the credential trailer and made them aware of his oversight. This is when a certain employee of NHRA showed their lack of respect for a customer and total disregard for gathering and providing the facts surrounding what took place. After being humilitated by the nice lady in the NHRA credential trailer and had the window slammed in his face a few times he was told to go back to his trailer and he would have to "take it up with Graham". Without knowing all the facts, Graham DQD Jim from not only Super Gas ( he won 2 rounds) but Super Comp as well even before first round. However; Graham was not made aware of the fact that there were several racers that ran time trials without turning in their waivers. Whoops! Yes, that same nice lady(LOL)forgot to mention to Graham all the facts and Jim was the scapegoat. Jim is not shifting any blame to anyone for his failure to turn in his waivers, but he is disappointed that all the facts were not presented to Graham Light prior to his decision. There were at least 35 racers that were told to make their runs without the waiver forms turned in, including Jim.

I understand that Jim is at fault for not remembering to return and file his paperwork but...

Anyone else have any comments?

#2 06-01-2008, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Stanley

Anyone else have any comments?

Typical NHRA incompetence and pure stupidity?

#3 06-01-2008, 02:52 PM

Whoops

#4 06-01-2008, 03:09 PM

I'm having a hard time following your quotation of another racer; first "Jim forgot" then it was "There were at least 35 racers that were told to make their runs without the waiver forms turned in, including Jim."

Did he forget, or, was he told to run without the forms being turned in?

Also, you know very well that NHRA doesn't post here so we will not hear their side here.

#5 06-01-2008, 03:11 PM

YAY! Another NHRA bashing thread.

Those are few and far between around here.

#6 06-01-2008, 03:27 PM

Where this situation will continue to suck for NHRA is I'm sure the two drivers he beat in the 1st and 2nd round will protest saying that they should not have been eliminated under these supposed circumstances.

NHRA folks continue to demonstrate no common sense what so ever. Never have, never will.

#7 06-01-2008, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Sweeney

Where this situation will continue to suck for NHRA is I'm sure the two drivers he beat in the 1st and 2nd round will protest saying that they should not have been eliminated under these supposed circumstances.

NHRA folks continue to demonstrate no common sense what so ever. Never have, never will.

I kinda doubt it. I mean, this is Jim Hughes, All star racer, businessman, and good guy. Those two people who Jim beat were beat honest. There is no performance advantage there in not having the waiver turned in.

What day did Jim try and get his credentials? Thursday? It's very very strange that the gals in the credential trailers would do such a thing, but maybe they just have new people. Patty and the rest have been doing it for ages.

#8 06-01-2008, 03:56 PM

This kind of stellar customer service has been going on for years and years...especially when it comes to the sportsman racers attending national events. The whole credential trailer experience has always been one big pain in the ass hassle...even for non-touring Pro teams.

I'm not advocating that any participant should get prefferential treatment over another, but with the amount of money Jim Hughes spends in contingency and ad space you'd think that someone at NHRA would have taken a few extra steps to keep a sponsor/advertiser/racer in the clear. Hell, I would expect that kind of treatment for ANY racer. But if a fantastic event experience and humane treatment of customers is what you want, NHRA is not the place to find it. IHRA, NMRA/NMCA, OFAA, etc, etc, all get "it" and the Glendora bunch hasn't a clue.

Can't be a victim if you volunteer.

#9 06-01-2008, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wes Tarkington

This kind of stellar customer service has been going on for years and years...especially when it comes to the sportsman racers attending national events. The whole credential trailer experience has always been one big pain in the ass hassle...even for non-touring Pro teams.

I'm not advocating that any participant should get prefferential treatment over another, but with the amount of money Jim Hughes spends in contingency and ad space you'd think that someone at NHRA would have taken a few extra steps to keep a sponsor/advertiser/racer in the clear. Hell, I would expect that kind of treatment for ANY racer. But if a fantastic event experience and humane treatment of customers is what you want, NHRA is not the place to find it. IHRA, NMRA/NMCA, OFAA, etc, etc, all get "it" and the Glendora bunch hasn't a clue.

Can't be a victim if you volunteer.

Very well said.
Jim attends races not only to win but to help the racers who buy his products.

#10 06-01-2008, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Flies

I'm having a hard time following your quotation of another racer; first "Jim forgot" then it was "There were at least 35 racers that were told to make their runs without the waiver forms turned in, including Jim."

Did he forget, or, was he told to run without the forms being turned in?

Also, you know very well that NHRA doesn't post here so we will not hear their side here.

Paul,

From what I've heard, there were about 35 racers in different classes that did not have their credentials prior to qualifying/time trials because of the lack of tickets on Thursday. The tickets showed up some time on Friday.

I do not know if any others ran eliminations prior to getting their credentials.

Quote:

Those two people who Jim beat were beat honest. There is no performance advantage there in not having the waiver turned in.

I agree completely with that, Jenn.

There shouldn't be any consideration for who the racer is, major sponsor or not, when it comes to fair and equitable treatment.

Quote:

YAY! Another NHRA bashing thread.

Those are few and far between around here.

I would love to have something positive to post but unfortunately there hasn't been a whole lot lately. I guess we're not suppose to talk about anything that may be a negative!?!?

#11 06-01-2008, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Stanley

I would love to have something positive to post but unfortunately there hasn't been a whole lot lately. I guess we're not suppose to talk about anything that may be a negative!?!?

No, I didn't say that. When it is deserved, knock yourself out.

But this is a situation that no one that has commented in this thread knows exactly what happened. No one.

Look at some of the quotes from the racer that sent you the original message, who by the way, probably doesn't know the whole situation either.

Jim went to the credential trailer and still there was no tickets available (not until after 2nd time run)

The 2nd time run was Friday afternoon. Eliminations Saturday and he got 2 rounds in. So he had roughly 24 hours to walk over and get his waiver turned in, but didn't. That is not NHRA's fault, nor is it their responsibility to go remind the racer, I don't care how much you pay to sponsor.

However; Graham was not made aware of the fact that there were several racers that ran time trials without turning in their waivers. Whoops! Yes, that same nice lady(LOL)forgot to mention to Graham all the facts

How does this guy know that? Of course, he can't know that, but it still makes the claim that he does. Was he there when the credentials person talked to Light and then Light ruled on it? I doubt it. But we all just know Light screwed it up, because as we have all been told here many times, NHRA sucks.

Jim is not shifting any blame to anyone for his failure to turn in his waivers

Jim isn't shifting the blame, but the same can't be said for some people on here. Remember the mantra, NHRA SUCKS!

Look, as much as a few people want to bash NHRA on this board, knock it off.

It really gets old that everything they do, they suck. No one here knows what happened for sure in this instance, but people have weighed in how NHRA screwed the pooch on it.

You want to know why Kevin Harvick hasn't made a deal with BVG? I don't know, but don't rule out the idea that he has people do research and they have come across this place and all they read is "NHRA SUCKS". Why would they sink money into a sport that the fans think the largest sanctioning body sucks? Why would any sponsor that ran across this site?

If it sucks so bad, go race IHRA. Greg, do you still have an NHRA Comp number? If so, why? They suck so bad, why do you keep giving them dues and entry fees, I mean, they suck, right?

For those who don't have cars, don't attend as a spectator if NHRA sucks so bad. Attend one of the 8 IHRA meets that are in the US.

If you are west of the mississip, you get exactly 2 shots to do that, one of which is 1/8 mile racing.. That is a much better system, isn't it? Those 8 car fuel fields are just the greatest, aren't they?

Don't buy tees, don't use or frequent sponsor offerings. Don't buy a NHRA membership just so you can listen to qualifying if they suck so bad. Don't whine when they are 8 minutes late showing the race on ESPN if NHRA racing sucks so bad. Why would you even care about watching it if they suck so bad?

I am sure none of this will hit home for many, because, well, because we all know NHRA sucks, right?

#12 06-01-2008, 05:44 PM

Jenn,

You missed my point. This has nothing to do with Jim Hughes and his abilities. The point is, in NHRA's eyes, as out of focus as they may be, he shouldn't have been allowed to race at all. Hence, he shouldn't have even been in the lanes for first round.

And they can't reinstate the driver he beat second round as that would not be fair to whomever he beat in the first round. It would different if he had been caught cheating after eliminations began, but this was a silly paperwork problem.

It's deals like this that motivated me to go race away from national and divisional events. Nothing has changed.

#13 06-01-2008, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Stanley

Paul,

From what I've heard, there were about 35 racers in different classes that did not have their credentials prior to qualifying/time trials because of the lack of tickets on Thursday. The tickets showed up some time on Friday.

I do not know if any others ran eliminations prior to getting their credentials.

Greg, we read third-hand information from you that is used to post to a fairly drag racing audience to implicate NHRA.

And you still didn't answer the question, did he forget or was he told to run without it? Is it because you weren't there and don't know what actually happened?

And I don't often agree with Alan R, but he is right, your posts about NHRA are pretty well a bashing/attack. There are a lot of different associations that you can run in that you might not find not too much fault with.

#14 06-01-2008, 06:48 PM

Greg and Paul,

Go ahead and turn this into an attack on me... you won't hurt my feelings.

Also go back and re-read what I posted. I did not attack NHRA. I simply related information as it was related to me. It may be second hand but I trust the source of that information to be accurate and impartial.

Note that in the original post I acknowledged the fact that Jim was at fault for not remembering to go back to the trailer and file his paperwork.

It's just a crappy situation that could have been prevented on many fronts.

#15 06-01-2008, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Stanley

Greg and Paul,

Go ahead and turn this into an attack on me... you won't hurt my feelings.

Also go back and re-read what I posted. I did not attack NHRA. I simply related information as it was related to me. It may be second hand but I trust the source of that information to be accurate and impartial.

Note that in the original post I acknowledged the fact that Jim was at fault for not remembering to go back to the trailer and file his paperwork.

It's just a crappy situation that could have been prevented on many fronts.

I am not attacking you. At least I don't see it that way. My message was more generic, and aimed at everyone on here (not necessarily even in this thread) that automatically assumes NHRA is full of F-ups, is trying to somehow punish a certain owner, and trying to line their pockets at the expense of racers, and then go race, or attend NHRA Nat Events.

If NHRA is that bad, go race or watch elsewhere. Thats easy enough.