how many oil downs are the pros allowed per event before nhra tells them to park it for the event? in alcohol 3 in one event gets you sent home, one top fuel team has OILed the track 3 times this weeken so i was just wandering.

You meant Morgan? I think everytime that car makes a pass, they pay a fine...

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Not So Comfortably Numb- Fly Navy, Build SEABEES
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By the way, today's oildown penalty cost Morgan Lucas a top-ten finish for the season, by six points. He won the first round, but lost 15 points for an oildown. He would have finished ninth without the penalty.

Last night's oildown did not cost Tony Schumacher any points, he had enough clean-run points to avoid a penalty - which would have cost him the title.

The moral of this story is obvious.

The important thing is that they ignored Rick and didn't shut it down. They knew it was leaking oil and ran anyway. Talk about a complete disregard for safety. They should have been bounced last night and not been there today.

I've lost all respect for that team.

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Bob
Doug - 2006 & Greg - 2007 The Real Champs

You people act like it was leaking quarts of oil...it wasn't or Alan Johnson would have given Tony the shut down signal. And the little bit of oil didn't cause the tires to strike either.

Do people really want a penalty on a non-performance issue, during the last race, to decide the championship?

Hire the best T/F crew chief on the planet?

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BlueStangGT
"Could it be that somebody else is looking into my mind?"

Well, Schumacher was able to oil the track without penalty because his car rarely does so, Lucas lost a top-ten finish because his car frequently does so. In the end, keeping the car from oiling the track is part of the crew chief's responsibilities.

So is building an engine with more than an eight hundred foot fuse... not that I can, by any means, but geez...

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Someone on another thread stated that the box in Rick's hand does not allow him to DQ a car by turning on a red light. If this is true, it needs to be fixed.
I can't believe the starter can't stop a car from racing if he feels there is an unsafe situation. Sullivan - Reinhart . . . you're our go to guys - what really happened here?

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"The Counterfeiter"

The only thing the starter's box does is enable the tree - failing to do so would have denied Doug Kalitta his run.

I am sure the rules will be revised and clarified to make it clear when the starter is in charge and what the driver's reaction to the starter's shut-off signal should be. Right now, there's nothing in the rule book (at least nothing I can find) that makes it clear just when the starter is in charge, but in all forms of racing the driver is responsible for controlling the car and responding to officials' orders once the engine is started, not the crew chief. Team "trained monkey" customs do not override the driver's responsibility to respond to the starter's signals.

As far as safety goes, the oil appeared to be under the right tire, so the car could easily have made a violent right turn when he launched and the oil sheen was clearly visible to the photographers alongside the track. Fortunately, both rear tires lost traction at the same time and almost instantly.