I like Capps but he's not the supreme leader of all things NHRA and gets to decide what does and does not get discussed.

Sure sounds like tire failure to me.

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"I got a fever, and the only prescription... is more cowbell!"

Buell's and Hardley's suck!

That's the point Alan was trying to make and that's the point I was trying to make in my post on the thread below and now Ron Capps is trying to make it. But I guess patience is a virtue hard to come by-I think the Jefferson Airplane said that, but they may have been quoting someone too!

Tire vibration blamed in driver's death-Houston Chronicle

I can understand where Ron Capps and others are coming from...

OTOH, talking about and discussing (and wild speculation) about something like this is a coping mechanism for a lot of people...it was a horrible accident and one of the ways people deal with it is talking about it and trying to figure it out...

sure many are "talking out their butts", but that's all it is, just talk, it's not like internet message boards are treated as reliable, unimpeachable sources or anything...

I just don't see what the big deal is about the all keyboard crew chief's speculations

Just to show you how easy it is for the things to be misinterpreted when we start quoting sources. This is from Dragracingonline.com

Notice how the headlines says Medlin shaken to death, but the actual quote from the doctor is that he was probably shaken to death. I'm sure that dragracingonline.com did not intentionally leave out the word probably, but the doctor was leaving the possibility that additional evidence might prove him wrong.

::: Drag Racing Online ::: Columns - Agent 1320 - 3/30/2007

Brent, I can't speak for anyone else, and I don't claim to know what Ron's reason or motivation is for anything he said in that article. However, I don't think he (or anyone else for that matter) is trying to stifle discussions about what caused Eric's death because he feels holier than thou or because he wants to control what's discussed or not discussed. If you look back over the days since Eric's accident, the Medlens and JFR have asked people not to speculate or start rumors as to the cause of it because it's painful to them. Maybe some people don't understand why. Maybe others don't think what they say could be painful or have an effect on those who loved Eric. But no matter the reason, they've very kindly asked for everyone to refrain from having certain discussions on the boards and such, and it seems to have fallen on deaf ears. That, in my opinion, is completely disrespectful and inappropriate at best. So if I am even close to being warm on this one, I believe Ron is just making a plea with the fans and everyone else to honor the wishes of the Medlens and JFR and let's all ban together and set aside our curiosities and do the right thing by allowing them to grieve and to conduct this investigation without adding to the stress and heartache. That's just my .02 anyway.

I think he was only trying to make the point there is a difference between productive thought and mental masturbation, especially when connected to the internet, microphone, or word processor...

Mental masturbation..LOL

Some people just can't help it..even when asked to refrain.

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--Medicated for your safety!!--

It is amasing how much of an effect internet message boards can have on this sport . Capps is right in what he ses , but I think one of the main reason people have talked about is to get some sort of closure and help deal with the situation

I think one of the main reasons we speculate and rant about things is we have way too much time on our hands....me included.....

Stupidity is the quality or condition of being stupid, or lacking intelligence, as opposed to being merely ignorant or uneducated. This quality can be attributed to both an individual (e.g. Penny Person is stupid) or a person's actions, words or beliefs (e.g., Penny Person's policies are stupid). The term can thus also refer to poor use of judgement, or insensitivity to nuances in a person who is otherwise intelligent. The determination of who is stupid is relatively difficult, despite attempts to measure intelligence (and thus stupidity) such as IQ tests. The adjective is also used as a general pejorative (e.g. I didn't borrow your stupid cap - go look for it yourself).


This definition is borrowed from Wikipedia and I thought that it fit here as it usually does. Capps is on the scene so to speak and knows a lot more than we so called fans do...So why cant we sit back and wait instead of keeping up all this banter!!!

I'm multitasking. Watching the race and posting.

The reason we speculate is that we care. Period. This isn't F1, where we never get close to the drivers, where they are insular snobs who are too good to sign autographs even for their own sponsors employees ( Kimi ).
NHRA encourages us to get close, to invest ourselves emotionally in these drivers , why , because it makes it more fun . They know it's good business to advertise "every tickets a pit pass"

The drivers don't go to the RITZ for dinner, they go to the local sports bar, and we go too, hoping to say hello.
So to turn around when something bad happens and and try to control what fans post about it is futile.

I don't know why anyone takes what is posted here so seriously. Opinions about what caused the accident are just that . Nothing more.
Getting angry at someone who posts something here about what they think caused the accident or Eric's injuries seems to me to be misdirected.
What we are really all angry about is that Eric is gone.

You've made some great points, but I remember when Alan Reinhart first asked us to stop speculating on what happened to Eric soon after the accident, it was because Eric's family was upset by all of the rumors and speculation.

It didn't fail if IT did what it was supposed to do. If something was there that shouldn't have been that cut it, that's not an indication of tire FAILURE.

I sorta doubt that Eric's family was reading the message boards at that point, while Eric was fighting for his life. I suspect some self-important buffoon was saying to them, " Do you know what I just read?", or words to that effect.