Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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Does anyone when or if the Royal will be televised again? Thanks Joe

I think its funny how he had two crappy laps on the BOTTOM( i'm guessing he found out he was only 20th quick at scales and bitched about interference) so he runs the TOP and gets to be 6th quick, which is where he should have been originally....total B.S.!!! Donny Schatz is a lazy/cross eyed poster boy for the WoO and I'm sick of it!

*For those of you who weren't there Tuesday for the 360 sizzler you should have seen him stink that show up. There is no way in hell that motor would pass tech....you don't start 9th in a heat at Eldora and take the lead on the 1st lap, thank god the motor grenaded in feature before he won by over a half a lap!

do it in the dirt

This is getting way out of hand by some fans not paying attention to the facts.

1) Why would they wave a yellow flag or give another green flag on Schatz qualifying attempt? That is not the rule and is not how the WoO have handled "interference" several times this year. It has been mentioned by a couple of posters attending the race (listening to officials radio) and confirmed by the WoO officials on how the protocal for interference occurs. The officials notice possible interference on the track and they radio the presiding official in the command center. The command center radios that the driver can get another lap IF they claim interference at the scales. The officials DO NOT ask the driver if they would like to request another lap; the driver is only awarded if they claim interference at the scale AND the WoO officials have already acknowledged possible interference. There has been no factual information to prove Schatz case was handled any different than any other interference call has been made.

Consider what all goes into an interference call. One of the officals must see the possible interference, radio the interference to the WoO "command center", then the presiding official must make a decision. Now consider some of the WoO tracks clock off sub 10 second laps. Now consider the driver running the lap DOES NOT feel he is interfered with and stays on the gas to clock off the fastest time of the night only the have the yellow fly for interference as he exits turn 4. In a world of throwing the yellow at the official's 10 second decision; this can and would happen. I completely understand why the rule would be as is... it seems like the only fair way to determine interference without a disruption of qualifying.

2) I have yet to read/hear anything confirming Schatz' crew making any adjustments on the car. The SPEED broadcast did not argue that Schatz crew worked on the car, nor was it ever a part of Kinser (McCarl & Kemenah) complaint to the WoO officials. Schatz was put right back in line directly from the scales... everything else is speculation and rumor.

That being said, I do not believe Schatz' line in qualifying was interfered with; Schatz did not make any attempt on his second lap to drive lower on the track and didn't seem to lift (or drive around) the car on the bottom of the track. I am not suprised Donny asked for another lap after watching how low he ran in his heat race, but I have no doubt that Schatz crew informed Donny to change lines for the second attempt (they would have had an accurate time and known what situation Donny was in). I do not know how it was communicated, but they wouldn't need to talk to Donny to pass this info along.

Is it fair? That is an opinion considering whether or not you personally believe Donny was interfered with. Beyond the WoO officials judgement call on the interference, it was handled fair and consistant with the rule. Sometimes bad judgement calls occur and champions will always take advantage of it.

i looked in the rules and saw nothing at all that addresses protocol for interference in qulifying. there is no mention of the subject at all. so when you say it was handled consistant with the rule, what rule are you refering to and where do you find it?

OK, I watched both the Kinser and Patrick blowouts. Steve's definately got a 10 compared to Danika's feeble attempt. Kinser wins the PMS award this week.

Stan Meissner

The protocal in which the WoO officials explained on SPEED, same protocal in which they have used earlier in the year (and recent years), and the same in which many fans with scanners hear over the air at WoO events from WoO officials. That is the protocal in which the WoO has used to address interference in qualifying, thus (although unlisted in the rulebook) is considered the rule. The WoO have been consistant with how they address this "rule" in regards to interference during a qualifying lap.

I have seen Doug Clark at Knoxville give a car the green flag instead of the white when he see's a previous car not yet off the track that may have interfered with the current timer. Done it when Ted owned the WoO and WRG. Only time a driver gets another lap after pulling in is when the lap time does not record for some reason (transponder problem). Then they are waved back into the TT line without going to the scales.

Seems if what they did is so called "protocal" maybe they should write it in the rule book!!

Gotta love an outfit that enforces "Rules" (for years) that are NOT WRITTEN IN THE RULE BOOK!!

shhhh! they will have to change the secret hand shake.

or get another donny schatz secret decoder ring!

so, an official sees something dangerous enough on the track to warrent the driver to to have cause to have his lap interfered with yet lets the driver continue on with out correcting the issue imediatly but conspires with another official behind the drivers back to allow another lap but only if the driver asks? and the officials can determine that the driver is interfered with and have this lap waiting for his asking but a driver can not ask (well maybe he can ask but will it or will it not be granted) for a lap if he feels he was interfered with with out the officials already determining that was so? oh, and by the way you tell me there is nowhere to go to find this in writing!

i've had cell phone bills that were easier to figure out than this.

Thus why it is determined "possible" interference until the driver claims interference. The official does not see danger or else the yellow would fly. If the car attempting to leave the track spins out or if debris is on the track then a caution is thrown due to possible danger on the track.

The official sees something that may "interfere" with the qualifying lap; I have never heard of interference in any case other than a car or push truck exiting the track. It is a possible interference at that point because the driver may choose to take a different line on the track in which the car/truck would not be an issue. Had Schatz drove the top side on his opening qualifying attempt then I would doubt the officials would have allowed interference to be called as the exiting car would not have been an issue. As it was, Schatz drove the bottom and awarded a possible interference. The officials do not know if Schatz wanted to drive the car lower into 3 & 4; how could they not throw an interference at that point??? Perhaps he wanted to put the nose at the bottom like he attempted in his heat race. That is the officials call.

There is no nowhere (that I know of) for the common fan to find this in writing. I do not attend driver meetings so I can't speak for what is said (or not said) there.

I would agree; it should be in the rule book. Notice the rule books from Ted's era didn't have an amendment for "interference" either; the officials simply made the call for the driver... whether it was really interference or not. Is that the better way to do it? Someone is going to complain either way b/c it is a judgement call.

As for it being their current protocal (rule), this is how it has been inforced as witnessed earlier this year.

As per the rule book:

"Situations may arise that are not precisely covered in this rulebook. All rulings
and interpretations of the rules included herein will be made exclusively by World
of Outlaws. Such rulings and interpretations shall be deemed final."

The same goes for the lapped cars put at the tail of the restart... where is that in the rule book???

I have attended pre race driver meetings at WoO shows and NEVER heard anything said about any so called "unwritten" interference rule. Never heard it said if you think you were interfered with you could request a third lap when you got to he scales. You think they would announce that at the drivers meeting for all the non WoO drivers there who might not know about all these unwritten rules! Or maybe they only tell "certain" drivers about the secret unwritten rules.

I don't know how they typically inform this information or if they do not inform the drivers. I know a non-WoO regular was awarded an interference lap in the same manner at the Grand Forks show, but I do not know if he was informed prior to the race or if he just complained at the scales.

they usually state at the drivers meeting that lapped cars go to the back on restarts. but you do make a valid point. mybe that should be in there too.

After looking through the rule book over the past couple of weeks.... it seems like the only updates are in the section dealing with mechanical and structure issues. The racing format section looks like something that was put together many years ago and simply passed down without many amendments. As oswald pointed out, it is pretty unprofessional for the organization to have rules unlisted in the rule book for us fans of the sport. Makes an issue like Schatz ordeal a very open ended argument with plenty of valid reason for discussion. Seems like printing the rule could put an end to a lot of the argument about the resolve, although the judgement would still be in question (and I completely agree with anyone claiming Schatz lap was not interfered with; look at his next lap, same exact line and no lower on the track).

for the sake of it lets look at something. donny said he was interfered with. if he had not chosen to drive right down on the other car it would not have been in his way. this is what i mean. i can understand a driver wanting to try two different lines around the track if given the opportunity to have more than one lap. that is my argument on donny's side that he did not get that chance on his original laps. the thing is donny had the opportunity to run the top on his first lap, and have plenty of room to himself. he could see that there was a car in front of him low on the track. he CHOSE to run where he ran. he has run wheel to wheel at speed, in closer quarters than that lap and thought nothing of it. he could have still chosen to run the top on his second lap and still came in and claimed interference if he was not happy. it seems to me he ran EXACTLY where he wanted to run for two laps. then found he was slow and cried foul. is there a score board that shows times on it that the driver can see from the track?

watching the videotape shows for that car to be in his line, he must have intended to ram the inside wall as the yellow car was clearly on the flat an well out of any raceable groove, as demonstrated by two consecutive the lap times for the 15. why has the sound been removed from the footage? because he never lifted and this would only confirm the others driver's protest of the ruling.

Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May