A real bad deal at Fallon (TAD final) in my opinion

Anyone know the history between Cowie and Federlin?

 

sportsmanship

I wasn't at Fallon either, so I'm not going to pass judgement on that situation. I do congratulate Mike Austin though, he is a great guy and a great driver.

My concern is that I have seen a couple of instances of lack of sportsmanship myself this year. There was lots of that going around in Medicine Hat last weekend (don't ask for names, I am trying to forget it), and just this Sunday, a dragster driver at our local track wouldn't wait one minute for his competitor to boost a low battery, and singled into the final. If this trend continues, there will be no leeway given, bad feelings will fester, and the comraderie that is a big part of drag racing will die.

There will always be a few teams that maybe aren't as friendly as the rest, and maybe because of a past bad experience a person has the right not to cut them any slack, but that should be the exception, not the norm.

 

KEN- I wasn't at Medicine Hat (SADLY), but it seems you have smeared the whole field with your comment about a lack of sportsmanship--perhaps you should name names or retract the comment. I guess us old guys remember the good old days, but maybe our memory forgets the fist fights and burn downs that were fairly common in the 70's and 80's. Every race is important to the competitors, but with the extreme high cost of racing today vs. the low return, it seems every pass these days has much more importance than in the past. The short fields that seem to be the norm today speak volumes...
BOB MEEK

 

Not smearing anyone Bob. All I know was I was very uncomfortable about the whole thing, can't help that.

 

What seemed to be lost in the whole deal at Medicine Hat Bob is that it was an exhibition race (match race). THere were no points just a place to test a bit have some FUN and make a few dollars. I think a couple teams took it was too seriously. I have a pretty good report from a number of people involved and I think Kenny is spot on with his comments. I was going to do a whole deal on the happenings there but thought better of it. Again it was a match race at a small track that is doing what it can to promote the sport and bring in some pretty good cars.
Plus I have stirred up enough crap for a while

Dean

 

Dean- would be interesting to hear an in depth report as opposed to snipets of rumor and inuendo--You do a great job reporting on these races and incidents- keep up the good work- bob meek
maybe a PM?

 

Ron Cowie sent me an email, hoping to end anymore discussion on the Fallon deal, They have moved forward.

For the last week or so, a lot of comments and opinions have been put out there regarding the curcumstances in Fallon. As a team, we would just like to take this opportunity to clear the air and set some things straight. The intention of the editorial that Dean Murdoch wrote on speedzonemagazine.com was not to offend or to irritate anyone, but to simply report that a mistake had been made. Dean stated all of the facts that he told by two of the parties, and made his comments on the issue. Our team is not at all bitter about losing. When we get beat, we usually bow out gracefully and move on, but losing was not the issue here. The issue stemmed from a conversation that took place at the beginning of the weekend between Ron and Mike Rice. We were curious as to how they would run a four-car field in eliminations and this is what we were told: "If both teams are OK and ready to go, we will run the final during the funny car semi-finals and if one is not, then we will run all of the finals together." Pretty straight forward. As far as us stating whether or not we told them we had an issue right away, of course we did. If we didn't, well then that is our problem. Obviously there was some kind of miscommunication and what's done is done. We apologize as a team if we offended anyone when our tempers got away from us, but when you are as passionate about this sport as we are, you might have done the same thing. We do want to congratulate Mike Austin on his win in Fallon and let him know this whole thing has nothing to do with him. Also, we want to thank all of the people that did have our back when everything unfolded and that it was much appreciated. All we really want to do at the current moment is just move on to the next race and get back to doing what we love: drag racing and having fun. Thank you.
The Cowie Team

 

Medicine hat

As a volunteer member of the MHDRA (and organizer/racer contact) I was in the burnout area when this "LITTLE" incident happened .... after completing their burnouts both cars moved towards the pre-stage lights (all normal) the funnycar stopped ... the dragster stopped after the usual checkovers by both teams the crews walked away from thier respective cars (still normal) now things get interesting ... the funny car gives a rap on the throttle to indicate to their opponent that they are ready to go (normal procedure for them) ..... the dragster doesn't move (as per their normal procedure) and doesn't rap on the throttle either (as per their normal procedure) after a resonable time the funny car again raps the throttle .... nothing from the dragster .... a short time later another rap from the funnycar .... nothing from the dragster ..... three quick raps from the funny car and still nothing from the dragster .... the funnycar rolls in to pre-stage ... the dragster pre-stages the funny stages the dragster stages .... orange, green cars are gone .... now the incident starts .... funnycar guys are accusing the dragster guys of a burndown .... not so ... what we have here was a failure to communicate .... yes these two teams had never raced each other before and had NOT discussed their burnout or staging procedures/preferences .... there, thats it, no big controversy nothing ... sure there were words exchanged but that happens . I personally know both teams and car owners very well and can safely say that neither would do anything unsportsmanlike, just to win a round ... the perception at the moment may have been otherwise but after some cooler thinking I believe that both teams would agree on my interpretation. (I talk to both teams on an ongoing basis).

Its been said many times that any press is good press lol

There was a very good top alcohol show at Medicine Hat and I have heard from several teams since the race as to how great it was. Not all that contacted me were winners.

The MHDRA offer excellent money for this RACE not a booked in show. There was a minimum 6.50 just to qualify for the program and to recieve any money period. A new track record was set in TA/FC @ 5.77 seconds the TA/D track record wasn't reset and remains 5.44 seconds. There were $500.00 bonuses given for low et and top speed for the dragsters and funnycars. The club does this to make for a good fast show and we got that.

I'm sure that John Evanchuck will enjoy his $6,000.00 winners cheque Ken Webster likewise his runner up and two bonus cheques ($500.00each)... for low et and top speed funnycar. Ashley Bart got $500.00 for low et Dragsters and Greg Sereda Top Speed ($500.00)

This was the club's fifth Top alcohol shootout I hope we have another next year. There are things that need to be changed sure the club is only interested in fair, close, and fast racing. I am proud to help them and their sponsors put on a GREAT race.

Well thanks for the space ... The racers that attended ... The sponsors ... And an Awesome club for putting this deal together I hope too see 16 or more cars next year.

Ian Gellately
MHDRA volunteer
www.mhdra.com