One Percent Back Up Needs to Go
Written by David Lamm · February 14, 2006
The NHRA has had a long standing rule that in order to officially recognize a national performance record, either elapsed time or speed, the driver is required to successfully ‘back up’ the run within one percent of the number. This practice is archaic and outdated and is holding the sport back.
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Funny Car icon John Force ripped off an elapsed time of 4.664 seconds during Saturday’s final qualifying session to earn the No. 1 qualifying position at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. That means Force traveled the quarter-mile in less time than it took you to read the previous sentence. Record setting? You bet it was. Or was it? During eliminations on Sunday, Force was unable to register a pass of 4.710 seconds or lower to ‘back up’ the record as required by the NHRA. And not only is Force required to back up the run, he had to do it within the confines of the same national event. On top of that, track records are not subject to the one percent back-up rule. So the record for the fastest Funny Car run at Auto Club Raceway is 4.664 but the national record still remains 4.665 seconds. How can that be? A track record is quicker than the national record? Confused? You are not the only one. You would think in order to attract new fans you would think the NHRA would want to simplify it’s rules, not hold on to old ones that make people scratch their heads. It’s 2006 and this rule needs to be abandoned. In order to gain fans and increase the popularity of the sport, this antiquated rule needs to be eliminated and single run records left to stand.
The one percent back-up rule was instituted in the infancy of the NHRA in order to ensure against unreliable timing systems and human error. That makes sense because the rule was implemented when there were no electronic timers and most runs were timed with hand held stop watches. Not very scientific but that was the way it was. The rule was created to ensure that the record performance was legitimate and not a fluke or that the handheld stopwatch and human factor didn’t play a role in the national record. That was for drag racing back in the 1950’s. Today the NHRA has a timing system that can determine a winner by 0.0001 of a second. That’s about as fast as a hummingbird takes to flap its wings. So the human factor has been eliminated with technology but we still adhere to an archaic way of establishing records.
The argument can me made that today’s drivers must be subject to the one percent back up rule to maintain the history and integrity of the national record rule. I can respect that but it seems like we are justifying our love of tradition and refusal to change by trying to legitimize it. Why should a younger driver like Brandon Bernstein be allowed to establish a national record with one ‘Hail Mary’ run in optimum conditions when Kenny Bernstein, Joe Amato and even Don Garlits were subjected to the one percent rule? The simple answer is the technology has taken out the guess work of if the run is legitimate or not. The elder Bernstein, Amato and Garlits might not have had the technology available to them when they competed but is that a reason to penalize those that do?
In no other sport do records essentially have to be duplicated. In the NFL, if a player scores a record number of touchdowns in a single season, does he have to go out and score within one percent of the same amount of touchdowns the next season to make it official? Of course not. Using that logic, Peyton Manning’s record 49 touchdown passes in 2004 would not be the record because he only threw 28 touchdowns in 2005. I am not a mathematician but that is well off the one percent mark. Sure football is not a timed sport so let’s use an example of the winter Olympics since they are currently going on in Turin, Italy. Does a skier, a bobsled team or a speed skater have to make a run within the one percent to qualify it as a world or Olympic record? The answer again is no. I can do this all day but I am sure I’ve made my point.
The NHRA needs to abandon this old fashioned way of thinking and get with the times. Just because others before you had to certify their national records within one percent does not hold water. I would make the comparison that it is justified much like traditional fraternity hazing is defended. Why should a new pledge of a college fraternity be allowed to just join without some good old fashioned hazing? After all, the current brothers had to go through sleep deprivation, exhausting calisthenics and embarrassing scavenger hunts to be initiated. Why should the new kids get off light? Requiring runs be certified within one percent is just the old guard hanging on to days gone by. Time to wake up and allow single record runs to stand. The timing system is so technologically advanced and there are too many safeguards that the original reason for making the rule is no longer valid. Dump the one percent back up next year NHRA. The expanding fan base will thank you.
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7 Responses to “One Percent Back Up Needs to Go”
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KEEP THE 1% RULE! THERE
HAS BEEN TOO MUCH
“CHANGE FOR CHANGES SAKE
” LATELY, PARTICULARLY
IN NASCAR. THE CHASE!
GUARANTEED STARTING SPOTS
FOR THE TOP 35 IN POINTS!
TOO WORRIED ABOUT PARITY.
ELECTRONIC TIMING SYSTEMS
ARE GREAT. BUT, HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE THEY
CAUSED A GREAT BIG BOONDOGGLE? NOT VERY LONG
AS I RECALL.
I agree the old system needs changing, just many things at the NHRA needs changing - more like bringing them into the 21st Century. Being in the marketing business, I can tell you that corporate America is waiting for this minor league sport to make the move to the majors.
You’re absolutely right that the publicity from records such as this, with the king of drag racing PR no less, is needed to bring attention to a sport that has ten of millions of fans - but the vast public has no idea what this sport is. AND I MEAN NO IDEA WHATSOEVER.
I’ve brought people to the drags that never had seen a racecar much less a dragster, with utterly no concept of the speed, noise, smell or atmosphere yet became instant fans after the experience.
A small change like this archaic timing issue is just that, small but effective. The NHRA can continue their modest but fairly successful operation or make the bold and needed changes to move to the next level. With the current regime, that might not happen.
Just one question to David Lamm. Who was the winner in Pro Stock Motorcycle at the US Nationals last year? Nothing is flawless, this is why a backup is required.
As a person being born into the sport of drag racing some 26 years ago I feel that change is a neccessary evil in many cases. Absolutely it is unfair to suggest that the timing system is flawless, but the point still remains that world records in every other genre of sport are determined by single attempts at them. A perfect example of changing the rules is the National Hockey League removing the center line from its game play rules for this season allowing longer passes which create more scoring chances. This could be deemed as some to be unfair to those that played in the days when there was a red line. Some might say that the scoring records established in the past can not be compared to those of the future because the rules are different. But the reality of it is that times change, technology improves and the leagues and associations need to continue to adjust their rules to achieve the best possible results for their fans and competitors.
Therefore sticklers who believe that the old way is the best way, will think that change is evil, and people such as myself, Dave Lamm and a host of others will realize that these changes are neccessary in order to continue the development of our wonderful sport.
Thanks to everyone for reading fastmachines.com. In response to the comment by 82GT, you have a valid point. No timing system is flawless but the same thing can be said for anything man made. Sure the U.S. Nationals Pro Stock Motorcycle winner had to be awarded after the fact and given to Steve Johnson. The fact remains the NHRA got it right. The NHRA could have been suborn and pig headed about it and refused to make things right. The ESPN replay clearly showed Johnson hitting the finish line first and therefore the right call could be determined. Nothing is perfect including the humans that create these systems.
During my time at the NHRA, I have seen record runs thrown out because the numbers failed to add up. The incremental numbers from 60′, 330′, 1/8th mile, 1,000′ and the finish line all have to add up and make sense. I was at Atlanta Dragway where Kurt Johnson apparently had recorded a national speed record. KJ himself after the run admitted that a piece of paper must have tripped the timers early to record the apparent record speed. NHRA officials examined the incrementals and determined the E.T. and speed numbers did not add up. There are safe guards in place to ensure the integrity of the sport. I was hoping to get across that eye popping records of incredible speeds will help expand the sport beyond the status it enjoys today. Thanks for reading and I am glad my article could create this kind of interest and debate.
how make john force an icon…. moron is more like it.so he ran a 4.664.and he couldnt back it up with a 4.71 or better.now you thing because hes john force he should get away with out aback up ran.you are a moron too.if i was n.h.r.a. i would have tore hes car apart. too see if he was cheating.
As a former NHRA Nat’l record holder I dis-agree. The within 1% back-up prevents a “fluke” run from being a record. There were times when we could run 3 full mph over the speed record and the next round slow down 4 mph with no change and no reason of why. If you want real racing–Dump the break-out crap. Heads-up is drag racing not delay boxes and throttle stops.