Team Orders Stink to High Heaven
Written by David Lamm · October 29, 2007
Okay, I understand that Rod Fuller is in the middle of a championship chase. Yes, I heard on the ESPN broadcast from team owner David Powers that there were no team orders for David Baca to ‘lay down’ for Fuller in the second round in Las Vegas yesterday. Call me a cynic, call me a pessimist or even call me a conspiracy theorist, but Baca smoking the tires in the second round seemed awfully suspicious.
NHRA.com: Final Eliminations Ladder
With all due respect to ‘Hot’ Rod Fuller, he did go on and win the race without any extra help from Morgan Lucas or Doug Kalitta after defeating Baca. We always hear how every round is big but Fuller’s second round win over Baca might have been the catalyst to his first POWERade Top Fuel championship. It may just be coincidence that Baca mysteriously smoked the tires against his own teammate who is in the Countdown to One. It’s possible. It may be that Baca was pushed into the non-preferred lane and that was the reason why he smoked the tires. An $8.00 part could have broken on that run and caused Baca to lose traction. They are all possibilities. Any number of things could have happened on that run but it speaks volumes that Baca didn’t try to peddle the car at all. On Sundays, you always see the drivers give some sort of an attempt to get back into it after their car smokes the tires. I saw no effort from Baca. Unless something broke on the car that prevented him from getting back into it, he should have at least tried to get it hooked back up again. It just looked too obvious, too planned.
The reason I find Baca’s loss of traction in the second round curious is that Baca had a great car all weekend. He ran a 4.532 in the first round of qualifying and also posted a 4.547 in the second session on Friday. On Saturday Baca put up a 4.566 in the third qualifying session and a 4.557 in the final qualifying session. Both the 4.547 and 4.566 elapsed times were run on the right lane, which was supposedly the ‘non-preferred’ lane. Running 4.50’s in the bad lane sends a message to the competition that Lee Beard and the rest of the crew have a handle on this race track. On Sunday, Baca goes out and posts a 4.594 in the first round to defeat Cory McClenathan. So with Baca’s car running in the 4.50’s like it was a bracket car, how in the world did he conveniently smoke the tires when running his teammate? It’s the things that make you go, Hmmmm.
It’s a shame that this had to happen and could possibly place a black cloud over the legitimacy of Fuller’s potential championship. If Fuller does win the championship, hopefully he wins in Pomona, Calif. without having to face Baca during eliminations.
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7 Responses to “Team Orders Stink to High Heaven”
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Exactly why this system does not work in a sport where one on one competition is the way its done. The more 2 and 3 car teams there are, the more suspicions can arise.
I do not like it in Nascar either myself, but at least until you reach the last few laps with the good fortune of having teammates together can anything questionable happen.
I don’t like team orders but maybe that’s what it takes to defeat the dreaded Shumacher juggernaut. I also don’t like the new points system… I liked the old school way of collecting points throughout the season and let the best team win.
I think that it is a shame what a truly American sport has become.
You guys have to be kidding… Everyone knows that Fuller is the rightful champion this season… The new points system is the only thing that puts that in jepordy. I don’t know if any team orders were given in the second round but under the circumstances (that the chase system creates) Powers would be foulish to not give them. If any of you were in David Powers shoes having fielded the most consistant team and driver all year, you might find it hard to allow a two race replacement driver (with all due respect to Baca) to unseat the season’s most consistant perfomer with one good run. That would be insain. I wouldn’t allow it if I were him. Keep in mind that the Fuller and the “Cat” team still have to out perform the rest of the field, just like they have all season… Ditch the chase points system. It’s a bad idea. The old points system rewarded consistant performance. The new system rewards good luck at the last minute. The old system crowned a champion. The new system crownes the team with the most consistant performance over just two races. The violent nature of top fuel means occasional failures and compressing the championship into two races leaves too much room for failure to affect the outcome. Even Nascar does it over 10 races which allows teams to establish consistancy. Let’s hope Fuller’s luck holds up next week and the rightful champion takes home the prize…
It may be too late with the establishment of the “super teams”, however the teams should only be allowed to field 1 car in each catagory. You would see a true heads up competition and more than likely the addition of additional teams. In addition it would not mean the end of someone like Ashly force, it would mean the establishment of a seperate orginization making the playing field a bit more level.
very easy look at the $$,if it were you what would you do as a owner.