My greatest loss was June 12, 2018. It was the rebirth of train wrecked threads.

quote:

Originally posted by Yellow Ticket:
My greatest loss was June 12, 2018. It was the rebirth of train wrecked threads.

yellow ticket for the W

ep

2004 Div V ET Finals at Topeka, (my home track at the time). I was racing almost every week, at every track in a 5 state area, probably at my racing peak. I was top 3 in points at 2 different tracks, and feeling really good. Rd 1 I am paired against a super friendly dude, big young fella from Wyoming who was foot-braking a 70 Buick that ran pretty good. Back then my basic approach in early rounds, (unless I drew a known killer), was to aim for a "20 light" off the foot with a couple in my pocket, which had served me well for many years. I am confident, decide to only carry 1. I am .021, but couldn't quite get there, dropped a touch to go dead 3. Kid is 012, dead 2.
OK, so that was NOT the most painful loss.
One year later, ET Finals are at Brainerd, MN. 700 miles away. Sunday morning, Round 1, and amazingly, I draw the same kid from Wyoming! We laughed about the unlikely pairing, wish each other well. I am determined to work toward at least stacking up some round money, if not take the whole damn deal. Still using my same old approach, I was 2nd in points, had bagged a Wally in Iowa a few weeks earlier, and again my confidence was high.
Damned if the results weren't almost exactly the same! Both low dead-on, my .019 to his ten light. That was a very long tow back home. I don't know what other success the kid had, or if he even went past Round 2 in either of those races, I never heard of him again.

To turn a negative into a positive, I had seen bottom bulbers over the previous decade get better and better at the tree. My average R/T's had stayed quite good and consistent for years, but my previously Very Good round-win percentage had begun to fall off, even though the car was still really good. It was time to face reality, the game was changing, and I had to either get better, or get used to losing more, which was not acceptable to me. So on my lonely drive home I decided I needed to sharpen things up at the tree, and start shooting for .010 instead of the 20 light. Yes, it took a lot of practice, and I did increase my rate of red bulbs just slightly, but I also tightened up my variation spread a bunch, and my overall round win percentage went back up significantly. So while that loss really was painful for a long time, it probably won me a whole lot more rounds and money in the long run. And if that kid from Wyoming with the Buford is on here, congrats and thank you for the lesson(s) learned! You probably extended my racing hobby a good number of years.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: FootbrakeJim,

final round of the Jegs All Stars in T/D in 2015 when the throttle cable broke about 10 ft from the hit ....knocked us out of the semi's in the Nat event all at the same time ..

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Paul S/Q,

quote:

Originally posted by Paul S/Q:
final round of the Jegs All Stars in T/D in 2015 when the throttle cable broke about 10 ft from the hit ....knocked us out of the semi's in the Nat event all at the same time ..

I can relate.

1st round TRW Allstars in 1992. I had Scotty Richardson. Got him by .02 on the tree, but some dumb azz went the wrong way with the numbers on the throttle stop timer, could only run 8.96 flatout, would have gone a 8.90x if I had done the numbers right....

1994 Bristol. Went in with 3 way tie for 1st in championship. Driver red lit and Mark Thomas broke a rear end ,but coasted to a win. He won second rd when his opponent went across centerline the next round giving him championship.

This one might be a bit of a reach. It was only a first round loss. However, it was at an IHRA team bracket finals in 2005 (or 04?). For whatever reason, the powers that be determined there would be b*ybacks in the main team points event. I don't b*yback. Never have, never will. I lost in the first round. Normally, no big deal for me. However, this time, it meant a great deal to my team . Since I don't b*yback, it meant I couldn't earn any more team points. I had plenty of offers to have my b*yback paid for, but that wasn't the point, for me. It's the principal. Therefore, I let my teammates down by not using a b*yback. I darn near just quit bracket racing entirely, after that single incident. Not that it much matters, but I think I lost that first round on a breakout. Take care. Tom Worthington

No sting here, nothing but victory and 41 race Super Pro championships.

Sorry

Ripper Nova @ 1:37

quote:

Originally posted by Tom396:
This one might be a bit of a reach. It was only a first round loss. However, it was at an IHRA team bracket finals in 2005 (or 04?). For whatever reason, the powers that be determined there would be b*ybacks in the main team points event. I don't b*yback. Never have, never will. I lost in the first round. Normally, no big deal for me. However, this time, it meant a great deal to my team . Since I don't b*yback, it meant I couldn't earn any more team points. I had plenty of offers to have my b*yback paid for, but that wasn't the point, for me. It's the principal. Therefore, I let my



teammates down by not using a b*yback. I darn near



just quit bracket racing entirely, after that single



incident. Not that it much matters, but I think I
lost that first round on a breakout. Take care. Tom

Worthington

I hope you told them you would NOT be able to do what was best for the team when they asked you to join the team

quote:

Originally posted by imakehp:

quote:

Originally posted by Tom396:
This one might be a bit of a reach. It was only a first round loss. However, it was at an IHRA team bracket finals in 2005 (or 04?). For whatever reason, the powers that be determined there would be b*ybacks in the main team points event. I don't b*yback. Never have, never will. I lost in the first round. Normally, no big deal for me. However, this time, it meant a great deal to my team . Since I don't b*yback, it meant I couldn't earn any more team points. I had plenty of offers to have my b*yback paid for, but that wasn't the point, for me. It's the principal. Therefore, I let my



teammates down by not using a b*yback. I darn near



just quit bracket racing entirely, after that single



incident. Not that it much matters, but I think I
lost that first round on a breakout. Take care. Tom

Worthington

I hope you told them you would NOT be able to do what was best for the team when they asked you to join the team

Well, I never went to another Bracket Finals after that, even though I was qualified, just to avoid any possibility of putting myself or them in the same position ever again. Take care. Tom Worthington

Bracket finals in the mid 90's. Down to the last 8 or so. Was .002 or 3 red, dead something. Miss Racing at Maple Grove.

The depends who you work. I lost at 4 twice Bracket finals, back when you raced free the next year, lost in a race for a Wally, give it back to Corky M. 2 thousandths. Muddy Mississippi river water turned to wine when Chuck won it, a couple years later with my engine and trans, best Super Pro final ever Sunshine.

No sting here, nothing but 41 race championships.

Just depends on who you're working for.

Working for yourself there's nothing but sting.

It was my first final in a full size car. I hadn't been racing more than a couple of months. The week prior I had given the stripe back on a slow dragster. I was running mid 10s and he was running mid 8s. He stuck in my blind spot forever and I screwed up. The next week, in the final I had a mid 8 second nova. I couldn't find him, and wanted to drive it a little deeper before I tried to close it up. I killed 5 mph late and still went under. He never made it to half track.

I think racing gets more difficult for some people, the more they learn new ways to lose.

I think there's evidence of this,... How many people have jumped in a bad azz ride (consistent) and won, then progressively win less and less as they learn, or can't duplicate what they did first time racing, at all?

I've seen a few.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom396:

quote:

Originally posted by imakehp:

quote:

Originally posted by Tom396:
This one might be a bit of a reach. It was only a first round loss. However, it was at an IHRA team bracket finals in 2005 (or 04?). For whatever reason, the powers that be determined there would be b*ybacks in the main team points event. I don't b*yback. Never have, never will. I lost in the first round. Normally, no big deal for me. However, this time, it meant a great deal to my team . Since I don't b*yback, it meant I couldn't earn any more team points. I had plenty of offers to have my b*yback paid for, but that wasn't the point, for me. It's the principal. Therefore, I let my



teammates down by not using a b*yback. I darn near



just quit bracket racing entirely, after that single



incident. Not that it much matters, but I think I
lost that first round on a breakout. Take care. Tom

Worthington

I hope you told them you would NOT be able to do what was best for the team when they asked you to join the team

Well, I never went to another Bracket Finals after that, even though I was qualified, just to avoid any possibility of putting myself or them in the same position ever again. Take care. Tom Worthington

You mean to say, principles aren't just a costume you put on when it's convenient for you?

Kudo's Sir, that's mighty white of ya.

BTW for all those who worship TV nonsense,... the saying that's mighty white of you isn't racial, it's implication is possessing western values.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mike Rietow,

He had every right to his principles..
Obviously, his principles prevented him from being able to do what was best in a team format. He shouldn't have joined a team to begin with, and let someone that could do what's best for the team race for them.
Everything should have been done to further the team's chances of winning. Short of cheating of course. I'm certain they had "blockers" at the race also.

BTW Tom, I'm not bagging on you. Just the scenario that came up back then. You prevented putting yourself, and your teammates, in that position in the future by not participating to begin with..Now THAT is sticking to your principles..

Tom,

It was mighty white of them, to not make it an issue.

The saying "that is mighty white of you" isn't racist, it's implication is the person who is mighty white, possesses western values.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mike Rietow,