geld gegen oildowns

die nhra hat ein neues preisgeld eigeführt: wer die wenigsten oildowns im verhältnis zu absolvierten läufen produziert wird dafür nicht schlecht belohnt:insgesamt werden über 50.000 Dollar an 10 der nitro teams verteilt.

hier die orig. meldung:

GLENDORA, Calif. – In an effort to recognize the hard work of selected nitro-category crews, NHRA dispersed more than $50,000 to the 10 teams with the best record of runs versus oildowns, NHRA officials announced today. The reward recognizes the diligent work they collectively put forth to reduce the amount of downtime at each of the 23 races which comprised the 2004 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Over the course of the season a total of $51,750 was collected from rule violators in Top Fuel and Funny Car who were issued fines for dropping oil onto the racing surface during competition (qualifying and/or eliminations). The sum of the fines was divided equally among the top 10 teams having the least amount of oildowns throughout the year. Each of those 10 teams received a payment of $5,175. To be eligible, a team must have made 100 or more runs during the 2005 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing season.

“As a reward to the teams who caused the least amount of downtime at NHRA POWERade events this past season, we wanted to recognize the top 10 teams and give them a token of the NHRA’s appreciation for their hard work and dedication,” said Graham Light, NHRA senior vice president of racing operations. “When we embarked on this program in 2000, we did it to maintain the level of entertainment NHRA fans have become accustomed to while maintaining the thunderous side-by-side action in the nitro categories. Many teams have been working extremely hard to curtail the downtime at national events over the last four seasons, and this is our way of saying thank you.”

NHRA introduced the oildown penalty system in Jan. 2000 and over that five-year span there has been a significant reduction in the season-total of downtime. In 1999, the season prior to the implementation of the oildown rule, nearly 50 hours (49:17) of downtime was recorded over the entire season. In 2003, the season total for downtime had been reduced to less than 28 hours (27:48). In 2004, the amount of downtime dropped more than 30 percent from the previous season to less than 19 hours (18:47).