When the starter speaks, a drag racer had better listen. Neither Bruno Massel nor Mason McGaha did and inevitably paid the price in the opening pair of Pro Stock.
Massel and McGaha became engaged in a lengthy staging battle, one which lasted over three minutes. After unsuccessful attempts by Brad Hardy, NHRA official starter, to encourage both drivers to stage, he ordered the drivers to shut off and disqualified both.
Hardy explained his decision with little room for interpretation.
“We have a lot going on out here and no time to play games,” Hardy said. “Eventually, one of them was going to get too hot and start leaking. So … we just had to shut them off and they are both done.”
Neither driver regretted their actions.
“I was doing what I wanted to and wasn’t moving from my plan,” McGaha said. “I wasn’t going to budge.”
“I don’t agree with the ruling,” Massel said. “We are here to race, let us race. [The fans] want to see a burndown, They want to see stuff. They want drama. You just took it away from us. It’s a shame. I work for this company. That’s a shame though.”
The big winner in the burndown was Troy Coughlin Jr., who gained a bye run into the semis because of the disqualification.
