DECEGLIE: THE PROBLEM WAS WITH THE TRACK
Sun, 2010-02-28 14:00
Anyone who has ever driven in severe winters conditions knows exactly how Vinnie Deceglie felt the split second his car got out of control during a qualifying run at Firebird International Raceway during the NHRA Arizona Nationals.
“It was like having black ice out there,” said Deceglie on the Friday after the destruction of his 2010 Dodge Avenger. “The car is a just about basically totaled.
“If it has given me a slight, slight indication it was going to do anything like that I would have clutched it or pulled the parachutes on it. I've driven cars faster than a pro stock car and been way out of shape, much more than I was in that run, and this car just flipped. The video tells you the car went .975 to the 60 foot. I was two thousandths, or four thousandths, of Mike Edward's run to the 660 mark.
Anyone who has ever driven in severe winters conditions knows exactly how Vinnie Deceglie felt the split second his car got out of control during a qualifying run at Firebird International Raceway during the NHRA Arizona Nationals.
“It was like having black ice out there,” said Deceglie on the Friday after the destruction of his 2010 Dodge Avenger. “The car is a just about basically totaled.
“If it has given me a slight, slight indication it was going to do anything like that I would have clutched it or pulled the parachutes on it. I've driven cars faster than a Pro Stock car and been way out of shape, much more than I was in that run, and this car just flipped. The video tells you the car went .975 to the 60 foot. I was two thousandths, or four thousandths, of Mike Edward's run to the 660 mark.
“I was on a good run.”
A simple mistake has cost Deceglie a very expensive race car. Little more than a week after Deceglie and Gordie Rivera spent unintended time on the roofs of their respective Pro Stock cars the NHRA was forced to cancel the Division 7 LODRS event at Firebird Int'l Raceway.
It has been reported, "NHRA and track officials discovered this past Friday the wrong traction compound was sent to the track and was used to prepare the racetrack the last two weeks.”
Deceglie speculated the problem was with the racetrack all along the day prior to the NHRA announcement at Firebird Raceway.
“What we know of what happened, the last four hundred of that racetrack is terrible,” said Deceglie. “Everybody was complaining about it. It's not a car issue. It wasn't out of the groove. If you look at my graph, I shifted the thing on time. The thing was going all the way down the racetrack, as soon as it hit those bumps out there it lost traction; the car just went up on its roof.
“From 800 foot on, there are problems with that race track. I don't know if they're prepping it differently. There is something going on with that racetrack.”
Something indeed. Attitude Apparel's Competitionplus.com is looking into just how a track could be prepped with the wrong product.
In the meantime, Deceglie's car owner, Nick Mitsos, has ordered a new race car, which won't slow down his Pro Stock efforts.
“It is going to be about 10 to 12 weeks on the new car, but we're already doing the updates on our old car, the Dodge Stratus,” Deceglie said. “We're going to run that vehicle in Gainesville. I know the new car was faster. It was a good car. I think it was a little better than what we have. We've just got to make better runs with this car to qualify in the upper half.”
The actions of his fellow competitors, following his wreck, gave Deceglie some small sense of comfort.
“It felt really good about it. If they would have continued running they would have collected more cars, and that's for sure. They could have hurt somebody, too.”
“It was like having black ice out there,” said Deceglie on the Friday after the destruction of his 2010 Dodge Avenger. “The car is a just about basically totaled.
“If it has given me a slight, slight indication it was going to do anything like that I would have clutched it or pulled the parachutes on it. I've driven cars faster than a pro stock car and been way out of shape, much more than I was in that run, and this car just flipped. The video tells you the car went .975 to the 60 foot. I was two thousandths, or four thousandths, of Mike Edward's run to the 660 mark.
The Dodge Avenger driven by Vinny Deceglie was only in its second race when it unexpectedly crashed. A week later the Firebird Raceway LODRS event, competition was cancelled and officials believe the root of the traction problems could be traced to the application of the wrong traction compound for the last two weeks.
“It was like having black ice out there,” said Deceglie on the Friday after the destruction of his 2010 Dodge Avenger. “The car is a just about basically totaled.
“If it has given me a slight, slight indication it was going to do anything like that I would have clutched it or pulled the parachutes on it. I've driven cars faster than a Pro Stock car and been way out of shape, much more than I was in that run, and this car just flipped. The video tells you the car went .975 to the 60 foot. I was two thousandths, or four thousandths, of Mike Edward's run to the 660 mark.
“I was on a good run.”
A simple mistake has cost Deceglie a very expensive race car. Little more than a week after Deceglie and Gordie Rivera spent unintended time on the roofs of their respective Pro Stock cars the NHRA was forced to cancel the Division 7 LODRS event at Firebird Int'l Raceway.
It has been reported, "NHRA and track officials discovered this past Friday the wrong traction compound was sent to the track and was used to prepare the racetrack the last two weeks.”
Deceglie speculated the problem was with the racetrack all along the day prior to the NHRA announcement at Firebird Raceway.
“What we know of what happened, the last four hundred of that racetrack is terrible,” said Deceglie. “Everybody was complaining about it. It's not a car issue. It wasn't out of the groove. If you look at my graph, I shifted the thing on time. The thing was going all the way down the racetrack, as soon as it hit those bumps out there it lost traction; the car just went up on its roof.
“From 800 foot on, there are problems with that race track. I don't know if they're prepping it differently. There is something going on with that racetrack.”
Something indeed. Attitude Apparel's Competitionplus.com is looking into just how a track could be prepped with the wrong product.
In the meantime, Deceglie's car owner, Nick Mitsos, has ordered a new race car, which won't slow down his Pro Stock efforts.
“It is going to be about 10 to 12 weeks on the new car, but we're already doing the updates on our old car, the Dodge Stratus,” Deceglie said. “We're going to run that vehicle in Gainesville. I know the new car was faster. It was a good car. I think it was a little better than what we have. We've just got to make better runs with this car to qualify in the upper half.”
The actions of his fellow competitors, following his wreck, gave Deceglie some small sense of comfort.
“It felt really good about it. If they would have continued running they would have collected more cars, and that's for sure. They could have hurt somebody, too.”
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