If your name is Tony and you race at Las
Vegas, bypassing the scales after a good run isn’t a recommended
action. Last year Tony Pedregon had a 4.79 run thrown out and that
caused him to DNQ after 114 consecutive starts. Pedregon complained
that he was conducting business as usual.
Tony Schumacher said the same thing Sunday as he bypassed the scales
after beating Melanie Troxel in the second round of the $100,000-to-win
Technicoat Shootout. NHRA officials denied that claim and disqualified
the defending world champion and reinstated Troxel.
Schumacher alleges that he stopped and offered to weigh.
“There’s a green light and a red-light at almost every track scales
that we race at,” Schumacher said. “After we passed the scales, I got
out to do the number one deal and Rich said, ‘Hey you passed the
scales.”
“We had been 40 pounds over all day and I said, ‘There are my guys, if
you want to weigh them, then grab them and weigh. Graham Light asked me
why I passed the scales and I told him that I had told Rich to grab my
guys if he wanted them to weigh.”