[ponyakr]

how many off you have seen those old pics & hi lite reels from the early days of drag racing before electronic timers? they show very atheletic dudes jumping straight up what looks like 4 or 5 feet(thats not possible is it?), tucking their feet behind them & waving the flag waving the flag wildly. but it didn't happen like that at our track. T.J. & i discussed this & this is the best description we can come up with of exactly what took place. when 2 cars came up to run, the guys & gals at the scoring table would look up the spots in books provided by nhra for that purpose. at this time i assume there were still lots of tracks using flags. the scorers would then calulate the distance of the spot between cars. i suppose at least 1 of them had to be good at math, 'cause i don't think hand held calculators were out yet. when they got the results, they passed it on to the flagman who walked back out on the track to the point of the spot.(for those that were marked off) then he'd put the point of his flag stick on the correct paint mark. then with the other hand he'd direct the car getting the spot to come forward til his tire was centered, even with the paint mark. then he'd indicate for the driver to stop by clinching his fist. then he'd back up far enuff for the driver with the spot to get a good view. then he'd point, 1st to 1 driver then the other telling them to get ready. now, right here i remember it 1 way & T.J. remembers it another. i think the flagman kept the end of the stick on the track surface, then, after he had pointed at both drivers, brought the flag up to start the race. T.J. thinks he held the flag up, then brought it down to start. you'll have to excuse us, that was nearly 40 years ago. my how time flys when your havin fun. now, what happened if somebody jumped the flag? in pinks all out if you jump, your out. but back then, they'd just make you rerun it. i suppose if you did it more than once you lost, but i don't remember that happening. i'd love to see the figures they used to determine the spots back then. we didn't keep any records of it. if anybody has any, or knows how to get any info on this from '73, please let me know. this wasn't heads up racing, but it was definately no breakout racing. nobody had a clue how quick or fast you were going, 1st car to cross the finish line won. the bad boys today would've loved this.