@Rick Schmidt wrote:
It could have been Jansen starting in the back (because A.J
Foyt forgot to tell him (personally) to be on grid for qualifying) laying back 10 spots to get a run at it, resulting in passing 6-8 karts before turn 1. It could be Mike under fire right now if one of those 6 – 8 karts would have pulled out to pass! Right?
First of all AJ would have taken me back to the woodshed (again) and slapped me upside the head and said, “pull your head out your butt son!”
Second, nowhere in the rules does it say I can’t lay back for the start. I told the next to last qualifier what my intent was and nowhere in the rules does it say “you can’t do that”. It does, however, say there is NO passing until the green light is shown. I passed when the light was shown and not sooner. That’s called head’s up driving.
Had I gotten more agressive and tried to pass more karts into the first corner and caused a melee (because I couldn’t stop in time) then that’s headupbutt driving. There’s a HUGE difference. Slotting into the traffic and positioned for the remaining corners and laps is what it’s about. Again, NO RACE WAS EVER WON IN THE FIRST CORNER OR FIRST LAP
Headupbutt is when you miss your qualifying session. I hurt no one but myself doing that but I had enough sense and driving acumen to know it would & could be overcome in the heat race by KNOWING when to be aggressive and finishing. 8)