|
|
|
|
Pinks
|
| |
|
| |
Pinks is a franchise series of television programs on Speed Channel based on drag racing. The original debuted in 2005, with the spinoff Pinks: All Out following in 2006. The name of the show, and the tagline "Lose the race - lose your ride", refer to common slang of pink slips representing a vehicle's title document recording ownership, and the derivative street-racing phrase, "racing for pinks," meaning a race in which the winner earns the loser's car.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Pinks' Start a new discussion about 'Pinks' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
Pinks is a franchise series of television programs on Speed Channel based on drag racing. The original debuted in 2005, with the spinoff Pinks: All Out following in 2006. The name of the show, and the tagline "Lose the race - lose your ride", refer to common slang of pink slips representing a vehicle's title document recording ownership, and the derivative street-racing phrase, "racing for pinks," meaning a race in which the winner earns the loser's car. (In California, until recently, the vehicle title was on a pink slip of paper.)
The series airs on the Speed Channel in the United States and Canada, and also airs on Fox Sports 3 in Australia.
Competitors compete in a drag race (although in the original Pinks, there was a stepladder shifter kart race in Series 1) in the franchise. The formats differ between the franchise's formats.
Pinks
In the original series, the drag race has provisions of the winner claiming ownership of the losing vehicle.
The race format has been changed slightly through each season:
- Early Series 1 (2005): 2 out of 3 races
- Later Series 1-Series 4 (2005-2007): 3 out of 5 races
- Series 5 (2008): 4 out of 7 races
As the show starts, the host, staff, and contestants sign a binding contract that will transfer the legal title of the two cars in question to Pullin Television, the production company of the show. Since the production company owns the vehicles it guarantees that the show will award the titles to both cars to the winner of the race and eliminates the chance that the loser will refuse to forfeit his/her car after the race.
Negotiations
Each team is allowed to inspect the opposing team's car to attempt to assess its performance before negotiations for the first race, or in cases where the negotiations are not held for the first race, before the second. Each team chooses a negotiator to act as its spokesperson to discuss the terms of each round. In recent seasons, the first round of each match is often held without negotiation except for terms over the use of nitrous oxide, and features a heads-up start (each car side by side with no time or length handicap)
Negotiations generally deal with starting position, similar to bracket racing (except it is negotiated in car lengths, not seconds), nitrous use, and other such issues, the purpose being to handicap the perceived stronger car and create an even race. Starting in Series 5, negotiating car setup for bracket racing times are permitted. After the negotiations (which can last considerably longer than what is shown), the cars are sent to the start line for the burnout.
Race
Prior to each race, the cars are allowed to perform a burnout, after which they are staged according to the negotiated starting positions (if any). If a track official finds suspicious fluids leaking on the track, he may order the car shut down and the round automatically forfeited to the opponent. If there are mechanical or weather questions, the race may be delayed. In some cases, a show taping may be called off if the weather prevents a full race from being filmed.
Pinks uses a street-race-style arm-drop start rather than the "Christmas Tree" electronic starting system used in modern drag racing. The show's signature start signal was devised by show creator and host Rich Christensen. Christensen points at the driver of the car on his right (left lane), waits for the driver to respond with a thumbs up, then drops that arm. Christensen then repeats this with the driver on his left (right lane). Next, Christensen raises both arms, waits for 2 - 5 seconds and then lowers his arms to start the race.
Officials, both from the show (since Series 2) and track, observe conditions and tape them for replay in case of false starts (leaving before the hands drop), race infractions (standard drag racing rules apply), and photo finishes. In the case of a photo finish, the video tape of the finish is brought to the start line to allow the teams to agree on the result.
Fouls
As in drag racing, the following are declared fouls on Pinks and the offender loses the round:
- Leaving before Christensen drops his hands. It is a clean start if the car moves once the hands begin dropping. Officials may use replay to verify the legality of a start. If a driver leaves as soon as the hand begins to drop from its highest point, a driver is said to have tree'd their opponent.
- If both cars jump, the first to jump loses (red light).
- Rich will often point at the offending lane if he spots the infraction.
- Crossing either boundary line
- Leaking fluid during staging
- Breaking down and not finishing the run
- Starting in Series 5, if negotiations call for bracket race rules, and one car clearly breaks out while the opponent does not break out, that can be grounds for disqualification.
- Technical advisors will determine time through the timing traps as the scoreboard is turned off, officials still have the ability to observe track timing through the electronic timing system.
- Times will be taken from standard points at the track and compared to the times from the vehicle's earlier races in order to see where the car "breaks out", with the timing of the racer's start taken into account. \
- The standard timing points in drag racing, excluding the 60-feet time (which Pinks does not use because of the nature of head starts), used by officials are at:
- 330 feet
- 660 feet
- 1,000 feet
- 1,320 feet
- It is important that times be compared all along the track as opposed to merely the finish line as a driver, once he has reason to believe he's going to win the race, can easily "pedal" or "fender" his opponent giving him smaller margin of victory, and a higher lap time.
Winning
The match ends when one driver has won the said number of rounds above (2, 3, or 4). After Christensen debriefs the two teams on the previous race, he announces the winner. He then hands the title of both cars to the race winner, and often the winner drives the loser's car down the strip after claiming the car by winning the match. A team may also concede because of a catastrophic breakdown. In the spirit of sportsmanship, such a win will often not include the loser's car and often calls for a rematch on a later episode, believing that they will not take the car unless it was a clear win on the track, and not by default.
Pinks: All Out
The popularity of the original show led to a full drag meet devised by the staff, with this title in 2006. The goal is to take over 400 cars, run them in trial runs to see which 16 cars will provide the most competitive racing, then race those 16 cars against each other, all in the course of one day.
Two seasons have aired on Speed, and a third season begins taping in November 2008.
Qualifying
As the show opens, a scene shows Rich Christensen discussing how many cars have filed for entry, usually between 250-450. As cars prepare to compete, they are inspected by track officials generally including technical advisors Charles Hendrickson, and former Pinks contestant turned technical advisor Brian Bossone, and cars are eliminated for problems that may lead to mechanical failure the most notable of which being fluids spilled onto the track, as that can take an hour or more to clean up so racing may resume.
Unless situations require altering the schedule (inclement weather), the cars take part in one pass per car, using the Christmas tree. This pass uses the Pro Tree (all three ambers light at the same time, then the green four-tenths later) instead of the Standard Tree (each amber five-tenths after the other), and with the track clocks running and scoreboards displaying time.
At the end of the session, the show officials then determine the most competitive field (not necessarily the fastest) by finding a grouping of cars whose race time are very close together. Those cars are asked to return to the strip for an additional timed run to ensure there is no sandbagging. This time, the clock displays are turned off so that only Pinks officials know the elapsed time of the cars. For these runs, the "Christmas tree" is turned off, and either Rich or Kail Christensen start the run with the show's signature arm-drop start. Sixteen cars, known as the "All Out 16", are then chosen by the producers to compete in the main portion of the competition. The cars are not formally bracketed, so the producers and technical officials may determine the race by car types, driver types, or any manner which they may choose. However the competition is generally limited to what the technical advisors (most notably Nate Pritchett with help from brother Adam Pritchett, and with council from Rich and Kael Christiansen) decide is the "most competitive" field. In many cases they will attempt to come up with something interesting to further qualify the field, for example a slower class being allowed to earn a spot in the final 16, but in every case the idea is to find a full class of at least 16 cars in which each car is running within a tenth to 2 tenths of a second of each other.
In both cases, the idea is to once again weed out teams that use the delay box, since the Pro Tree would throw off Sportsman racers whose reaction times are based on using a delay box (.500 or 1.000 seconds delay from throttle to launch), and the arm drop is based on a driver's reflexes, and not anything artificial.
The faster official time that is registered in the track computers will form the basis of the "dial-in" time which will be referenced during the race.
Some sessions (Milan (MI) Dragway and Sumit Motorsports Park) require the sixteen cars initially selected to "hold" their positions in 16 drag races where they would race against other formidable opponents.
Race
First round
Each pair of cars races a single race without negotiations, using the signature Pinks arm-drop start. The winner wins $1,000, while the loser is eliminated. Standard drag racing rules apply, with drivers being eliminated for infractions, and a breakout rule applies. If officials discover the winner of the race was running considerably faster than the fastest official time of the 16 cars, that car will be disqualified and the loser advances. Pinks technical advisor Nate Pritchett, with the aid of his brother Adam, will review elapsed times in the timing tower to ensure no violation of breakout rules apply. If a thumbs-down signal is given, the official has deemed a breakout violation, awarding the loser of the race the win. If two thumbs-up are given, the race is declared clean and the winner advances.
Second and third rounds
For each round leading up to the final, the driver's total cash winnings to that point ($1,000 to start the second round) may be used as betting money. Drivers may bet as much as they wish in each round. Titles and money that was not awarded for a victory may not be bet. In addition to advancing to the next round, the winner gets whatever money their opponent bet, if any.
During the 2007 round taped at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, all 16 All Out drivers agreed to bet all winnings for an "all in" tournament. No other taping has featured the all-in format.
Championship round
After the third round, the two remaining teams determine lane choice and betting. In many circumstances at this point Rich Christiansen will suggest the finalists duel for the prize money only. Then, the cars race in a best two-out-of-three match. Unless requested by a competitor because of a mechanical problem or in case of inclement weather, the cars must be driven back to the starting line on their own power between rounds and be staged for another race immediately. Once the cars are back at the staging area, the process for the next race begins immediately. This is referred to as "hot lapping".
The winner of the finals, in addition to any money bet by their opponent, also wins a $10,000 cash prize and a tool chest with tools valued at over $7,000 from NAPA Auto Parts.
The only exception to this format came during the February 17, 2007 taping at Palm Beach International Raceway. An excessive number of track incidents (oil downs, crashes, debris) slowed the process, where the main elimination rounds started after midnight. With excessively low temperatures when the semifinal rounds were to start after 2:15 AM, the race was called after the second round by mutual consent of the four drivers remaining because of lane conditions. All four drivers split the $10,000 evenly, and one driver, as chosen by the others, won the tool chest.
Sandbagging
The All Out format was created because of Rich Christensen’s displeasure with ‘sandbagging’ - feathering or decelerating to create a false elapsed time and hide actual performance - on the original Pinks. This format, where brothers and technical directors Adam and Nate Pritchett rigorously select a group of closely-matched cars, was made to provide the drama associated with closer racing.
To prevent sandbagging, if a car runs considerably faster than what they ran in practice during any elimination round, they are automatically disqualified ("Breakout"). Officials will be standing at the 1,000 and 1,320 foot markers to observe if a driver is sandbagging.
The show was originally to be titled "Ultimate Racer" but was later changed to the current "All Out" subtitle, a reference that the car is running at its maximum during the race.
Quick Eight
During taping sessions in 2007 and 2008, officials grew suspicious excessive sandbagging was taking place among racers. Some racers, the officials thought, were running slower times than their cars could run in an attempt to run "in the pack" where they predicted the crew would choose for the All Out 16.
In response to that, some 2008 rounds added a Quick Eight format, where the eight fastest cars would make one championship pass down the strip. The driver with the fastest elapsed time wins $10,000 and a second NAPA toolchest. In other rounds, the Quick Eight became a knockout round, with the eight fastest cars racing against each other in eliminations before the Pinks All Out 16. A pilot was taped during one 2008 taping for this concept to be split into a separate series.
Motorcycles in the Future
On October 4, 2008, Rich Christensen taped two pilots for future consideration, including a fourth concept of the [i]Pinks[/i] franchise, at Maryland International Raceway in Budds Creek, MD.
This version, involving motorcycles, featured two classes (Street Bikes and Pro Elapsed Time) of motorcycles. A Pinks All Out 16 was formed from each class. Each class races, Pinks-style, in eliminations to determine their own winner. The winners of each class will participate in a classic Pinks best 4 out of 7 race, complete with classic rules (negotiations, et al) where the winner wins a new custom motorcycle.
Staff
The show is hosted by Rich Christensen, who also employs his cousin Kail as an official. Former contestants Charles Hendrickson and Nathan Pritchett (the only person to have run matches with both a car and a motorcycle) are assigned to each team as technical advisors. Gavin Jerome is the roving public address announcer. Former contestant Brian Bossone has also been utilized as a technical adviser.
Attendance
Normally attendance at live tapings is high, with amateur races and concerts (usually featuring The Nadas, who perform the original show's ending theme "Walk Away") bookending the televised races.
In the June 29-30, 2007 taping of Pinks: All Out at Milan (MI) Dragway, 33,000 spectators attended the taping with 350 cars attempting to compete for the 16 slots.
On December 3, 2007, the 400 entries for a June 7, 2008 taping of Pinks: All Out at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, were filled in 12 minutes.
On January 6, 2008, the 400 entries for a July 25, 2008 taping of Pinks: All Out at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey, were filled in under 1 minute.
Production
The show is produced by Pullin Television
Original music is composed and performed by Max Carl
External links
- at EpisodeWorld.com
- at Pinks.tv
|
| |
|
|
