Controversial Use
Delay box use was very controversial in the 1980s and 1990s, with the peak of controversy occurring around 1993-1994. This continues to this day but the controversy has dropped substantially from its peak. Delay box use became controversial because experienced racers lost some advantage they had enjoyed over the younger, less experienced rivals. Veteran racers who were against the use of delay boxes complained to race track owners and drag racing sanctioning bodies that the delay boxes were unfair. Delay box usage does give a less experienced driver reaction time accuracy improvements that more experienced racers took time and money to learn. These old time racers said that delay box usage constituted cheating. The term "cheater boxes" was heard at the drag races for many years. Track owners around the United States began creating separate races on the same race day at their facility by dividing racers into two groups or classes, a box class and no-box class. "Some" racers began concealing the delay box and entering the no-box class, therefore actually cheating.
Delay box use was initially thought to be limited to transbrake equipped cars. Delay box use by motorcycle drag racers lagged far behind those in use by the car racers. These factors contributed to the delay box controversy because some racers felt their chosen equipment was incompatible with the use of delay boxes. This was untrue and educating the bracket racing community took time.
A significant reason motorcycle drag racers lagged in implementing delay box electronics is due to the wide variety of driveline configurations on dragbikes. Of the successful bracket racing drag race cars, most had automatic transmissions equipped with transbrakes. Innovation quickly adapted the delay box to cars with dual line locks (devices which locked the brakes on all four wheels electrically), and manual transmissions with the use of a hydraulic throw out bearing to hold the clutch plates apart, and also adapted to dragbikes that used pneumatics or hydraulics to actuate the clutch release, or centrifugal dragbike clutches known as "slider clutches" that engage with the engine's revolutions per minute (RPM) increase. When using a delay box on a motorcycle with a slider clutch, the engine RPM is electronically controlled (capped) by an electronic rev limiter connected to a delay box. When the delay box times out, the engine is allowed to freely rev-up engaging the clutch and launching the motorcycle downtrack. As you can see, delay boxes can be used on both cars and motorcycles. A transmission brake is not required to use a delay box for drag racing. When racers were educated to this, and also shown ways to utilize delay boxes on motorcycles, there was some alleviation of the early controversy.
Delay boxes improve starting line reaction time accuracy for drivers. Delay boxes do not do this autonomously. Driver interaction is still required to launch the vehicle and driver skill is still required to achieve a favorable reaction time. A small number of drag racers took to augmenting delay boxes, or paid technologists for circuitry to do so. These racers concealed customized home made electronic circuits within the delay box enclosure in a stealthy manner which did violate some drag racing rules. The modifications involved circuitry which enhanced the race car's Elapse Time consistency. Vehicle Elapsed Time is a separate, but equally critical, variable to winning a bracket race. The unethical, hidden home brew circuits performed closed loop control of a drag race car's Elapsed Time ( E.T.). This type of electronic vehicle control was prohibited because it violates rules by automatically performing on-board tasks not triggered by the driver. This circuitry became inserted into a commercial delay box enclosure by the end user as a preferred hiding place. Such home brew circuitry created a "flare up" of the controversy related to electronics in drag racing, additionally, and unfairly tarnishing the delay box. Had these unethical, home brew circuits been hidden elsewhere (or had never been created), the delay box most likely would have been spared regulatory action.
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