Having worked as a Pro starter recently....
The starter is suppose to reset the shot clock immediately after the launch
of the previous cars, but wait until they pass the tree before resetting the
lights so the drivers have an opportunity to see if the lights are green or
red. In essence there should only be 25 seconds between the launch of the
previous pair until the siren bleeps for the tree countdown on next pair.
There is usually a 2 - 3 second delay between the siren bleep and the first
yellow tree light; this is controlled by the starter in manual mode. It
takes 1.5 - 2 seconds for the tree to come down, so at most there should only
be 30 seconds max between launches if everything goes properly.
Remember that the shot clock was reduced to 20 seconds for the Pro/National
Series format in 1999 specifically to speed things up and to emphasize the
PRO in ProSolo by coupling it with the elimination of chocking vehicles at
the line by outside help. Based on several years of observation, people who
have their vehicles chocked rather than use the handbrake seem to be more
likely to need the full 25 seconds. We went back to the original 25/chocking
format this year.
Mark Sipe
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