Jim Dunn says the driver can only slow the car down by making a mistake, they can't speed it up. I believe him, he has a few decades of experience, still going at it today.
Obviously it's basically true, that the car has to be capable 1st for the driver to be able to do it, but seems to be a weird point to bring up and argue about then no driver should get any recognition for any accomplishment.
If they lower a basketball hop to 3 feet off the ground a lot more people would be able to be NBA stars :)