Darrell,
I'm not knocking your efforts to make inroads or push the boundaries. We
all prefer to live as close to the fence as is comfortable. Personally,
I'm not comfortable making waves, just don't like confrontations.
When we first appeared on the Salt with our present car, at Speedweek ,
no problem, we didn't get noticed because we didn't go very fast. At the
World of Speed we started to get it sorted out and drew a little
attention I guess, because when we arrived at the World Finals I was
immediately told that our car was illegal because of the altered wheel
wells. (Someone had said that the wheel well is part of the quarter
panel, so altering the wheel well was altering the quarter panel which
was not allowable.) We could only run for time!
Here I did get confrontive. We had built the car with the rules and
present running cars in mind. (George Field's car was running wheels
tucked into the confines of the body.) After a bit of discussion it was
decided that I had a good argument, so I was allowed to run the class
and the next year the rules stated that it was an allowable
modification.
You see, I am not against your trying something different. But, keep in
mind, on the Salt, the tech committee is God and the rule book is their
Holy Bible. It would be best to have this sorted out with them before
appearing in impound with much at stake. Good Luck!!
Tom
"Ferguson, Darrell" wrote:
>
> I'm just trying to figure out which way to go! I left drag racing to move to
> a less restrictive form of racing (SCTA). I have heard others on the list
> echo similar sentiments regarding the NHRA and how many racers despise what
> they have come to represent in the name of hot rodding. It all goes back to
> how the rules are interpreted. I have received at least 5 DIFFERENT personal
> interpretations of the rules regarding a rear spoiler in the altered class.
> Again, whenever there is a gray area, how does each person read the rule?
> For a competitor who already has a rear spoiler of a particular design,
> he'll read the rule in his favor. I get the impression that there will be a
> rule change, or clarification, in one direction or another, regarding
> Spoilers on both Altereds and Competition Coupes for the 2000 season. I have
> seen rules changed to allow competitors to try new ideas that were
> previously illegal for the altered class in the past. Many have suggested we
> take that approach, but again, our spoiler is not illegal as I see it and
> therefore didn't even think twice about lobbying for a rule change. We're
> not trying to cheat, or break the rules, and if I had something to hide, I
> certainly wouldn't have put pictures of anything questionable on the BLACK
> RADON ENGINEERING Homepage. We haven't even teched our car yet, and the
> controversy we're generating is only from a couple of pictures.
> Unfortunately I feel as though we're already off to a great start making
> friends with the SCTA Inspectors, and other members of this list. At the
> rate we're going here at BLACK RADON, we'll be racing with no rear spoiler
> at all, or be forced to run for time only. I guess my point is that the
> people that I idolize in the world of motorsports are those who consistently
> think outside the box, people who push the boundaries to break new ground.
> Along those lines, my brother, father and I want to bring that attitude with
> us to the salt and I get the impression it's already hurting us.
>
> Darrell Ferguson
> BLACK RADON ENGINEERING
> # 939 BBFALT
> http://my.cybersoup.com/blackradon <http://my.cybersoup.com/blackradon>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Thomas E. Bryant [SMTP:saltracer@awwwsome.com]
> Sent: Monday, November 15, 1999 3:03 PM
> To: Ferguson, Darrell
> Cc: 'Jim Dincau'; dferguso@ebmail.gdeb.com;
> boogiewoogie12@hotmail.com; land-speed@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: Rules
>
> I understand that a tag in an early NHRA Rule Book was: "If it
> doesn't
> say you can, you can't." Just another way of looking at the rules!
>
> Tom
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