Rules: Do Not Break, Bend or Mutilate.
The cliché, “rules are meant to be broken,” really hits home in motorsports. The recent NASCAR gas-spiking brouhaha is just the latest in a long list of cheating incidents that have plagued that venue. As a matter of fact, in the first NASCAR “Strictly Stock” car race, held in Charlotte, North Carolina, on June 19, 1949. Driver Glenn Dunnaway took the checkered flag after leading laps 151 through 200 in the 200-lap event. He also lapped the field three times. But, Dunnaway was stripped of his victory when the chief tech inspector discovered that Dunnaway’s Ford had modified rear springs for better traction—an old bootlegger trick.
 The Gilmore, then Mobilgas, Economy Run was held from 1936 to 1968. Entrants worked within--and outside--the rules, much like NASCAR and drag racing, then and now, to get a jump on the competition. |
NASCAR isn’t alone when it comes to cheating (’course, it’s not cheating if you don’t get caught.) Name any sport or any form of competition, and you’ll surely find at least some competitors cooking up an unfair advantage over the pack.
While “cheating” stories make for a fun read, I have to hand it to the guys who are smart enough to pick up an advantage working within the rules. One example that comes to mind is the old Mobilgas Economy Run. This deal started way back in 1936 as the Gilmore Economy Run—a half day event from LA to Yosemite. The route was known months in advance, so the teams had ample opportunity to practice and optimize their run.
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After the war, the event was changed to the Mobilgas Economy run, and the route was expanded to the Grand Canyon over a day and a half. In 1952, the Run became a 3-day event, from LA to Sun Valley. And the route was made known only two weeks in advance. While the event was under the auspices of Mobilgas, it was run by the Triple A. The auto club selected and impounded all the cars entered by their manufacturers. They taped and sealed all the joints in the fuel line, safety-wired and sealed every conceivable bolt, and sealed the hood.
There were pages and pages of fine-print rules that the competitors had to adhere to. An auto club observer rode in each car, and noted the driver’s actions, odometer reading and the time in a log. The Triple A “held court” at the end of each day, and recorded rule infractions subjected the offender to a points penalty.
Jack Smith, worked for Studebaker as a young engineer at the time. He eventually went on to Chrysler, where he became product planner for mid-size Plymouths. He was responsible for putting together the GTX and Road Runner packages for the division.
