7/18/06
SMARTEN UP, DON’T DUMB DOWN
Jok, I think you are missing the boat on this one. Calling for the elimination of parts that have been around forever, like starting line controllers, is just catering to the most ignorant of the racer class. Same goes for requiring color coding and labeling of wires. All this does is make it a PITA for already built cars. Either you know what to look for or you don't.
Every two or three years this cheating stuff starts again. The people making the allegations usually can't tell a transistor from a tamale. If you want to fix this just require that the people bitching put up a protest fee and if nothing is found the racer being protested gets the money. No money, no inspections, period. The usual complaint about this is the inspectors don't know what to look for. This may be true in some cases, but the people bitching know even less. My parents taught me at an early age, if you don't know what you are talking about, shut the hell up.
Seems to me if you can't make a protest where you have some knowledge about what you are protesting you should be thrown out on your butt minus the protest fee. Car "didn't sound right" doesn't cut it.
I'm really getting tired of racetrack owners, the NHRA, etc. catering to the lowest common denominator among the racers. When you cater to the ignorant you do not enlighten the ignorant but rather just create more ignorance.
Ron Burke
CLARIFICATION OF BUTCHER INCIDENT
Jok, I enjoy reading your columns. In your most recent one regarding the disqualification of Chris Butcher at Tri-State Dragway in Ohio, you admit that you got your information from various message boards. There is a lot more to the story than what was posted by the
keyboard crew chiefs who were 500 miles away from the incident.
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True, the evidence that convicted Butcher was only circumstantial, but there was a lot more to it than was posted. Just as Bill Bader, Jr. banned the “Dirty Dozen” based on interviews,study of run sheets, questionable equipment and wiring, and behavior of drivers during runs, there was a multitude of circumstantial evidence that led to the disqualification. The tach wire in the delay box was not the grounds for disqualification, it was one piece of circumstantial evidence.
I race at Tri-State on a regular basis, and the tech inspection there is as good as any divisional or national event. They do not play favorites and will not compromise on outdated safety gear, as they do at most of the other local tracks. In comparison, the tracks that Butcher competes at on a regular basis (Clay City, Bluegrass, and Lake Cumberland) have NO inspection whatsoever. Racers get their run card at the gate and go straight to the staging lanes. Tri-State is the same track and the same tech inspector that ordered Rich Matty, Jr. to remove the “Race Analyser” from his car back in 1993.
Maybe the decision to disqualify Butcher doesn’t seem so crazy, now.
Charley Gall
