Great minds think alike...Originally Posted by mitchntx
What about the hood ornament? :shock:
PS- Not my golf cart. :lol:
Great minds think alike...What about the hood ornament? :shock:
PS- Not my golf cart. :lol:
Pretty black and white to me. Your car did not have a tail light. Doesnt matter when it broke, it didnt have one at the time it was called in by a corner worker. Automatic black flag for noncompliance with the CCR in a 100% rules enforcement situation. Feel free to stand on that alleged leg of yours post race with an appeal, the race is over and at best you would've gotten the position you were in at the time, which wasnt third. Sounds to me like you're taking advantage of exactly what you're advocating shouldnt happen.All non-formula cars must have at least one (1) operating red brake light visible from the rear of the car, unless otherwise stated as optional (or prohibited) by the specific class rules.
Also, wasnt it you that stated that asking people to volunteer their time without compensation was ludicrous, yet that is your solution to having sufficient resources to conduct your pro league level tech inspections? So, which is it...can we ask for volunteers or cant we? 8) Besides, that is only one aspect of why we cant...the time commitment for the racers is equally if not more important. At nats we spent over 1.5hrs in post race tech. You really want to spend 3hrs out of every race weekend in post race tech for our two races? You really think that will attract drivers? I dont, and neither does NASA.
Al Fernandez
i called two times yesterday and you said you wouldnt take my calls. ball is in your court. i'm an hour behind you time zone wise.
817-301-5224.
I was referring to Instructors who spend another 20 to 30 minutes in a car usually right after our race in our race suits...so if you'd like to compare YOU taking the suit off and telling war stories from the last race to someone WORKING in the heat...that's your gig. BTW, the top 5 cars/racers are already in Tech...form a "tech team", AI inspects CMC, CMC inspects AI...problem solved. As far as asking, try it sometime, you might be surprised by the response of the great racers in this group. Please don't base your expectations on what I would probably tell you or what you THINK I would tell you. You've asked for solutions in the past, there ya go.
Good to know on YOUR interpretation of the brake light rule...however, I'd have to flip a coin as to what your NEXT ruling on that rule would be possibly based on time of day or weather condition...?
Al, my final point on ALL of this is I for one, and probably SEVERAL other AI racers don't have the confidence that you or Todd would choose to enforce 2010 AI rule 2.0, paragraph two, if that situation ever presented itself again even though I am sure that rule was written specifically in response to this year's start. That alone prevents me from supporting ANY decision you guys make, and maybe you can respect that. Other's mileage may vary with that one but when it comes right down to it, I don't trust or have faith in you to be my AI director. If that really is the NASA way, they REALLY need to re-iterate that in the rules CLEARLY instead of after the fact, AFTER racers spend money to be here. Comes across as a bait and switch and the attitude conveyed by the directors reinforces the perception of "look, you have a CMC/AI car, why would you leave? so just shut up and either race or don't...we keep getting more suckers to race with us anyway". Hell, in the dirt track world, that would probably get your tires slashed in the parking lot! but that ain't NASA I guess.
Sorry Glenn, seemed like you were talking about today...in reality, I like it when directors finally put things in writing so there isn't public/private conversations. You know I'm all about the black and white!
Ah, fugg it.
Nope, not really interested either unless you guys get so many cars that you have a cash pay out. I'd have to buy a cool shirt just to think about it. :lol:have you been to a race in Texas in August?!
No issue with shutting it off. It runs 220-240 all race when it's that hot depending on traffic and I have to remind the dyno operator to turn the fan on before he starts pulling. First pull was 210, last pull was 240+. :shock: I just can't find the motivation to buy a bigger radiator. Stock rads FTW!
And, I don't remember who's hood ornament that was, but it didn't come with the golf cart. :lol:
To bad, golf cart rentals at Mid-O would be a premium if it were.
Today was a fun day on the forum. I'm glad we resolved everything and that everyone is happy.
Looking forward to a productive 2010 season where rules are rules, the passing is clean, and Mosty keeps his wrong hole and stick to himself. :lol:
If you make Hallett, you're going to need one. However, dousing yourself with 3 cold bottles of water on grid works pretty good for the 20 minute races...then hose down with 3 more post race.
In August 06', burch cut his head getting out of his car in tech and the whole paddock panicked. We sat in our cars in 105 degree heat, 60% humidity and cars running for like 20 minutes. My shoe melted to the floor board. ended up walking around with an 8lb bag of ice on my shoulders for 4 hours and was a space cadet till about 8pm. Heat exhaustion is a PITA!!!!
For the prices some tracks charge for carts, they SHOULD come with "hood ornaments"!
Ah, fugg it.
Well what do you know Matt, it was you that said asking for people to work without compensation is retarded. I do ask for exactly that though. Every race weekend I ask guys to help with whatever needs to be done. Hell, I've even asked you once or twice when you didnt have your car. Guess I am being retarded...or am I since apparently now it is not only not retarded, it is what you're suggesting as the solution for having enough human resources at tech?To ask someone to "help out" without compensation for doing so is as retarded as having our regional website done and then not paying for it.
Tech is a necessary evil of our hobby because we all want to know we're going into a fair fight. That said, I am confident nobody except apparently you wants to spend 1.5hrs plus after each race in the tech shed either tech-ing other cars or disassembling their car for it to be inspected. If that doesnt meet your expectations of how rigorous tech should be, fine, duly noted, but until NASA HQ tells me to spend that kind of time and have that kind of vehicle disassembly, it isnt going to happen. Personally I am damn glad because I would much rather be in the paddock chatting about the race with my friends than in the tech area taking apart my car to prove it is legal.
As far as enforcing AI rules 2.0 paragraph two...well, that section is actually all about good sportsmanship. If you want I might be able to dig up the email or PM I sent you a while back advising you that you would be sanctioned under NASA's good sportsmanship rules if you didnt cut out whatever it was you were doing at the time. I know of several cases where drivers were actually penalized under good sportsmanship rules. What's your point?
Al Fernandez
Al, consider this for a moment as a comparison why the "Nasa Model" is out of date or out of touch with today. I know you haven't been to one of these events so please just hear me out.
24 hours of lemons.
The rule book could be printed on 2 8.5x11 sheets of paper, however it is growing for safety clarifications. there are no clear definitions of what penalties will be assessed for certain acts of hoonage (actual word they use) or worries about tear downs for non-compliance.
However, 500 drivers showed up at the last single houston event, about 1/2 were NASA/SCCA racers, other 1/2 don't own race cars and have NEVER been on track before or don't race....a small few have left NASA even and race there, and even more have probably left the SCCA. This series has been on good morning america and seems to have regular 4 or 5 page coverage in GRM.....
Now, consider penalties assessed at these events for passing under yellow or contact. Pretty much the only rules that get enforced...because those are really the only two rules. these penalties involve such things as tar and feathering, sitting in a plastic dog house for 30 minutes, stripping down to the nomex and reading a bible of hoonage on the hood of your car, prancing around the paddock in a diaper in a congo line with the rest of your team or the best, having racoon piss poured onto your hand while wearing lipstick running around the paddock looking for a stuffed teddy bear....oh, BTW, your race car could be crushed mid way through the race too. Average entry cost per driver on a 4 driver team runs in the 600 to 800 dollar range, most teams are now running 3 or 4 events per year. The series has grown from 6 events in 2007 to something like 24 events this next year. there has even been a sister series called chump car started with something like 14 events next year. Of those 38 events, I think there are 8 or 10 in NASATX's back yard.
My point, is where is the fear of rules enforcement in those series? How are they growing so fast? Why is NASA car count down? these are all questions You, Todd and National SHOULD be asking themselves. Is it safe to ask if the fear that strict enforcement directly equals to lower car counts is still valid or not.
Is it so wrong for me to point out that the NASA model is probably 5 years out of date and could safely use a new model of strict rule enforcement? Is it so wrong for you to even try and consider it? If so, then yeah, jerk my ticket man. I'll go play at HPDE's and run lemons events. this seems to be the normal response for people that question why anyway so I suppose I shouldn't ask for you to consider change now. yes we are all happy we don't get torn down after every race, but you make it seem like enforcing the rules NASA took so long to write is taboo and runs people off, personally, I've seen the direct opposite. Weren't these rules designed to steal people from the SCCA....they have people willing to be torn down and don't seem to be hurting for car counts. Trying to tear me down and villify me for pointing out how things could be better with very little effort or blowing out of proportion what racers who challenge you say takes no steps forward for making things better. The perception (there's that word again) is that you dismiss anything that requires more effort of our directors and routinely turn it into an excuse validated by "we are just here to have fun". Mitch might call that a cop out?
BTW, the same guys that stayed late at the ECR saturday night BBQ were the hardest partying wack jobs in the paddock at lemons....surrounded by 2 to 300 other wackjobs eating crawfish and drinking beer till 3am.
I do agree this thread has been good to some extent, but it has also shown the true nature of some folks. Yes, tempers flare, but when some of the best ideas and offers of making things better are presented, instead of moving forward with some of the ideas, it turns into a "he said, they said" muck slinging contest usually ending in a banning, editing post or deleted post. Why? History of this group has shown that every time we have ruffled feathers, usually 3 or 4 events later, someone sees the light and things actually improve.
Anyway, do what You feel You need to do AL...all I ask is that you give 10 minutes to consider things COULD need to change. Do it for your customers, current, past and future!
Ah, fugg it.
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