Jon Prevo wrote:
> I will concede that point. _I_ certainly have no idea how to
make it
> fairer. You obviously have a very emotional position here.
I just don't see how anybody can claim that one of the two
remaining forms of motorsports (drag racing being the other) in
which it is still possible to compete in your street ride has
somehow artifically stacked the deck to favor rich kids. I know
too many blue-collar types who compete and win - all the way to
the highest levels - to buy that.
> Jay, you drive _my_ dream car. I have trouble seeing you
playing
> stickball in the street for lack of a place to play or the
right
> equipment.
Then it might surprise you to know that I bought that car in 1987
for $4500.00, paid for it on a two year note, and that my present
_total_ capital cost, including the trailer, is less than $15k.
Even after I'm done with a fresh motor, it'll be well south of
$20k.
> I am having trouble understanding why this is such an
> emotional issue for you.
It's funny to me to see one group saying that Stock doesn't allow
you to do _enough_ to your car, while another group says with
equal conviction that Stock lets you do too much. Some of the
specifics of Stock (for example, the front swaybar allowance and
the grandfathered braided brake line rule) only make sense in a
cockeyed historical sort of way, but they aren't substantial cost
items.
Stock also used to allow balancing of internal engine parts and
port matching, but those allowances were (understandably)
eliminated around 1992. Most of the non-original stuff that is
presently allowed in Stock is there specifically to accommodate
normal, non-compeitition maintenance practices. I can see some
validity in objections to being allowed to adjust your suspension
outside of factory specs (if the car is adjustable to begin
with), but that's not really much of a cost issue either. There's
no workable way to prevent somebody who wants to gold-plate
everything on his car from spending whatever money he wants. And,
IMHO, you're fully entitled to spend whatever you like on autox.
It is entertainment after all, and if you want to autocross
instead of tooling around on your yacht, who am I to object?
Jay "estate tax reform won't help my kids a bit" Mitchell
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