Just wanted to add a little more factual data to the discussion. As a
previous HS competitor, I know all of the involved parties and chatted with
them as this all went down. I also went over to the information tent to
view the protest forms and PC results forms.
Correction #1: To the person who claimed that the original protest was only
on cam timing and not ignition, and that the protestor was "pulling things
out of his ass", you are incorrect. The original protest form lists four
items to check, 1) Ignition timing, 2) cam timing 3) something about vacuum
hoses all being present and correct, and 4) head and block deck thickness.
The second one also had some detail about checking cam cover, cam gears, and
other items that may allow for additional ignition timing to be gained by
moving the indicators.
Correction #2: The infraction was not just timing. The results form lists
that the timing was out of spec and also that a vacuum hose was found to be
disconnected.
Additional info: The protest on Mark's car was due to the various plastic
body pieces that were missing. This included the chin spoiler, the plastic
engine undertray and the mud flap. The results form indicated that the
pieces came off from cone damage at the Pro Solo finale. Seems logical. The
local Honda dealer did not have the parts. Mark aparrently arranged to
borrow the parts from another competitor to statisfy the PC.
On the issue of penalties, I learned something about the PC as lead by
Protest Chief, Roger "the famous" Johnson. Roger is a big proponent of
using the full range of penalties. This is in deference to previous
generations of commitees that lived by the creed, "no illegal car should
finish ahead of a legal one". Then, it became an issue of deciding whether
an infraction was "material" or not, and the degree had nothing to do with
it. You still threw out "mud flaps" protests, but it left no range for
other things. I personally agree with Roger's new stance, and wish it had
been there when we had to deal with the Meiritz/Despelder CSP head issue
some years ago.
As for Gerry Terranova, I understand people's natural tendency to be
skeptical of folks they've never head of. But before protesting, most
people also consult others and if they did so, there are plenty of folks out
there that know of Gerry. I've run against him for over ten years, both in
Maryland and here in Texas. I'm sure Mark Allen knew who he was and also
Russ Blume and Ron Williams. The latter have even run events he's been at,
albeit when Gerry's car was still ES. Gerry's quite a good seat-of-the
pants driver and has more time in CRX's and Civics than I do. And that's a
lot. :-) I saw this one coming when the Civic Si moved to HS and Gerry
decided to go to Nats. He's worked extra-hard this year and he really
deserved this one. Way to go Gerry!!
--Andy Hollis
PS: Protests are a necessary part of this sport. Its how things get policed
and the process must exist and be utilized so that people all interpret the
rules the same way. I emplore everyone to give both protestors and
protestees the benefit of the doubt and not jump to conclusions. And
getting judgemental about it ("cheater!" or "weenie!") does not serve any
positive purpose.
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