"Jay Mitchell" <jemitchell@compuserve.com> wrote:
> If you can't get them DSQ'ed, then you can't run them off. That sounds a
> lot like Dennis Grant and his SM stuff. You don't get to decide
> the rules for a class just because you decided to run there.
> There's this thing called a "rule book."
If you want to slander me, that's fine. Better people than you have done
that. But at least get your facts straight.
Nobody - not me, not anybody - has ever implied that if someone shows up in
SM with something that is "technically legal but we don't like" as you put
it, will be run off on a rail.
It's quite the opposite. If you show up in SM with something that is
technically ILLEGAL, based on "if it's not explicitly permitted it
forbidden" logic being applied to some minor part of a modification made
that IS explicitly permitted by the rule book, then we intend to PROTECT
you against protests. We do that by requesting that all potential protests
be discussed with your fellow competitors in Impound BEFORE they are
registered with the authorities, so that the other competitors can see what
it is that has you cheezed off, and weigh in with their opinions, so that a
protest that the class feels is legitimate can be filed as a GROUP. We
encourage this "group consultation before filing a protest" behaviour by
noting that it is what we expect from you, and that failure to respect the
group wishes is likely to make you unpopular with your peers.
At no time have we ever threatened to run off anybody. We consider it a
case of good manners, not strong-armed coersion.
When it comes to clever and innovative competitors exploiting loopholes in
the rules for their own benefit - as should be EXPECTED from any racer
worth a damn - we are in the same boat as everybody else. We make a rule to
cover the problem, the rule is published in the rule book, and then the
rule is enforced in Impound via the protest procedure. Case closed.
And by the way, Pollyanna Johnson is 100% correct when it comes to the STS
tire rule. It's not only completely unenforceable, but the tire
manufacturers have ALREADY altered treadwear ratings to comply with rules
at least once. A marque club banned "treadwear 0" tires, and that SAME TIRE
sprouted a "treadwear 50" stamp a few months later. Roger probably has
details.
DG
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