Ok, R2 weighed in with his take on the matter... sounded reasonable to me,
especially the Spec Tire part (because that was the *crazy idea* I posted
:-)
But a spec tire for *Nationals* could work... along the lines of the
advantages that Andy Bettencourt spoke of.
Someone (might have been off-list) said in a nutshell that the drag racers
who want to play don't want to buy another set of tires.. just run their
Nittos, or whatever.
Well, the folks who just show up to events, that's a local deal. For local
racing, any old rules that region/organization wants is fine! Let them
run... it's what it's all about! :-) Just that *Nationals* would be
different, and if they are that serious about it to go to Nats, then it
shouldn't be a big deal.. they'll *plan* to run on those tires from the
start of the year.
Jay Mitchell mentioned (prior to his hillarious *rubber* post :-)... well,
here:
"It would solve one problem - that of "ringer" tires - but, IMHO,
it could create another more serious one: it would take STS in
the direction of competition-specific wheels/tires. If I read the
arguments in favor of STS correctly, there are at least some
competitors in the class who want to be able run - and hopefully
be competitive - on their choice of "real street" tires, whatever
that is. If you require those guys to buy a set of spec tires in
order to be legal, what's the advantage over the Stock tire
rules?"
Hmm... maybe. Might not be any better than STR. But, if they knew about it
ahead of time, *and* if we could get a manufacturer involved to give a
discount on the tires, maybe we could mandate the same tire to be used in 2
or 3 year increments? That way, although the tire may be different from what
they're running now, but if they *really* want to go to Nationals in the
future, they'll have a tire that they can compete on (and drive everyday if
they choose) for a while, thereby cutting on the costs over time. Make
sense? Or did I just eat too much sugar? :-)
Also, having the tire locked in for 2 or 3 years would allow everybody
sufficient warning, and time to *dial-in* the car to the tire.
Just a few random thoughts... trying to see if we can make some sense out of
the quagmire. :-)
--Dave Schwabe
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