Brad Cox writes:
<<<Something to consider... how much 'speed creep' is being caused by the
cars themselves and not necessarily course design. The new Z06 vette and
the Honda S2000 are not good "stock" class cars to do speed comparisons on
IMO. A lot of stock class cars are getting faster, but they're also getting
safer. Some of them are so optimized in stock trim that it's difficult to
squeeze more performance out of them in SP. Personally, I believe event
statistics are the best guidlines. Accidents have always happened and
always will, but we need acceptable levels. Are last years levels or this
year's acceptable? I don't have a clue. But, if the SCCA bosses and safety
people think they are then I guess we're ok. >>>
Yes, I am a speed creep and I am proud of it. The rules clearly state that
the fastest Stock and SP cars cannot go faster than 65. If you want to
change the rule then go right ahead and change it. But until you do, you and
the SCCA "bosses" are a bunch of hypocrites, particularly when this happens
at Nationals and Tour events as is apparently the current case.
I also strongly believe the SCCA is reactionary in their safety stances.
History has shown it is not until someone gets hurt or killed that things
change. Jay Wright's incident at The Runoffs in '93 that left him a
paraplegic is a prime example. After that incident Jay helped convince the
BOD and the Comp Board to allow roll cages to be welded in and the size of
the tubing to be increased. They also allowed race seats in all cars. Until
then, all SS and IT cars could only use bolt in cages and race seats were
prohibited in SS. And the rules still allow bolt in cages and stock drivers
seats.
Today you can road race with the SCCA in a one layer two piece driving sut
and nomex undies. This gives you a "burn time" of a few seconds given that
the 2 piece driving suit didn't ride up and expose your midsection. AFAIK,
the SCCA is the only road racing sanctioning body that allows 2 piece
driving suits. And the list goes on and on. You can still use open face
helmets. You can still wear leather shoes. No, I believe the SCCA is not an
organization to count on to force you to be safe enough to participate in
road racing. They set the minimum requirements and I think they are woeful
in a lot of cases.
I think the same holds true for autocrossing. If you have 650+ HP 2000 lb.
BP cars in attendance you need to provide sufficient runoff for them. How
far is that if the throttle sticks at the wrong moment? 500 feet? 600 feet?
75 feet is simply not going to cut it even if the stock and SP cars are kept
below 65.
We have finally changed the SP rules to allow welded in cages but the are
still prohibited in stock as is changing the drivers seat. What does this
mean? People who autocrosses in the stock class will probably decide to bolt
in his cage to remain legal lessening his chances of surviving while
participatning in Solo 1 or road racing. The same holds true for the seat
even though there are dozens of documented cases where the failure of the
seat back ratchet mechanism or rails has resulted in the driver being thrown
about the cockpit. The argument against it is that everybody will be forced
to install roll cages and drivers seats in order to be competitive and this
will cause the cost to autocross to dramatically increase. So it's dollars
vs. safety and look which wins...
It is up to all of us to do our part. If you attend an event where a curb or
light pole looks a bit too close to the course speak up. If your stock car
is going so fast you know the fastest cars must be exceeding the maximum
speak up. Until you do the SSS at the event has the excuse that he/she
didn't know about it. But once you bring it to their attention it is their
nut in the wringer if they didn't change it and something does go wrong.
The life you save may be your own.
Paul Foster
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