In a message dated 7/18/2003 2:46:37 PM Eastern Standard Time, rocky@tri.net
writes:
<snip>
> On Stock -- Just because the newbie may line up alongside John Ames doesn't
> mean the rules have to allow the newbie to be outspent by megabucks to do
> so. IOW. Stock rules should remain closer to stock. Those Monroe Sensi-Traks
> or Sears Roadmasters, available to anyone at the corner parts store are one
> thing. The $800 remote-reservoir Penskes something else entirely. IOW, if
> Ames wants to be king of a Stock class, he should do so limited by very
> minimal allowances allowed.
Gotta disagree, Rocky. Dennis' point was that the allowances we have now
for Stock are about as "minimal" as you can get, if you're going to have any
allowances at all. Having Stock be "as-delivered" isn't practical for lots
of
previously-stated reasons. Once the door is opened to even limited
allowances, the question becomes "Where do we draw the line?" In the
case of shocks, the SEB and the membership have explored the issue of
moving that line for several years, and no one has been able to come up
with an enforceable rule that would allow *some* aftermarket shocks yet
prohibit others beyond some established price point.
In your example of John Ames (or any other top driver you might name),
John's probably going to outrun the typical newbie by a large margin
_regardless_of what the preparation rules are. In my experience, the
newbie will grasp whatever reason is handy to explain this away...prep
rules aren't fair/too expensive, he must be cheating...anything but, "he's
better at this than I am right now." The answer isn't to change the prep
rules, it's to give him a ride with John, or have John drive his car, and
attempt to show him that the driver is the biggest percentage of the
equation.
>
> And, BTW, Mr. Ames is quite capable of doing just that! It is good, in fact,
> that people like him do populate Stock because they are the benchmark to
> which others aspire -- just that it should be a talent benchmark not a
> wallet benchmark. Folks like Ames will do whatever the rules allow, and are
> expected to. The fault isn't Ames, it is the rules allowance (and Ames used
> only by way of example here as a top-level driver -- not picking on him in
> the least!)
>
No, IMO the rules allowance simply isn't the problem. John's car may indeed
be faster that the newbie's car because of its preparation level, but by far
the
biggest time difference is_the driver_. Rocky, you and I, and anyone with a
few years of experience know this. The problem is educating the newcomer
how much of this sport is driving skill.
GH
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