Your information is really helpful in understanding the Politics.... I
would appreciate not using names...
I know the car and I understand the concern....I just hate to see this List
come down to a place to air Protests....
I sat in Tech just like you did and witnessed all manner of interesting
things.. that is why we were sitting in TECH... to Learn...and of course
that is what this list is about for me... I witnessed the exact same
thing.... but we are talking about a group of non paid volunteers who
dedicate a ton of time to giving us a Great Place to race... and it is here
that I agree with Tom Bryant.... a chill pill is in order..... on the end
of the day... these folks aren't here to see us NOT race they are there to
keep us safe.... And the Tech Committee can always be consulted if you
disagree with a tech ruling... I don't think you will have a problem on the
end of the day...
Like you I have never Raced a Car at Bonneville... but I will have raced 5
times on the East Coast and been through the Rule book a thousand times....
of course I have the same concerns about Tech... but I am confident in my
reading of the rules and I am grateful to everyone here on the list that
has taken the time out of their busy lives to help me ....( Too Many of you
to mention)
Lets keep it clean and let the games begin.... I want to GO RACING....
Keith.... Referee # 2
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> From: dferguso@ebmail.gdeb.com
> To: Land-speed@autox.team.net
> Subject: newcomers to land speed beware
> Date: Wednesday, May 26, 1999 7:33 AM
>
> hi dave in mystic, and fellow land speed racers! i'm posting this not as
a
> slam to anybody or the scta or anything, so please dont take offense,
this
> is just an observation from an innocent bystander, yes -the rules thing
is
> biased towards newcomers , from what i've seen at bonneville there is a
> good ole boys club. last year my brother and i spent the better part of
the
> day in the inspection lines watching the cars go thru, and we saw blatent
> safety violations of the scta rulebook pass if you were in the buddy
> system. for example, the wild looking #906 bright green saab sonnet,
(i'll
> use this guys car JUST AS AN EXAMPLE ONLY , i dont have a problem with
the
> guy or anything, i dont even know him or want to bash him or his car in
any
> way whatsoever ) who was known on a first name basis with the techs .
here
> the car is a record holder ( 230 mph + mod sports?), and he had closed
end
> acorn nuts without washers or anything on his aluminum wheels, his window
> net was held in with ty wraps thru unfinished, undeburred, awl holes
> punched in the rocker panel (and that was it keeping him in the car,
there
> was no cage rollbar on his left side !),his cage had no gussets, i could
go
> on and on ( i popped a roll of film on this car for reference). my
favorite
> thing was that this guy used some kind of plastic shower curtain( yes )
> held in with ty wraps for his rear firewall , and then an hour later they
> flagged a guy from austrailia in a beautiful, clean, pristine, safe
orange
> 55 chev blown fuel altered ( castlemains rod shop?) who had a tiny gap
less
> than the thickness of a paper match(without exaggeration) in a metal
> firewall where his backseat was, and required him to fix it and get it
> reinspected. i was enraged that because this guy was making his first
trip
> to the u.s. that they shit all over him, while george was lining up with
a
> piece of plastic flapping in the wind in his backseat for another record
> run in a comparatively blatent death trap. i asked the chief inspector
who
> performed the inspection and checked off all the items on his safety
sheet
> (jim something )to step aside and chat, and i went right down the entire
> list of every safety violation on the car and he said "well , he runs all
> the time so we down really look the car over as hard as new cars" i told
> him that if anybody was to ever get a limb amputated or killed at
> bonneville in a crash, this guy was a likely candidate- this is how we
will
> have a death on our shoulders at the flats, due to an extremely unsafe
car.
> oh by the way, his second, separate inspection consisted of jim walking
> over to another inspector in another lane and saying "hey, george (last
> name) is good to go , sign this". anyways, we're hoping to debut our car
at
> speedweek this year , and i'm waiting to go thru tech with these guys,
> because i will take them and my supposed list of safety violations to
> george's truly unsafe car and ask them why his car is "good to go" with
> alot worse ! (AGAIN- I'M NOT TRYING TO BASH ANYONE IN ANY WAY !, this is
> just the facts as i observed first hand)- this subject of safety is
> important to ALL competitors and the credibility and longevity of the
sport
> itself , not just newcomers.
>
> friendly regards to all ( including george and jim )-
> doug ferguson
> black radon engineering
> groton, ct
>
>
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