Tom and list,
Tom's reply is kinda what I had in mind when I looked at the Ferguson car on
their web site. I thought that if an issue may exist with the aero on the
car the team would have time to either get approval or fix it before
running.
Dan
PS - Nice to see you at El Mirage Tom.
-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas E. Bryant <saltracer@awwwsome.com>
To: Ferguson, Darrell <dfergus@bactc.com>
Cc: 'Jim Dincau' <jdincau@qnet.com>; dferguso@ebmail.gdeb.com
<dferguso@ebmail.gdeb.com>; land-speed@autox.team.net
<land-speed@autox.team.net>
Date: Monday, November 15, 1999 6:12 PM
Subject: Re: Spoiler Rules
>Darrell,
>I'm not knocking your efforts to make inroads or push the boundaries. We
>all prefer to live as close to the fence as is comfortable. Personally,
>I'm not comfortable making waves, just don't like confrontations.
>
>When we first appeared on the Salt with our present car, at Speedweek ,
>no problem, we didn't get noticed because we didn't go very fast. At the
>World of Speed we started to get it sorted out and drew a little
>attention I guess, because when we arrived at the World Finals I was
>immediately told that our car was illegal because of the altered wheel
>wells. (Someone had said that the wheel well is part of the quarter
>panel, so altering the wheel well was altering the quarter panel which
>was not allowable.) We could only run for time!
>Here I did get confrontive. We had built the car with the rules and
>present running cars in mind. (George Field's car was running wheels
>tucked into the confines of the body.) After a bit of discussion it was
>decided that I had a good argument, so I was allowed to run the class
>and the next year the rules stated that it was an allowable
>modification.
>
>You see, I am not against your trying something different. But, keep in
>mind, on the Salt, the tech committee is God and the rule book is their
>Holy Bible. It would be best to have this sorted out with them before
>appearing in impound with much at stake. Good Luck!!
>
>Tom
>
>
>
>"Ferguson, Darrell" wrote:
>>
>> I'm just trying to figure out which way to go! I left drag racing to move
to
>> a less restrictive form of racing (SCTA). I have heard others on the list
>> echo similar sentiments regarding the NHRA and how many racers despise
what
>> they have come to represent in the name of hot rodding. It all goes back
to
>> how the rules are interpreted. I have received at least 5 DIFFERENT
personal
>> interpretations of the rules regarding a rear spoiler in the altered
class.
>> Again, whenever there is a gray area, how does each person read the rule?
>> For a competitor who already has a rear spoiler of a particular design,
>> he'll read the rule in his favor. I get the impression that there will be
a
>> rule change, or clarification, in one direction or another, regarding
>> Spoilers on both Altereds and Competition Coupes for the 2000 season. I
have
>> seen rules changed to allow competitors to try new ideas that were
>> previously illegal for the altered class in the past. Many have suggested
we
>> take that approach, but again, our spoiler is not illegal as I see it and
>> therefore didn't even think twice about lobbying for a rule change. We're
>> not trying to cheat, or break the rules, and if I had something to hide,
I
>> certainly wouldn't have put pictures of anything questionable on the
BLACK
>> RADON ENGINEERING Homepage. We haven't even teched our car yet, and the
>> controversy we're generating is only from a couple of pictures.
>> Unfortunately I feel as though we're already off to a great start making
>> friends with the SCTA Inspectors, and other members of this list. At the
>> rate we're going here at BLACK RADON, we'll be racing with no rear
spoiler
>> at all, or be forced to run for time only. I guess my point is that the
>> people that I idolize in the world of motorsports are those who
consistently
>> think outside the box, people who push the boundaries to break new
ground.
>> Along those lines, my brother, father and I want to bring that attitude
with
>> us to the salt and I get the impression it's already hurting us.
>>
>> Darrell Ferguson
>> BLACK RADON ENGINEERING
>> # 939 BBFALT
>> http://my.cybersoup.com/blackradon <http://my.cybersoup.com/blackradon>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Thomas E. Bryant [SMTP:saltracer@awwwsome.com]
>> Sent: Monday, November 15, 1999 3:03 PM
>> To: Ferguson, Darrell
>> Cc: 'Jim Dincau'; dferguso@ebmail.gdeb.com;
>> boogiewoogie12@hotmail.com; land-speed@autox.team.net
>> Subject: Re: Rules
>>
>> I understand that a tag in an early NHRA Rule Book was: "If it
>> doesn't
>> say you can, you can't." Just another way of looking at the
rules!
>>
>> Tom
>
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