Continued from part 2
So... big big wreck takes place in the group 6 race. Boom... in one instant,
there's lots of wrecked cars. The potential for loss of life in that wreck
was great, and it was a miracle no one was seriously injured. Blame gets
tossed all over the place. Driver. Track officials. Starter. Car
preparation. Group 6 as a whole. VSCDA. Well, over prepared cars in Group 6
has always been a topic of heated discussion... far more than Group 2's
piddley Sprite, Mini, Triumph (you name it) issues. These guys are sporting
700hp small blocks, super modern brakes, and just flat out turning lap times
unheard of. On top of that, the driving style is "aggressive", shall we say.
Bottom line is, Road America does not ask VSCDA to continue to sanction, but
brings in SVRA because a "professional" organization (meaning "for profit",
as opposed to VSCDA's "club" organization of volunteers. Does this make
VSCDA look bad? Yeah, I'd say so. Do pictures of the wreck's pile up that
showed up in all the magazines, describing it as happening at "VSCDA's BRIC"
event make us look bad? Yeah, I think so.
Did over preparation (cheater) cars contribute to accident? Not so much, as
I see it. Driver error, driver aggressiveness... or more importantly, lack
of a vintage spirit was far more of a factor than non-legal motors, or a
late green flag. Ego has become the prize money in our sport. Most are well
off, that a small purse of prize money would mean nothing. But bragging
rights means a hell of a lot.
But, I think in some circles, over preparation gets the nod as one of the
biggest contributing factors. (If you'd had a real deal Trans Am winning car
prepared as "back in the day", you'd definitely have been a back marker in
that race).
One angle I haven't heard is this. What if someone gets killed, or disabled
as a result of a race where seriously over prepared cars were involved, and
knowledge of that is widespread? In a world where people win judgments for
suing fast food places for making you fat, and tobacco companies for giving
you cancer... what are the chances some lawyer's gonna go after a vintage
organization that didn't enforce it's rules, and the lack of safety created
by that environment was negligence? (No, all you attorneys out there...
don't look at this idea as a tip...)
So, here we are. Whether it's the reason or not, you have to believe it has
had an influence on the VSCDA's attempt to get back to the reputation it had
of being strict about car preparation. And, that is just fine with me. Make
the rules, and make them stick.
My .02.
WST
Wm. Severin Thompson
wsthompson@thicko.com
www.thicko.com <http://www.thicko.com/>
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