Alan,
Next time, I'd tell the driver that it's illegal and
dangerous to run without a lug nut. Tell the starter or
grid person, and if possible the event chair. Don't just
let them run.
I had a student at ax school arrive without a lug nut, and
I refused to let him use the car (I got my other student
to let him use his). Because:
- Did the mechanic that lost the nut properly tighten
the rest?
- If the car has been driven hard without a lug, esp. with
the others improperly tightened, stress fatigue is very
definitely possible.
- With a little bad luck the wheel could come off at speed
and maybe severely injure a course worker or spectator.
Autocrossing puts _LOTS_ of stress on wheel lugs.
- Naturally a car without a wheel would be out of control,
perhaps putting the driver and others at risk -- rollover could
conceivably result.
- Such an incident could lose us the use of one or more of our
sites -- PERMANENTLY.
If you have a car without a full complement of lug nuts or bolts,
engaging a significant number of threads and properly torqued,
_DO_NOT_RUN_OUR_EVENTS_! Don't even drive your car
on the highway if you care about your safety or that of others.
If you are a tech inspector, _FAIL ANY ANOMALIES IN WHEEL
ATTACHMENT_! It is your responsibility to check that all
wheels are properly attached (Testing Torque may not be a requirement,
but is not a bad practice) People can be hurt!
Jerry
Jerry Mouton mailto:jerry@moutons.org Laissez les bons temps
rouler!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alan Gruner" <algruner@yahoo.com>
To: <ba-autox@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, May 29, 2000 7:05 PM
Subject: Round 6 thank you and question
> I want to thank everyone who worked so hard to make
> round 6 run so well. I had a great time.
>
> One thing happen that concerns me. While waiting in
> line for my 3rd run, I noticed that a lug nut appeared
> to be missing on the front wheel of the white Neon in
> line beside me. I yelled through my helmet at the
> driver,"I think you're missing a lug nut." He yelled
> back, "I know. The muffler shop lost one when I had it
> in there last time." I asked if they had let him
> through Tech with it missing. He indicated yes and
> seemed unconcerned. I was being waived forward to run.
> I chose to go ahead and run without making an issue of
> it. In retrospect I'm not proud of that decision. I
> have a hard time believing any tech inspector
> knowingly let that slide. I think I should have
> alerted the grid workers.
>
> Is there a preferred method for dealing with
> situations like this?
>
> Alan
>
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