Voluntary RANDOM car inspections (oh my!)

[S2_ITBVW]

Maybe I wasn't clear, but what I was proposing would be something that racers would volunteer for and manage themselves. It would be voluntary, so that doesn't really fit within the "protest" framework. I think "anything" is better than "nothing." I think more than anything that this could be the catalyst for a bit of a culture shift.

But, I also understand that many folks "just want to have fun" and don't want to hassle with stuff like this . . . Like everything else in this sport, it also gets complicated really fast.

[Knestis]

...which is why there are different standards in different places. Different groups of drivers, in any class on any track, have a different culture that defines where the fun/compliance curves cross.

I think the lesson here is that culture has to be changed locally, like politics.

K

[shwah]

Dave I like the goal of your idea. However I think it would be tough to get enough people on board voluntarily to do this. It really is a culture issue for the race group, and the best way to affect that is to walk the talk. When I hear of things that are outside the rules I make a point to politely share my position - that it is important to be legal on everything, because everyone will want to draw the line somewhere different on what "matters".

More than once I have had a friendly conversation with someone that had made a mistake, or was reaching a bit with rule interpretation. In all but one instance it ended as a friendly conversation too. I really think that people appreciate these interactions. I know it makes me feel more confident in my competitors when I know that they care about the rules.

Talk to the guys that you race with about this. See what they think, see if they have other ideas or if they really do think that it does not matter. Use the big event in your area to illustrate to them why it does matter - the IT Fest definitely attracts folks that want to push, but stay within the rule set. Who knows, maybe all of the folks that say everyone cheats, so it is no big deal, really wish that no one cheated...

[S2_ITBVW]

With a couple exceptions, I don't think there are a lot of folks cheating in my neighborhood. And, I do think we can deal with this stuff locally. It probably does come down to just being "that guy" and saying something.

First race of the year this weekend . . .

[dhardison]

With a couple exceptions, I don't think there are a lot of folks cheating in my neighborhood. And, I do think we can deal with this stuff locally. It probably does come down to just being "that guy" and saying something.

First race of the year this weekend . . .

Luckily none of those ITB "exceptions" are signed up for this weekend's event (unless you're referring to me ).

[bhudson]

A lot of how you approach this depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If the goal is to straighten up the "inadvertantly non-compliant" cars, then Chris's approach works very well - often a chat from others in the class will get everyone on the same page.

If someone has a blatantly "cheater" car, a talk with the driver may not be effective and it has to come to the protest stage before the issue can be resolved.

Then there is the third situation and one that used to come up on ocassion in the early 1980's when Prod cars were pushing the preparation envelope. Someone would try some new modification, then get another driver to protest the item. Regardless of the outcome, the goal was to get the protest to the Court of Appeals so that the interested parties would know what is legal and what is not before getting to the Runoffs.

[Chip42]

Then there is the third situation and one that used to come up on ocassion in the early 1980's when Prod cars were pushing the preparation envelope. Someone would try some new modification, then get another driver to protest the item. Regardless of the outcome, the goal was to get the protest to the Court of Appeals so that the interested parties would know what is legal and what is not before getting to the Runoffs.

And for a fee you can shortcircuit the nonsense and have something willingly complianced checked using the COA but with the finding only published IF it is deemed illegal. it's in the GCR, likely a result of the sort of activity you describe.