"...and yes - it DOES have something to do with spherical bushings, because with that "clarification," an entirely new paradigm was codified. From a CRB that was too chicken to say, "Yeah, we're going to change the rule to allow spherical bearings," and instead - to the chagrin or outright laughter of anyone who had anything to do with IT when it was new - said, "Oh, yes - it was INTENDED that spherical bearings be allowed from the outset.""



I agree w/ you 100%, Kirk. And said as much back on 2/28 after the “clarification:”

“I think the way it was done was poor - why can't we just simply say that, whether SBs were legal before or not, we are now making them legal for sure, rather than perpetuating if not sanctioning bullshit interpretations of the rules by implying they were legal all along? [Andy] asked in another post why such interpretations exist and suggested it may be a lack of protests. It is not a lack of protests - it is the lack of balls in Topeka to reject BS interpretations. When the SCCA itself engages in them - through staff, stewards, and COAs - it is a signal to all that that is the way the rules are going to be interpreted. So, as long as you can come up w/ any argument at all, no matter how specious it may be, you have a shot and you have a defense to serious penalties.”

But you have properly identified it as codification of a new paradigm. And IMO that is indeed part of the “root” problem. The door has been opened to reinterpret in the most unintended and unforseen ways every rule in the book. And we no longer have accepted, underlying principles to put a stop to it. The other root is failure to interpret rules in the context of the class philosophy.

Several people have submitted new definitions of “Traction Bar” as they would like it. I’m no engineer but here is what I think is the original intent clarified:

“A fore or aft longitudinal link to an axle housing or hub carrier of a driven wheel which resists torque reaction from the wheel as a result of forward acceleration of the wheel.”

If we want to make it work for braking too, and on undriven wheels/axles, let's just propose a rule change and see what people think. No way no how should it be "clarified" to that effect.