[JP1738]

So... Roxboro, 7/12/25.

I left SGMP (400 miles from my house) on Thursday after I turned it red first round of stock eliminator, drove all the way home, worked Friday, swapped cars and trailers, and drove to Roxboro Motorsports Park (another 200 miles away) to race 6.0 index and the bracket race with my dad.

For those of you counting at home, that is a grand total of 1000 miles to make this race after leaving the Sportsnationals early to get to and from RMP. At that point I had made quite the sacrifice to make it there for the points meet. My efforts were not rewarded at all.

As you all on here well know, I class race both of my race cars, competing my wagon in STK and my Mazda in SST and SG (depending on how I feel that particular weekend) on top of all the bracket and index racing I do . Therefore, on my Mazda, I have a throttle stop and all of the accompanying technology to make it operate. That car runs anywhere from mid 6.0s to mid 6.1s depending on the air and track conditions on motor. I typically have to spray my car with nitrous to make it fast enough to run 6.00 index. I am not the only one using nitrous, of course, and it is perfectly legal in the class. What is not legal are throttle stops. The spirit of the class is side-by-side, heads up racing, with no stops or drive shaft sensors. It doesn't really apply to me given that my car isn't fast enough to use a throttle stop in 6.0 index, so I just run it wide open and spray it just a tickle to get to the number.

Well for one reason or another, all of the remaining cars 3rd round (8 total) of the race were protested, of which two were my dad and I. We were made to take the hoods off our cars so that the engine bay could be inspected. It was discovered (obviously) that on both mine and my dad's car, there were throttle stops. Now everyone who knows the two of us knows that neither of us are actively using them, in fact, my dad's car's throttle stop isn't even wired or plumbed, it's just sat there to make the throttle linkage and hood scoop all workout out right. I leave mine on for the same reason, plus my wide-open-throttle-switch for my nitrous wont work without the carb being that height.

My car IS NOT FAST ENOUGH TO USE THE THROTTLE STOP IN ANY MEANINGFUL WAY, AND ED'S ISN'T EITHER. PLUS IT WASN'T OPERABLE. This justification and lobbying fell on deaf ears and we were disqualified from the event.

What a bunch of F#CKING BOLOGNA. This was almost three weeks ago and I am still beside myself upset. The craziest thing is that I have a really good relationship with both the head of the series and the track manager, both of which stood quietly while I was tossed out of the race after driving 1000+ miles to be there to support the series. Every rule in drag racing for the most part can be enforced at the discretion of the track operator, and neither of my "friends" came to my defense to lobby on my behalf. What a bunch of fake, cowardly, spineless, pieces of human debris.

I believe I handled the situation as well as I could have, but I was devastated for a number of reasons. The money and time I spent to be there was wasted, I missed the opportunity to race the NHRA Divisional at SGMP for it, the friends I thought I had simply aren't my friends anymore, I've lost a race track that I genuinely enjoy going to because I cannot justify going to race there after this fiasco, and a host of other things. It wasn't that I got thrown out of one race, I now have lost an entire race track and group of friends over it, friends I spent years cultivating a relationship with, just for them to throw it away at a moments notice.

I am infuriated, devastated, and heart broken over the whole deal and I still don't really know what to think. Let me know what you guys think if you read this far.