Re: Brad Plourd, you were robbed last week!
 

Yes this is no ones fault but my own. I caught him earlier than expected and I didn't need to be a "hero" down there. I am in the process of figuring out ways to take the stripe everytime with the nose, like Lamb's car. Sucks it cost me a National win to finally do something about it.

Hawk is correct, when we stage...we accept all aspects of our cars.

My car is already so low it is difficult to load into the trailer, so I'm not exactly sure what I'm gonna do. I did have my front end looser with 0lbs on nose because of no air in Vegas so that might have played a role too.

Getting sun burned in La Paz, Mexico...what an amazing place.

Seeya in St Louis...

Re: Brad Plourd, you were robbed last week!
 

Yeah Dennis, OUCH for you and Brad is correct. It was bad enough reading in ND recently about Dan Fletchers loss due to that, but to see your race and Brads...that's cold blooded man! I hope the people who are in the rules committee read my thoughts, and everyone elses too, because that wasn't right...the points and the money you & Brad missed out on (due to not fault of yours other than not having a low enough front end is what I'm getting at)! They've always said that there's strength in numbers, so if enough of us contact Glendora (like I already did with Fletchers ordeal), then maybe this will change. Maybe cars like this have been around for 10-15yrs, but not with outcomes like those you and Brad & Fletch went thru....Greg Luneack nearly lost his Allstars final when his opponent tried to do the same thing last year, but fortunately his tire nipped the other guys front end!

You stage a car with the tires, the race should finish with the tires too!!! Again my .02 worth...

Re: Brad Plourd, you were robbed last week!
 

Nope Steve, Brad ran .032 over his 8.86 dial, and his front end was closer to the lowest edge of his tire...he would've probably run an 8.87 (at the quickest), due to that.

Re: Brad Plourd, you were robbed last week!
 

Justin and myself have had a few discussions about how low he runs his cars and I have had to replaced the belly pan and have to bend back the collectors on the headers about every other race but Justin insist that the front has to be that low in order to trip the finish line beams the same every run. Well I guess it paid off in the end. We knew at the race that Justin had got the win because of the setup of his racecar vs. Brads. Jeff Foster said as soon as the ESPN guys saw the replay they called over to the tower and had them look at it. Jeff said that it is up to the competitor to know what is tripping the beams on there racecar, either the front end or the tires. Of course we learned this the hard way Justin lost to Tony Defrank in AZ. when he first started racing Super Stock and he knew that he was ahead but the clocks showed the win in the other lane, someone brought a picture over and it clearly shows that Justin's old 84 Camaro was 2ft ahead but that his front end was 7 to 8 inchs high which caused the front tires to trip the beams. We also discovered at that time that the old car when he was on the brakes would trip the beam with the front end which could also cause a breakout a double edge sword. So know one of the first thing Justin does is make sure that under acceleration the front of his cars are not over 5 inchs high going down track, you will see that he even has a stripe taker on his super gas roadster.

Chris lamb

BTW I have been told that the finish beams are set at 5 to 6 inchs

Re: Brad Plourd, you were robbed last week!
 

Brad I wish you better luck in St Louis, but I'll offer you another angle on why I disagree with Brad Hawk (and think you're falsely blaming yourself):

If you get a chance to see the finish line freeze frame of your cars frontal area as opposed to his, you'll see that the lowest edge of the nose of your car was nearly even with the most forward point of your front tire (maybe 1-2" lower than the center of your wheel). However, his lowest point of that same area was nearly equal to the lowest part of his wheel. It looked to me like his frontal area was 3-5" lower than yours, thus giving him the advantage.

I'll be ok with your opinion of the race (I'll be re-watching it on my video tape), but it still doesn't make that right, because it wasn't a fair race (for you or Dennis Paz)...both of those races (the Super Gas & Super Stock Finals) started with the front tires, they should've finished it with them too!!!

Chris Lamb, I'm sorry that Justin lost that race he lost the same way, but that just adds more to the reason that the finish beams need to be the same height as the staging beams are...

Re: Brad Plourd, you were robbed last week!
 

I already had one designed in my head for my '97 Firebird.......would not have been very hard to make it happen. Could be used at the finishline with a momentary switch and only needed 12 volts and some fabrication time.


I did see a picture of a southern based stocker that appeared to have a stripe taker. I was not sure as it was just a picture........I thought it would have been easy to see as the car is a wheelstander and shows it's underside to the fence every run....


I agree with the post that it is your responsiblity to look at your opponents car and be very aware of the timing system. If you don't pay attention to these details you'll never win a race, except by luck......The timing system is what the races are judged on.....Untill they change it you have to know whats going on out there.

Comp cars and Pro Stockers have been using low noses or "cow catchers" for years..........

I've been bitten twice with the low nose breakout deal.....I considered it my fault for not doing something about it......

Re: Brad Plourd, you were robbed last week!
 

Isn't there a blurb in the rule book about SS cars " must retain original ride height" or something to that effect.

Re: Brad Plourd, you were robbed last week!
 

Not trying to be jerk, I'm surprised this is being complained about. Haven't seen a rule in black and white about start with tire and finish with tires. Kind of sounds trivial.First year at Cajun 1 of the Warners tried to dip in as he was behind and didn't break out and didn't win. You can dial for the dive if that is you game plan. I tried diving with the Monte but didn't dial for it and I was late but it didn't work as I broke out. B Hawk has a valid point. Know what your doing and know what your opponent can do from start to finish. You will have a better win loss ratio. But this knowledge can make you a better bracket racer but we all know s/ss racers are not bracket racers because of tear down, class indexs, and so on.

Re: Brad Plourd, you were robbed last week!
 

Hello Jeff Stout!


Is the old 405 Smallblock still running? I hope it is. I still have the video of the Monte Carlo making a 9 second run stored on my computer........Rich

Re: Brad Plourd, you were robbed last week!
 

Hey Rich, Its running very well. Had Speir Head Service work the manifold over. Waiting for it's return and removed 130 lbs from Monte. Can't say enough about how good this motor has been. I wish second gear was not broke on that pass on Passtime as I felt 9.20 in Tucson altitude would have made me very happy. Thanks for asking. Want my my autograph? LOL Jeff