Somebody screwed up! The bearing is a part of the assembly.

Jim Wahl
6 Time National record Holder
2239 BF/S
I miss Buster Couch also! 'cause Div.2 will always be "Buster's Rebels"

This is also from the NHRA site.

NHRA updates stock replacement piston list and policy
11/29/2006

NHRA has announced an amendment to Section 5A of the 2007 NHRA Rulebook entitled ?Stock Cars.? The amendment relates to the newly released Stock Replacement Piston Acceptance List and reflects a change in enforcement procedure. Along with piston specifications and weight, each engine application on the list will also have a Minimum Assembly Weight that will be used for enforcement. The Minimum Assembly weight is the total of the piston, pin, rings and connecting rod.

Effective Jan. 1, 2007, a competitor's rod and piston assembly will be weighed (without bearings) and checked against the posted Minimum Assembly Weight from the Replacement Piston Acceptance List. The weight of each component will no longer be a factor, as long as the assembly meets the Minimum Assembly Weight as posted on the then-current Stock Replacement Piston Acceptance List. However, the list will also include a connecting rod weight, piston pin weight and piston ring(s) weight showing how NHRA calculates the Minimum Assembly Weight. Competitors need not match each individual component weight provided the Minimum Assembly Weight is met and provided all other applicable rules are met. All other specifications listed, such as compression distance, distance from top ring to flat of piston, etc., will still be enforced.

All values listed as ?minimum? or ?maximum? reflect the absolute minimum or maximum NHRA accepted limits. There is no tolerance on any minimum or maximum value or dimension. As with any other minimum or maximum dimension in the NHRA Rulebook, latitude or tolerance must be provided by the builder to ensure legality in the field. Pistons must still be accepted at NHRA Headquarters in Glendora, Calif. , must still have the correct number and ID, and overall configuration must remain unmodified from the accepted sample. Pistons may be lightened to achieve minimum assembly weight, but ?normal? balance procedures must be used. Therefore, techniques such as cutting the piston skirt, cutting valve reliefs, or otherwise changing the configuration of the piston from its ?as accepted? state, are prohibited. (Milling the underside of the piston head is permitted.) Gas porting of any description is prohibited. Dome height and/or dish depth dimensions are still available in the Engine Blueprint Specifications.

Any questions or comments should be directed to the NHRA Tech Department in Glendora.


I would of been just as happy if they had allowed the light stuff to slide, but this is the published rule.

Daren

well there it is, its without bearings. Now I still say 12 grams is a mistake, and unintentional, but light is light. However being torn down 4 hours before first round is wrong

Chad Rhodes
STK 2113
www.rhodesmotorsports.net

I guess the end justifies the means. The guy was illegal.

It is still a petty thing to do - four hours before eliminations. What would all these players look like if he had been legal? I hear the tech guys who had to perform the tear down were not happy about it either. No winners in this one.

>> The bearing is a part of the assembly.

While I'm no mechanic, I would think that if you have to take it apart, it DISassembled. If you need the bearing to put it together, than it would logically be part of the "assembly". But, they did define it by specific components, so...


Michael Beard
<u>Staging Light Graphic Design & Printing</u>
Duck Tape/Loctite Racing
H - I - J/CM '80 Volare 360 Magnum

The debate and disussion around what should or should not be included in the "rotating assembly" is truely not the issue in this situation.

The point is - FOLLOW THE RULE BOOK!!!!!

Again, it's writen and published for a reason. When items need to be clarified, it's done so in writing for a reason.


The teardown should have never happened to begin with.


Randy Running

this is absolutlely none of my business, but I'm just curious should such a situation arise again in the future.

The rulebook states "contestant protests must be filled with the proper officials the day prior to eliminations of that category or as outlined in writing before a protest will be accepted."

I don't read anything about the contestant being given a reasonable and fair amount of time to perform the tear down...I guess one would simply assume that to be the case. Like someone said earlier, we all work at a different pace. Not everyone is the Country Dog and can have the rod and piston out in 50 minutes...LOL.

To me, reasonable is being served with papers on one day and having to race the next. At the very least, being served first thing in the morning and racing late that afternoon. If, in fact, this person only had four hours start to finish, then that - in my humble opinion - wasn't very fair. And frankly, I don't believe NHRA would do that to someone.

Not to involve you Travis, and I'm not asking for any commentary, but could you - without compromising your position - give us some sort of time line on how this unfolded?

I'd just like to know if some form of precedant has been set...

After reading these posts I have been wondering, where was, where is our Director of Sportsman's Racing, Mr Len Imbrogno? Was he on site? Who gave the final OK, Gracia? No intervention from our Sportsman's liason? Overruled?

FWIW, the first thing I do after receiving my yearly Rulebook, is to see if any pictures inside of Sportsman's cars, then throw it away. What a waste of paper and mailing costs!

I've often wondered if a car was built to EXACT Rulebook terminology....oh never mind

Randall Klein

lol....Randall, Grumpy Jenkins said many years ago, "If you build your car and follow the rulebook to a 'T', you got a guaranteed loser".

-------------------------------------
Mike Carr
Buff Daddy Motorsports
Enon Valley PA
IHRA Stock 18 HF/SA
IHRA 1/8 mile and 1/4 mile HF/SA Nat'l Record Holder
NHRA Stock 1302 DF/S
Street ET/Street Automatic/Modified/No-Box/Pro HX18
President, Tri-State Stock/Super Stock Association
Comp Forum Webmaster
http://members3.boardhost.com/CompForum/
dragrace@ccia.com

In this instance, there was one round of qualifying, then eliminations began later the same day. Under these circumstances, there would not be a way to file a protest a day prior to eliminations.

You could either rule there be no protests of any kind when the schedule gets shuffled like it did, or you allow for protests on the same day.