All major event winners undergo tech inpection
 

No it is not true, but what are your thoughts on the concept?

Having read other great threads on the difficulty of enforcing stock/super stock eliminator rules it seems like pre-race inspection isn't getting the job done for a number of reasons.

First , there is NO stock/superstock tech for legality of vehicle unless you win class or set a record. We have a basic safety check and thats it. I have raced at many divisional and national events and have seen illegal items that would't pass a class tech. I have also seen some of these same illegal cars go on to win national events!

Are you racing against a bracket car?? You might be! How do you like your 30-100K stocker taken out of competition by a 4K bracket car?

The only two things that keep cars legal in our classes is the personal integrity of builder/driver or for those ummm... " rhymes with heaters" .......the paranoia that you might get caught and there is sufficient penalty for it.

Since the first group of builder/drivers with integrity to follow the rules don't need enforcement, all you need is some paranoia to enforce the second.

I can sympathize with NHRA to try to inpect 50-??? cars lined up spanning 60 years of combos and inspect all of the things that could be cheated on. It is a impossible situation.

How about this proposal:

All winners undergo tech inspection. In other words if you get a check, you shoud be checked!

I didn't say mandatory teardown although I would certainly consider that if a tech official deemed it necessary.

Not defining what would be checked would also keep most cars in line and guess what NHRA? You only have to do a thorough inspection of 1 car/class at the end of the race when there is usually a three hour wait to get out of the track ffrom traffic.

I can see muliple major event winners not needing a complete engine eardown every time they won, but leave that option open if they had to get to that win through a heads up run.

It seems that the incentive of a 100% chance of getting inspected would clean up the class considerably.

If I was a major event winner I would rather tear down after the race then put the car back together after I was home (if I had a wally and a check in my back seat,(ok they mail the check now).

Soooooo....what do you think? Pros , cons...support?


Brian Thompson
P/SA 6665

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Here is what I would do. Remember, we are looking for the flagrant cheaters, not the guy with .004 too much lift, with these inspections.

1. Impound top 10 after qualifying.
2. Everyone pulls carb,a spark plug, and a valve cover.
3. NHRA acquires an inspection camera that can go down an intake runner or through a spark plug hole.
4. A visual inspection of carb, casting number check on heads, visual on intake.
5. Stick camera down a few runners, looking for obvious modifications, Ti valves, etc.
6. Stick camera in spark plug hole to verify piston configuration
7. do an approximate valve lift check on stockers using a pair of calipers (not terribly accurate, but if someone has a BOGUS cam, its going to be WAY bigger not .015)

All of the above could be done at the scales, and then seal the motors. If there is anything odd in this cursory inspection, it would not be grounds for immediate DQ, just grounds for a full teardown.

Another possibility would be requiring an inspection plug in the pan that the camera would fit through, just to look for AL rods or ultralight pistons.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Brian, you can pound salt in reguards to your "heaters" comment! My "heaters are better thought out than most $30-$100,000 Stockers.
Now in answer to your question, my DD told me years ago that he won't keep his people late on a Sunday night to be tearing down cars as most of them have already been there for 3 or 4 days and they have families and jobs waiting at home.
Chad, you don't need to just check the top10. If I were going to intentionally cheat I would run the car where it wouldn't attract any undue attention. 2 or 3 thorough random checks at a few events a year (Nat. and Div. and from all over the ladder) is all that is needed. Just the possibility of a teardown would clean up most of what you are looking for.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

good point Billy. I think the process i outlined, applied randomly would be a good deterrent, don't you?

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Something else to think about but probably about as popular as an STD would be to pick your random teardowns from first round losers.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

actually not a bad idea. But if you lose a heads up first round you are expempt, lol.

the problem with tearing down 1st round losers is.......................what are you gonna do, DQ them?

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Give them a vacation, the length to be determined by the infraction.

Brian, upon rereading your first post, I took it the wrong way. Must be my paranoia kicking in! You were referring to the "heaters" building the "heaters". My bad, sorry.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Why not teardown the winners and r/u?
I think that is a good idea.
I would teardown the winner r/u and #1 qualifier seal the motors for the remainder of the season.
Chip

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Tearing down AFTER a race just ain't gonna happen.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

You ain't going to stop cheating so don't beat your head against a wall. What needs to be done is enforce the safety rules. I can tell you from my own experience, that the last time an NHRA Tech guy asked me to place my transmission in gear and attempt to start the engine was back in 2007 at Bradenton. I wonder how many cars are lacking the neutral safety switches. Safety right now is what we should concern ourselves about.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Is there still the rule of protest against a potential non legal car? Why not inform the rule stretchers of your potential protest and allow them to comply or back out gracefully? Or would that create a threatening situation within the big happy family and empty the field?

Just asking!


Peter Ash

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Chad I think you are on to something.. but I agree with Billy, the cheaters will simply stay out of the top 10. Why don't they go back to at the very least putting that cool orange paint on your carburetor like they did when I was a kid? Also, maybe NHRA could go out and find some retired racers who know the ins and outs of the old combos?

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

I thought the Big go at Great Bend was to eliminate the Heaters. Any heads up winner should be inspected. -Trevor

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

I think you should have your engine sealed when entering a race.
Once engine is sealed the seal cannot be removed without a tear-down, except for a carb change and the carb should be inspected at this time and re-sealed.
As far as the engine seal goes ,once it is sealed it can be checked at random for any given race and should be told this. If seal has been broken before actual tear-down then it is considered to have been illegal in the first place and should be DQ'd on the spot.
The DQ time will be determined on how many races was run before actual tear-down.
If you know your engine is legal then you should not have a problem with this system.
If you want to make changes before you have been torn down then you still must go through tear=down. Say you went to 4 races before you actually got torn down and you were foung illegal, then the penalty should be 4 races and then come back and torn down before you race and get a diff (certain) color seal showing you have been torn down,.
Also let that seal be good for the rest of the season.

In IHRA ,we have gone to the engine builder's shops and checked engines. After engine was approved it was sealed on the spot and was good for the current year.And has to be torn down again for the next year......Kind of like a chassis cert,but a little diff.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

I have had my engine sealed within the last year, forget where, probably the sports nationals. If you are saying to paint the carb, intake, and a head bolt, that's not a bad idea

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

I like the way IHRA does teardown now before record run,that way car is making record attempt it has already been verified it's legal.
If I was wanting to be sure I had all legal field of cars I would change to all cars had to be verified legal before being allowed to race,then seal engine and as long as seal is'nt broken you're good.
Mike Taylor

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

What happens when someone freshens up their motor or changes engines during the year???? This breaks the seal or in the case of an engine change, shows up with no seal at all.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

In those cases the engine should be checked before freshening to prove it was legal .
If you know you are to freshen it then have it checked before you freshen it.(you are going to tear it down anyway) , so do it at the track before you leave....
I know there will be diff situations as always.
These are just ideas anyway and some are good and some are debatable....at any rate it is better than doing nothing...and everyone has a sealed engine from the start knowing it could be torn down at any time and punished if wrong.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

The way schedules are set up for most Stock and Super Stock races is that there is no time before the races to tear down.

We tore down before the record run attemp in Las Vegas because the way that race is set up, we weren't scheduled to run until very late in the day instead of the usual 8:00 am call to the lanes at every other race.

But more teardowns are indeed needed. We had one car that beat us for class, was running illegal, determined much later, and didnt get torn down at that race. That same car, running an illegal engine, got us several horsepower hits too.

David

The New Hemi Guy

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Is "seal" a real deterrent?

Couldn't anyone carry their own "seal" to do touch ups if needed?

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

I had a customer that asked me to build him a "Qualifying" Q-Jet to which I said no. I said,"If you did have one, what would happen if you got sealed?" He told me he found out the manufacturer of the sealant that NHRA uses and ordered every color. Someone is always going to find a way.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

It's been done for at least 35 years! It was real easy at Indy when tear down was at Paul Harvey Ford, Columbus when done at Mayos Trans shop, and Beach Bend at Camping World! Unless you do a tear down right after a the run anything is Questionable

QUOTE=Jody Lang;298081]Is "seal" a real deterrent?

Couldn't anyone carry their own "seal" to do touch ups if needed?[/QUOTE]

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

You are right Danny.
That is why rules are made ,so they can be broke or bent especially bent!!!!!...
Now days there are not enough tech guys t o perform these duties.
I used to go with Kenny Koonce Sr back in the day and they did a lot more tear-downs then than now,and you never knew when it was your turn ,fast or not......Ahhhhh the good ole days....

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

I have done this for the last two years. It sure is nice to be able to go to a race and be able to win or set a record and already have the tear down out of the way! I plan on doing it again this January. It also makes for happier tech guys if they know they don't have to tear you down! Jim:rolleyes:


.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

I obviously didnt tech your car this year.

I asked every driver this year to do this at the races I worked tech. Many said I was the FIRST to ever ask them to do that. Some guys looked at me like I was joking. Several almost flatout refused. Many thanked me for being thorough. Even sent a few back to the trailer because the neutral safety didnt work. Since I work tech AND safety I might look at things differently.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Back in the 80's IHRA would randomly pick either S-SS-or Modified. All class winners/qualifiers would go to tech. I remember several times we had to teardown at those races.
Chip

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Run what you brung , Limited tech , cubic inch and carb or trottle body super charger size for engine claimed for that year forget the rest . Nothing is stock anymore and nothing is super stock either . Tech cars when you ckeck in , when you win class and if you win or RU race

This would save the sanctioning bodies a lot of grief and the racers would sort it out on the track

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Bo, I'm sure you've run this one past your broker already because even you won't last long under those rules. Not to mention, when it goes away for lack of participation in a couple of years it's an expensive bracket car. Or maybe you could just sit on it for 20 years and restore it for B-J.
If it gets that bad I still like my idea, engine has to look stock, stock hood, 9" tire, no class designation, no heads-up. Everyone just dials in and races. We could just call the whole thing "Stock". Or ET-2.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

OK guys ,wonderful concepts here .the problems with cheaters is if enough people cheat ie.e- legal crankshafts,NHRA just makes em legal so they won't get sued and don't forget cylinder heads that got ruined about 30 years ago . i am all for policing the rules but some times we have to ask ourselves "whats the damn point" !chris

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Just run it til they make it s/ss combo then eventually it will all go away and then we will all be bracket racing with one other option and that is QUIT !......It is coming and not as far away as you think either...

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

With the investment to reward ratio as far out of whack as it is you're probably right.
One of my favorite quotes, "Billy, I don't sanction Drag Races anymore, I sanction Alternative Lifestyle Weekends"!

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

if it comes to that I'm going X275 racing.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

I like this idea but instead of top 10 qualifiers this should be done for, but not limited to, Class winners, heads up run winners, bottom 10 qualifiers (people could cheat to run under the index) and any run a second under or a run that gets automatic horsepower.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Billy, you do know that Bo is in a "lucrative" business...not many will be able to outspend him.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

The CJ guys and tech would get awfully tired if that was the case...a whole lotta work! Face it folks, NHRA is not going to tear down any more than they have to, they will be cutting staff before they add any.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Billy , left that out by accident . Everyone put a dial on there car.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

i could agree with that

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

I think you hit the nail on on the head, Jim.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

Getting closer to that every day.

Re: All major event s/ss winners undrgo tech inspection
 

If it gets to that, I feel sorry for the poor bastard who bought a 100k stocker to just bracket race it. What a waste of money. Just build some stock Camaro with a PG and forget about it. I say eliminate the class and have a nice day before it becomes an all run all dial class .