[D. Hake 4459]

Did the oil pan get Jim Hale the class win? No. Is the pan legal? Yes. Does it help the bearings to live longer? I would say yes. Now, what did get Jim the class win is his many years of refining engines, transmissions, and cars to make the most power and use it efficiently.
Now for the trans brake deal. It is my understanding that someone claimed to have seen him push a button to back up so tech had him take his console apart so they could look for a trans brake wire. They found nothing. Then they had him jack his car up so they could look underneath for a wire. They found nothing. Then they wanted him to pull the pan. This was in between rounds in Eliminations so either way he is not going to be able to make the next round of Eliminations, so he loaded up and left. At the next race which was the Divisional at Tulsa his son was with him and they pulled the pan and let Div 4 tech inspect it. Nothing was found. The way I see it there was never any proof that he had a trans brake in it and the car doesn’t seem to have slowed down any. If anything it may have gotten a little faster. Jim is a stand up guy and yes, he is very good at what he does.