[bill dedman]

Ed,

Things ARE slow here, and that's why I'm here. I spent the last 24 years in Kalifornia (the San Francisco Bay Area,) and I was ready for a "slowdown" after passing 65, in 2003.

My opinion:
It doesn't matter a whit whether someone is currently running a car, or not; they can still have an opinion, and ideas about what goes on, and they can be valid. As you well know, there's another bulletin board (forum) on this site for the people who are currently racing. If you think that their opinions and ideas have more merit than the folks who post here, then, that's probably the forum you should frequent. You race, and have a permanent number, so, it would be no problem at all for you. I can't post there.

I was not trying to bust anybody's ba**s with my comments about turbochargers and un-monitored boost levels. I was trying to get some discussion started about what to do about a problem that has been plaguing Stock Eliminator at national events for over four years (and, maybe longer.)

What I got for my effort was songs and dances from people who run those cars, with never an admission that there even WAS a problem at national events, even though I showed them the numbers that strongly suggested otherwise. Even though I don't race a Class car, I got accused of "whining," when in fact, I have nothing to "whine" about. I was just pointing out what I felt to be the the pertinent facts. That's not "whining."

But, there was nothing in the way of support forthcoming from the normally-aspirated car owners, so, I finally had to agree with the turbo guys;... apparently, there REALLY IS NO PROBLEM.

So, I finally gave up trying... probably a good thing. It was never my intention to anger people.
The thing that is still hanging out (it seems to me) is that... if there were no truth to my contention, then why would they care if my plan were activated? It wouldn't matter, if there were no problem.

Oh well; it is what it is.... and NHRA can't make any money by fixing it, so THAT's not gonna happen...

The tonneau cover question was just because of my inherent curiosity. I still can't find anything about the legality of it in the NHRA rule book. Maybe it's just not in there...