What really happened at Belle Rose

[Ron Ortiz]

First of all I would like to thank every single person involved at No Problem Raceway, from Pat, the crew, the NHRA people, and all who partcipated to make the best race in the country.

Belle Rose offered a variety of incentives for the sportsman racer, from the King of The Bayou race for the 90 categories, class eliminations, and the CIC race. This and the Cajun Sportsnationals to boot. The hospitality, the friendliness, the crawfish boil from Ross Laris, the band, the bar under the tower, the water and drinks after a run provided by the ET shack, everything was great. I would mention the traction, but I can hook in sand, but every body else seemed to be quite pleased.

Obviously Bob Shaw's runs drew alot of attention. Yes, he did go under on a run that got him a HP hit under NHRA rules, but other than that, any run that was way under was under the CIC race which is not supposed to be under scrutinization from NHRA. It is a free race put on by the track. It is a race that all class racers like to see because it allows a competitor to let it loose and it forces some to show their hand on how fast they really are. It was way cool, and I believe that everybody enjoyed it, whether they were a participant or a spectator. There were alot of very fast cars out there. Congratulations go to Mr. Mans for winning that race, he earned it.

I believe there should be more of these races as it is well recieved by the majority, but it leads to alot of different opinions with loud vocals to them. Stop it, it was a free race that everybody wanted to see. It was not an everyday competition. It was special where racers had the opportunity to go for it. Not a hunting ground for NHRA. If NHRA wanted to do the factoring correctly they would collect data from every run that includes incremental times from every race. But that is for another thread.

I spoke to Bob Shaw alot over the weekend as we are fellow competitors. He came out with a El Camino years ago that blasted everybody. At Belle Rose in 2002 during the innagural U/SA Shootout, Jack McCarthy beat him when Bob had a Mercury Capri. Daran Summerton had the fastest U/SA car but unfortunately demon alcohol provided by The Captain and eventual winner Bear Tarrance did him in. The following year Bob put countless hours and Test N Tune sessions remembering the tail lights of that Chevy Kingswood wagon. He came back the following year with the same Capri and literally destroyed all of us to win the class. It is the only time I have ever raced in class eliminations that I could read my opponents time on the scoreboard while racing against him. He told me then that this was the last time he was going to run the Capri as he was looking at a Chevy Caprice. Well, he sold the Capri and then did some damage to the fields with the big Caprice qualifying very well. Then he got the Caddy.

He told me this past weekend that this was the last time the car would be in U/SA, that it really is a T/SA car. But, being that they had this CIC race he was there only to win it and U/SA would be better for him to run in. He was only there for the CIC race. To be in the CIC race you had to win class first. So he went out and cut a .390 something against The Captain and ran around him twice. Jack is still talking about it. Then I run him and he cuts a .966 and catches me at half track, backs into me and runs a 13.79 @ 86.59 MPH. His 60 foot time is 1.945 compared to my 1.875. Bob was having a module malfunction that was killing his reaction times, he was reaching for the ignition key when he ran me because he thought that his car stalled, then it took off on him and he reeled me in by half track.

During the CIC race I think he killed off 6 tenths in the first round. I do not know what he killed off in the second round. In the third round he raced the famous M/SA of Charlie Downing. Well he cut a not so good light but beat Charlie Bob with a 13.03 running a very slow mile an hour. Charlie was quite pissed but impressed at the same time. Bob's car can run way under his 2.12 under run. Unfortunately for Bob he was still holding only a second but with his reactions due to malfunctions led to his demise. I was told that I should run his car for him but that it would not work out as I probably would have taken the car off the premisis to keep after the run.

I remember when I got into class racing way back when and the first thing you did was find the right class to run in. That was the norm, but it seems that now some get persecuted for doing so. If the car/combination is in the "Guide" then it can run. Sure Bob picked a different combo to run in, but it was available to everybody else. He just happened to show what that combo is capable of doing in a free CIC race that is supposed to be under the local tracks jurisdiction. The only ones that should be complaning are the ones that can go way under their index and who want to be #1 qualifier, or another liked class car.
Other than that who cares if X/SA can go under by more that a second.

Well the race is over and all kinds of controversy has started. Instant triggers, suggested amounts under to set it off, amounts of % HP to be given, it just goes over and over and on and on. Remember that this was a CIC race that we all wanted to see and it should not result in any penalties. Though the bottom line is that the sanctioning body needs to address HP ratings quickly, whether it is a different class or a new factory combo. If they cannot do so then we might see the end of our category.

Besides the above mentioned I had a great time, and I knew that I would, it is No Problem.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA a fearfull .658 under

[Ed Fernandez]

Originally Posted by Ron Ortiz

First of all I would like to thank every single person involved at No Problem Raceway, from Pat, the crew, the NHRA people, and all who partcipated to make the best race in the country.

Belle Rose offered a variety of incentives for the sportsman racer, from the King of The Bayou race for the 90 categories, class eliminations, and the CIC race. This and the Cajun Sportsnationals to boot. The hospitality, the friendliness, the crawfish boil from Ross Laris, the band, the bar under the tower, the water and drinks after a run provided by the ET shack, everything was great. I would mention the traction, but I can hook in sand, but every body else seemed to be quite pleased.

Obviously Bob Shaw's runs drew alot of attention. Yes, he did go under on a run that got him a HP hit under NHRA rules, but other than that, any run that was way under was under the CIC race which is not supposed to be under scrutinization from NHRA. It is a free race put on by the track. It is a race that all class racers like to see because it allows a competitor to let it loose and it forces some to show their hand on how fast they really are. It was way cool, and I believe that everybody enjoyed it, whether they were a participant or a spectator. There were alot of very fast cars out there. Congratulations go to Mr. Mans for winning that race, he earned it.

I believe there should be more of these races as it is well recieved by the majority, but it leads to alot of different opinions with loud vocals to them. Stop it, it was a free race that everybody wanted to see. It was not an everyday competition. It was special where racers had the opportunity to go for it. Not a hunting ground for NHRA. If NHRA wanted to do the factoring correctly they would collect data from every run that includes incremental times from every race. But that is for another thread.

I spoke to Bob Shaw alot over the weekend as we are fellow competitors. He came out with a El Camino years ago that blasted everybody. At Belle Rose in 2002 during the innagural U/SA Shootout, Jack McCarthy beat him when Bob had a Mercury Capri. Daran Summerton had the fastest U/SA car but unfortunately demon alcohol provided by The Captain and eventual winner Bear Tarrance did him in. The following year Bob put countless hours and Test N Tune sessions remembering the tail lights of that Chevy Kingswood wagon. He came back the following year with the same Capri and literally destroyed all of us to win the class. It is the only time I have ever raced in class eliminations that I could read my opponents time on the scoreboard while racing against him. He told me then that this was the last time he was going to run the Capri as he was looking at a Chevy Caprice. Well, he sold the Capri and then did some damage to the fields with the big Caprice qualifying very well. Then he got the Caddy.

He told me this past weekend that this was the last time the car would be in U/SA, that it really is a T/SA car. But, being that they had this CIC race he was there only to win it and U/SA would be better for him to run in. He was only there for the CIC race. To be in the CIC race you had to win class first. So he went out and cut a .390 something against The Captain and ran around him twice. Jack is still talking about it. Then I run him and he cuts a .966 and catches me at half track, backs into me and runs a 13.79 @ 86.59 MPH. His 60 foot time is 1.945 compared to my 1.875. Bob was having a module malfunction that was killing his reaction times, he was reaching for the ignition key when he ran me because he thought that his car stalled, then it took off on him and he reeled me in by half track.

During the CIC race I think he killed off 6 tenths in the first round. I do not know what he killed off in the second round. In the third round he raced the famous M/SA of Charlie Downing. Well he cut a not so good light but beat Charlie Bob with a 13.03 running a very slow mile an hour. Charlie was quite pissed but impressed at the same time. Bob's car can run way under his 2.12 under run. Unfortunately for Bob he was still holding only a second but with his reactions due to malfunctions led to his demise. I was told that I should run his car for him but that it would not work out as I probably would have taken the car off the premisis to keep after the run.

I remember when I got into class racing way back when and the first thing you did was find the right class to run in. That was the norm, but it seems that now some get persecuted for doing so. If the car/combination is in the "Guide" then it can run. Sure Bob picked a different combo to run in, but it was available to everybody else. He just happened to show what that combo is capable of doing in a free CIC race that is supposed to be under the local tracks jurisdiction. The only ones that should be complaning are the ones that can go way under their index and who want to be #1 qualifier, or another liked class car.
Other than that who cares if X/SA can go under by more that a second.

Well the race is over and all kinds of controversy has started. Instant triggers, suggested amounts under to set it off, amounts of % HP to be given, it just goes over and over and on and on. Remember that this was a CIC race that we all wanted to see and it should not result in any penalties. Though the bottom line is that the sanctioning body needs to address HP ratings quickly, whether it is a different class or a new factory combo. If they cannot do so then we might see the end of our category.

Besides the above mentioned I had a great time, and I knew that I would, it is No Problem.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA a fearfull .658 under

Good post Ron.Jeez your fingers must be killing you after that looooong post.Go get a Cuban sandwich
and a Corona and send the bill to Billy.

Ed

[Blingmaster]

Ron: Is there any truth to the rumor that if daran hadn't made you buy new tires the car would not have indexed.....No more communications between you and the pup....It makes whatever little hair I have go gray....DD

[Ron Ortiz]

No truth to that Daryl, car was under index out of the box. Daran just did some things to pick it up considerably. The tires were a necessity for my well being.

Daran said that you would freak out, but I put some crawfish in front of him and he forgot rather quickly. Concerning your hair, don't worry about it, just grow your eyebrows long and comb them over the top of your head.

Talk at you later, get Daran working on your car.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA I am so "tired"

[Ron Ortiz]

A ton of views but no responses. Did the stats wake up some of you, or are you upset that it was a non sanctioned CIC race where there is no alternative action. Remember you all wanted this "race"

Where are all you traditional posters on this subject? Is not this what you all wanted, a CIC race, with no interference from NHRA. But now you all complain about an outlandish combo that is reeking havoc on the lowly U/SA class.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA flying under the radar.

[Kenny Wigington]

At least you got your voice back, to post again !! I had fun anyway, even with all the BS I had done to myself. I had to put everything back like it was last yr, to even run the index, I had it so screwed ! It was great meeting you and Jack and so many more, I didnt worry about me hitting the CIC, or the AHFS !