Keith Hearn Wrote in reference to the questionable legality of a tower brace
with firewall bolts removed:
>Actually, thinking some more about it since my last post, I think if I
> was judging the protest, I'd have to rule against the brace. Even if
> you remove the bolts, it can still press against the firewall and
> provide some bracing. If it was hanging a half an inch from the
> firewall when unbolted it might go either way, but if it's touching
> the firewall, it's providing bracing, even without the bolts.
I think you probably have the correct interpretation here. If there is a
chance, during driving, for the brace to come in contact with the firewall,
and through some imagined or real leverage, increase the chassis stiffness,
disqualification would likely be the case.
>But they're only an issue if you get protested, which isn't likely to
> happen at a local event, unless you start showing up a lot and
> placing well.
I also think you have a reasonable position as far as most local events and
competitors are concerned. However, keep in mind that many competitors have
big, bigger and biggest sizes of egos. The larger the ego, the easier it is
to rationalize, for a person being beaten, that the faster person "must be
cheating". And, a visually questionable item just feeds that
rationalization. That's what prompts many (of the few we have locally)
protests. Philosophically, having competed locally against a few cars over
the years that have had obviously illegal modifications, I've, in recent
years, concentrated on how to improve my performance rather than by
expending psysic energy on the negative. To spend time fretting over
another's indescretion, whether it be equipment or their protestable
behavior, is self-defeating for me. I'm better off focussing on improving my
performance on the course. Easy to say, somtimes hard to do, though.
Now go to another locale, such as another Region's Divisional, a National
Tour, a Pro Solo or the National run-offs and you should expect, if you're
fast, to really be given some critical attention. If even the slightest
questional item is visually obvious, the chances of being protested, and the
hassel that goes with a protest, go up dramatically.
Don
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