Hi Glen, I agree that all vehicles should be reinspected by the team crew
chief and/or mechanic/rider between each run... but to have the organization
do it would be far to extensive for the time and manpower available. Each and
every team has the ability to have their crew chief make sure that happens
and each team is also responsible for presenting a safe vehicle at the
starting line(and yes... our starter is very efficient as well as very
thorough at the needed safety inspections on the starting line, he will
promptly remove(and has many times) any vehicle from that position for
anything he deems a possibly deficiency). A rough layout of the procedures
that need followed to be able to run with the ECTA are on the website
(www.ecta-lsr.com), it would be item #7 under the FAQ link at the top of the
page. Although ECTA has not been around near as long as the other
organizations, I don't think anyone can argue it has a better safety record
then any other past or present LSR organization(and possibly in comparisson
to most other racing venues) when put in an accident, injury or failure to
runs made ratio).
Personally, I have 3 checklists(a pre-run, a post-run and between-run
checklist) Deb and I follow, and am lucky to get in 5 to 6 runs on a weekend,
but that has more to do with me taking my time, and my type of vehicle(as do
many teams there, there are many that come and make only one run). On the
other hand someone running their 2005 bone stock 4 cylinder family car at
around 100mph may want to do as many passes as he can and may not want to
check for anything more then visually loose items, tire condition and fluid
leaks(all of which are covered by our starter by the way). The ECTA works
more as a family operation or one big racee team, helping and watching out
for each other(both in the pits and in the staging lanes), and because of
this I believe there are less chances for failure then if we relied soley on
overworked volunteers(hopefully someday the ECTA will have the volunteers
needed to have as a proficient impound and tech staff as the SCTA). Just
thought I'd throw my 2cents in for those that haven't ran there but are
considering it(As an amature football player I could play on an NFL field or
in my backyard, all I care about is that I'm having fun and being safe
whereever it is I'm playing).
Hope you are having a festive Christmas and New Year and Deb made sure to
have me send a big hello to you from her.
Todd
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