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Re: Hype R kickin Class

To: "Heyward K Wagner" <sportscar48@juno.com>
Subject: Re: Hype R kickin Class
From: "Eric Linnhoff" <eric10mm@qni.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 08:55:01 -0600
>I believe there will be many Neon SSB and SSC racers who will celebrate
>the
>day that their cars finally become eligible for IT racing classes since
>the
>SCCA allowed (for other marques at least) trunk kits (unfairly in my
>opinion) that have made it improbable that the Neons will continue to win
>in
>the Showroom Stock classes.
>
>Ok, now you have gone to far, the entire reason for trunk kits in the
>first place was to allow other manufactures to keep up with the
>modifications that the Neons where getting away with.  There was not a
>need for trunk kits until Dodge introduced three little letters, A-C-R.
>The ACR came much more race prepared (Ajustable shocks, Camber settings,
>etc) than any other SS car had ever been.  After letting the Neons run
>away with all of the trophies in SSC and SSB the SCCA introduced the
>trunk kits to help balance things.  If the Neon did not have the unfair
>advantage of the ACR then the trunk kits never would have come to be.  I
>am opposed to the trunk kits all together because it has taken a "budget"
>class were you theoretically need $20,000 to get in and raised the price
>tag to $40,000.
>
>Neon has done a lot to raise the interest and exposure of solo 2 and club
>racing, but SCCA had to give up Showroom Stock in the process.  I
>personally would rather have the old Showroom classes back.
>
>hKw
========================
Sorry folks for not snipping away parts of this thread but it's all relevant
to the topic.

Heyward, I'm guessing that basically we agree on the "trunk kit" topic and
here's my side of the debate.

So...... Chrysler took the time and trouble to design a car that is still
very much a street car with competition in mind (stiffer struts, camber
adjustability and basicaly stripped) AND made it available (cheaply) to the
public in the exact same form as the winning race cars.

The other manufacturers either didn't care enough or didn't want to do the
same thing and couldn't keep up so they begged for and were granted an
allowance to compensate for their lack of foresight, engineering
capabilities and apparently interest.

And _that's_ fair?  Hardly.  The ACR is available to the general public,
which I thought was one of the criteria for SS cars, in the EXACT same
package as it is raced in except for the across the board required safety
equipment like roll cages and fire suppression systems.

Now, are the Protege's and other SS cars that were allowed the trunk kits
available to the public, through dealerships, in the same form in which they
are allowed to race?

No.  So, IMHO, the cars that were allowed trunk kits no longer meet the
"spirit" or the letter of SS cars and should be ruled inelligible.

Of course this is just my opinion and as everyone knows, opinions vary.

See you on course.

Eric Linnhoff in KC
#69DS    TLS #13
'98 Neon R/T
<eric10mm@qni.com>

You jump in front of my car  When you know all the time
That 90 miles an hour  Girl  Is the speed I drive
You tell me it's all right  You don't mind a little pain
You say you just want me to take you for a drive
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Crosstown Traffic"  as recorded by Jimi Hendrix




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