The discussion of the protest of the Regan/Winburg car brings up an issue that
a lot of people seem to be tripping over. First a disclaimer; In no way am I
speaking for the Nationals Protest committee (I was a Protest Committee
member), these are personal observations made during my three terms on the
nationals PC and my serving as a member or Chief on PCs for National Tours and
Divisionals over these many years. Nor is it my intent to single out any
specific protest, protestor or protestee. Again, these are general
observations, no inferences should be drawn from them. It was the
circumstances of the Regan/Winburg protest that brought up the issue, I just
thought it should be addressed:
* I am always surprised at how few competitors are prepared to defend the
legality of their cars. The majority of protested drivers/car owners do not
have proper documentation readily available for their car or the modifications
to said car. 13.0 (4th paragraph) states; "the entrant has the burden of
proving his car conforms to these rules by his owner's manual, manufacturer's
shop manual, manufacturer's catalogs or other official manufacturer's
documentation, which must be in possession of the entrant at the event..."
Then the final sentence of paragraph four; "Failure to provide appropriate
manufacturer's documentation regarding vehicle specifications will result in
disqualification".
Would you go to Nationals with the potential to win a Championship and not
have a shop manual for the car you were driving? Did you have one with you
this year? Forget for a moment whether or not the car is legal, if you don't
have a shop manual, and you get protested, you are gone. (Yes, I know about
the BMW issue) For a stock class car a single manual for the year and model
is sufficient. In the case of an SP car additional manuals may be needed to
document specific updated/backdated items. I have a box that stays in my van
that has the shop manuals, micro fiche and the manufacturer's measuring tools
to document every detail of my car. From what I have seen this documentation
is as important as preparing the car itself. As already noted on this forum,
this was the basic problem that Regan/Winburg had. Without any documentation,
they couldn't prove the configuration was legal. I consider Richard Winburg a
friend and it really hurt to see him sitting there helplessly watching his
fine performance go down the tubes for lack of paperwork. Don't let this
happen to you!
Two similar issues have also come to mind as well:
* I am always surprised that there are drivers/car owners that are un-aware
(or at least claimed to be) of the rules for which they were protested. Did
they not read the rules before preparing their car? Did they assume the car
they bought conformed to the rules without exceptions? This seems obvious
but I have seen it too many times. "I didn't know?" he said after reading
the protest filed against his car. Its hard to have sympathy for this guy.
Simple negligence. If he had read the rules and looked at the car he wouldn't
have this problem.
* Finally, drivers/car owners that didn't know that repairs done on their car
by the dealership or other repair facility were illegal. (Example: incorrect
parts used, parts left out, parts installed in the wrong place or left off,
non-manufacturer approved methods of repair used, etc...) I have seen car
owners shocked to find that the dealer (or an independent shop) did something
which made their car illegal. Realize that the tech working on your car has
no clue how important this could be to you. It really hurts to see someone go
down on this one.
The moral of the story? Don't assume (you know what happens when...) and be
prepared.
Steve Hoelscher
#27 DSP
/// unsubscribe/change address requests to majordomo@autox.team.net or try
/// http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo
/// Partial archives at http://www.team.net/archive
|