"I'd be curious about WST's comments on the politics behind this in VSCDA.
JohnD
P.S. And I believe VSCDA is proposing a phase-in of proposed changes
over several years."
Subject: RE: Distributor NOW: racing Part 1
Yeah, John, You're right, I'm not smart enough to NOT step into a discussion
of what my perception of the politics of the situation are. ;)
My personal opinion... not speaking for VSCDA, or as VSCDA Group 2 rep is...
I think that despite rules on the books, it has often been the race
director's discretion as to who can run (and who can't) in a car prepped
outside of spec. All race directors want an event to be financially
successful. For instance, one of the first things to go in back dating a car
from its last "current era" spec to a vintage standard was the removal of
fender flares. Am I right? It would be one of the most obvious outside
signs. Yet, I remember seeing an awful lot of cars with fender flares
running. What's his name.. the guy with the metallic green MGB that used to
be the VSCDA driving school head... can't think of his name. He ran flares
for years. Grant has a Bugeye with flares, I think Soave has flares in the
back. Up until recently, Jeff did too.
When I got Red Rat in Jan. of 03, it had gawd-awful flares front & back. I
was going vintage racing, so, they had to come off. Was it easy? Nope. Did
it take work? Yep. Did it cost dough? Yep. That's part about complying with
the spirit of the whole deal. That's what is seemingly missed here by so
many. Sure, slip a narrow tire under the fender, a legal tire, and you've
eliminated the advantage of the wider tire that used to reside there, but it
still doesn't LOOK vintage.
Why have people been allowed to run with flares? Car count. If our
organization or any other in our circumstances had enforced their own rules
consistently, we would not have arrived where we are today.
What VSCDA is saying is, we not only want cars to look vintage, we want them
prepared to period spec, with the exception of agreed upon safety upgrades
(roll bars & fuel cells, fire suits, etc.).
Continued in part 2...
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