[QUOTE=Patrick Thomas 25;172269]First off, I’m glad to see tracks coming together and getting the rules for the sportsman class the same,to keep us from having to rebuild the car from 1 set of track rules too the next. It was also said by Ricky that the wheelman series would follow these same rules.
But, there are a lot of new rules that will cost a lot of racers a bunch of money.
Some of the rule changes, like the body rules were warned in last years rule book they were coming. And they actually opened up the overhang rules from what had been posted to make more of the existing cars legal. I am a big fan of the quarter panel height rule, just last Saturday, I ran into the back of Bruce Bennetts car before the race started because I couldn’t see that Jason Vail had slowed in front of him. The quarter panel heights have gotten out of hand, I couldn’t care less if there was an overhang rule front or rear, or even a roof height or overall roof dimension, as that stuff matters very little in my opinion.
The minimum weight rule getting lower to 2950 as the base weight is gonna be tough for guys with older cars, or fat drivers like I am.
The new 50 pound weight break for crate motors is if the motor is completely sealed, okay that means the stock oil pan too, but the rules have allowed for a cheap 7" deep pan, instead of the factory sealed 8 1/4" deep pan installed from GM. So if you want the crate motor weight break you have to put the factory stock pan back on, and Ricky would have to reseal the pan. But by putting this pan on you also have to raise the motor back up 1 1/4". When we used to be mandated to run the stock pan, the crank height on my motor had to be 13 1/2" to keep the oil pan off the race track. The built motor cars have no oil pan rule, and there is no crank height rule in this rulebook, so they are going to be able to get there motors down to 11 1/2" or so and still not bottom out the oil pan on the track. Ricky has been made aware of this and there may be a change coming soon.
The other big issue is, the crate motor is now mandated a 6200 rev limiter chip,
And the built motor is to have a 6800 rev limiter chip. This season in the DASS series the built motor cars had a 6500 chip and dominated the DASS series except for 2 races that all the good built motor cars either wrecked or didn’t show up to race. Why give the built motor cars more RPM and a crank height advantage for this next if you are looking at going to crate only in 2018. Why not penalize the built motor guys now to make them want to buy the way more affordable crate motor. I know there are guys that say they can build a built motor that will last for the same as a crate and carb. Great that’s awesome, I don’t believe you. Ricky has also been made aware of this.
The clutch rule is also new, it is a more affordable option if you had no clutch and were building a new car, the problem is most people already have the top of the line big 10 1/2" clutch, so you now have to put it on a shelve and order a new clutch. My opinion the there should be a 1 year 50 pound penalty for the
7 1/4" clutch’ with the understanding that in 2018 the 7 1/4" clutch will be legal with no penalty.
The other change that isn’t on this rules sheet is the fact that the new 12 race series will be on a 9" American racer slick, which will only hook up the more powerful built motors even more. Once again another nail in the affordable crate motor option that has for years been the expensive built motor alternative
There is a big rear suspension change that I think is a good thing to keep costs down, even though it affects my cars, and all the cars I have built or rebuilt. The biscuits or springs in the trailing arms that allow the rearends to move around are now illegal, and the newer style center pull attachment points that I use are now illegal.
The shock claim rule is lower this year, the spec sealed shock for next year may be a good thing to help keep costs down also, but remember by having a spec shock next year, you are still requiring people to buy new shocks.
So there are big changes for the most successful class in Florida, some I think are very good for the class, while others I feel have gone the wrong way.
Patrick Thomas 111[/QUOTE]
Much more educated/indepth post than mine since you obviously have more experience/knowledge with these cars. 100% on point. The basis of these changes are great, but costing guys big money to make these changes is only going to hurt everyone, especially the little budget guys.
You really just have no clue. So this isn’t going to cost anyone any money? What about those who can’t do the work themselves? They have others do the work on their cars. This stuff doesn’t just magically get done for free. That about the parts required, or the materials? Not everybody does their cars themselves. What about those like Aaron above, who just had his car re clipped, only to now have that clip have to be changed/modified because it was for the old rules, or the body he just put on his other car that now has to come completely back off, re configured, and re constructed. When you move panels, they don’t always just fit back into place. Things are made to fit perfect, and when you have to move things, others don’t fit and then you have to replace them to make it right again.
