"phone a friend"or Tech

[Charlie Yannetti]

There is a NHRA Rule Book for a reason.. there are rules pertaining to protests for a reason.. there have been several incidents in recent years, where the governing body (NHRA) have not followed their own rules pertaining to protests.. or, for that matter, the timing of Tech Inspections during an event..

We also have the convenience of having SRAC reps, who many believe are the FIX ALL to the racer's problems.. from experience, I can assure you, this couldn't be farther from the truth.. but regardless, those SRAC reps always seem to find themselves in a lose-lose situation as a result of trying to help us out.. their efforts are appreciated by most racers.. most, if not all, racers know why the SRAC was created.. NUFF SAID!!

It's unfortunate that these incidents can have a really bad affect on serious class racers, as it quickly becomes personal.. NHRA does nothing to quell the anger caused by false accusations.. the accusers face no repercussions.. if money is put up to file a formal, and legitimate protest, and the protester loses his/her bid, they lose that money.. if one can protest via a phone call, or text, without posting the required fees, there is nothing to prevent them from repeating their nonsense.. this is where the SRAC should step in and demand sanctions.. BUT THEN, that's where who you are, and who you know kicks in..

I worked on a very well known team, both World and Divisional Champions many times over, who were protested at a Divisional Event for a hood scoop height violation.. NO MONEY was put up for the protest.. the supposed violation was rectified in less than 10 minutes by lowering the scoop EXACTLY 1/2", and the team was reinstated.. as a result, the team has NEVER returned to any Divisional Events, and would not race National Events in their home Division, as the same folks were always involved.. and the anger towards that Division, and the folks involved, has not yet diminished, 10 years later.. people taking sides, friendships gone, and the racing family doesn't really seem like much of a family anymore.. AND NO APOLOGIES HAVE EVER BEEN OFFERED BY ANY OF THE PARTIES!!!

One remedy might be for NHRA bigs to give up some of their un-deserved salaries, and bring back "competent" Tech Inspectors.. online tech cards and spot inspections are nonsense.. we all know that, as honest as most are, we can not police ourselves..

ALSO, and maybe it's just me, once eliminations start, tech inspections stop, unless such violations are blatantly obvious.. otherwise it just looks like sour grapes from folks who just got beat.. if Mr Tech finds something wrong after I just won the 5th round, I might get removed and punished, but what happens to those 5 racers that I already sent home??.. do they all get reinstated??.. do they all get points credits for winning the race, because potentially they might have??.. understand my point??

OOOOOOOORR, maybe we should all just have a NHRA Tech Guy on speed dial when we want to win a race.. YEAH, YEAH, THAT'S IT!!

[Don Eckel 111]

Originally Posted by Charlie Yannetti

I worked on a very well known team, both World and Divisional Champions many times over, who were protested at a Divisional Event for a hood scoop height violation.. NO MONEY was put up for the protest.. the supposed violation was rectified in less than 10 minutes by lowering the scoop EXACTLY 1/2", and the team was reinstated.. as a result, the team has NEVER returned to any Divisional Events, and would not race National Events in their home Division, as the same folks were always involved.. and the anger towards that Division, and the folks involved, has not yet diminished, 10 years later.. people taking sides, friendships gone, and the racing family doesn't really seem like much of a family anymore.. AND NO APOLOGIES HAVE EVER BEEN OFFERED BY ANY OF THE PARTIES!!!

This part makes no sense Charlie. The way I read it, the protest was lodged and found to be legit. If the scoop was too tall, whether it's 1/2", 1/4", whatever, it's illegal based on the rules. Plus they were allowed to make it right. So said team stomps their feet and stops running events because they were illegal, intentional or not? Why should someone apologize for being right if the protested car was in fact not in accordance with the rules?

[Charlie Yannetti]

Originally Posted by Don Eckel 111

This part makes no sense Charlie. The way I read it, the protest was lodged and found to be legit. If the scoop was too tall, whether it's 1/2", 1/4", whatever, it's illegal based on the rules. Plus they were allowed to make it right. So said team stomps their feet and stops running events because they were illegal, intentional or not? Why should someone apologize for being right if the protested car was in fact not in accordance with the rules?

Well Don, when the Tech official was asked if a legitimate protest was lodged, and the appropriate fees put up, we were told "NO, NOT YET".. it was then a word of mouth complaint, and actually held no validity, in my opinion, at that point.. and yes, we were then allowed to make a quick adjustment, probably because the protest was not valid at that point, and we were placed back on the ladder, instead of at the bottom of the sheet, or DQ'd, as requested by the whiners..

I believe that an apology was necessary for the inconvenience to a team that was a mainstay in Comp Eliminator for better than 30 years, whether the hood scoop height was correct or not.. that simple jesture may have kept that team around for a while longer.. like I said, that's when who you are, and who you know kicks in.. we were apparently not a part of the right clique at that venue..

While I will not argue whether the car was actually legal, or not, a 1/2 inch height discrepancy on a hood scoop could easily have been someone misreading a ruler.. maybe the crew guy from another team who actually compelled the whiners to complain.. maybe even the Tech guy.. and I don't even believe that those particular whiners even had the funds to lodge a legitimate protest, without help.. maybe the Tech guy knew that they were trying to raise the funds, and told us to fix it while he waited.. in the end, the Tech guy may have actually helped everyone (RIP RC).. we took care of the problem, and the whiners saved their money.. and then the whiners went red in the 1st rnd.. maybe KARMA??

The bigger fact in this matter, is probably the part about people not wanting the owner, or the driver, of said team to win another championship, and that race happened to be important toward that goal.. just like the guy in the original post didn't want another racer to win his race.. but that's a whole different cliquish kinda story..

My original point is that there are rules pertaining to protests, and those rules, more often then not, are not even followed by the governing body (NHRA).. how can you accept a protest via text or phone call??.. and reportedly, the person was not even at the venue at the time.. how are the protest fees then collected.. and in the case I referred to, how do you send your wife to complain with NO MONEY in her pocketbook, and on an *** Clown's say so??.. I will say that that wife had more balls than all the men involved in that particular scenario though..

[1347]

I have a question, After reading Charlie's post, It appears that one of the concerns was that a tech official came over to question the legality of a car without an official protest. And even though the car was in fact illegal, or should I say, had a hood scoop out of spec, the complaint was that they should never come over without a protest put up.

So the question I have, is it not allowed to approach a tech official about a concern about a competitors car without putting up a protest fee? If that is the case I never knew that.

[Don Eckel 111]

Originally Posted by Charlie Yannetti

Well Don, when the Tech official was asked if a legitimate protest was lodged, and the appropriate fees put up, we were told "NO, NOT YET".. it was then a word of mouth complaint, and actually held no validity, in my opinion, at that point.. and yes, we were then allowed to make a quick adjustment, probably because the protest was not valid at that point, and we were placed back on the ladder, instead of at the bottom of the sheet, or DQ'd, as requested by the whiners..

I believe that an apology was necessary for the inconvenience to a team that was a mainstay in Comp Eliminator for better than 30 years, whether the hood scoop height was correct or not.. that simple jesture may have kept that team around for a while longer.. like I said, that's when who you are, and who you know kicks in.. we were apparently not a part of the right clique at that venue..

While I will not argue whether the car was actually legal, or not, a 1/2 inch height discrepancy on a hood scoop could easily have been someone misreading a ruler.. maybe the crew guy from another team who actually compelled the whiners to complain.. maybe even the Tech guy.. and I don't even believe that those particular whiners even had the funds to lodge a legitimate protest, without help.. maybe the Tech guy knew that they were trying to raise the funds, and told us to fix it while he waited.. in the end, the Tech guy may have actually helped everyone (RIP RC).. we took care of the problem, and the whiners saved their money.. and then the whiners went red in the 1st rnd.. maybe KARMA??

The bigger fact in this matter, is probably the part about people not wanting the owner, or the driver, of said team to win another championship, and that race happened to be important toward that goal.. just like the guy in the original post didn't want another racer to win his race.. but that's a whole different cliquish kinda story..

My original point is that there are rules pertaining to protests, and those rules, more often than not, are not even followed by the governing body (NHRA).. how can you accept a protest via text or phone call??.. and reportedly, the person was not even at the venue at the time.. how are the protest fees then collected.. and in the case I referred to, how do you send your wife to complain with NO MONEY in her pocketbook, and on an *** Clown's say so??.. I will say that that wife had more balls than all the men involved in that particular scenario though..

You say no validity in your opinion but obviously, NHRA felt differently to take the time to check AND make you change it. So did anyone ever go back and ask if the money was put up following the "no, not yet" comment? I don't see this as being any different than an NHRA spot check and honestly, if you have nothing to hide or it's an honest mistake, what's the difference? I find it funny that you call those who protested whiners, when in fact, their issue with the car turned out to be 100% true. If someone on the offending team misread a ruler, well that's on them to go back and make up that day from 1st grade. In fact, it's pretty impressive that whoever protested could determine visually that there was an issue without actually measuring it. Or maybe it was more than a 1/2" as you claim, and obvious?

That said, why would someone apologize for being right? Because your team had to correct something that was wrong? And last time I checked, longevity in the class isn't a waiver from making sure your car is legal. By that logic, maybe financial standing should be a waiver for those who can't afford to put up the money for a protest. Maybe I get to throw an extra 1" of overhang on the nose for my 30 years? On top of that, perhaps you WERE afforded a "30 years in the class" favor by being allowed to continue by NHRA, did anyone think of that? There sure have been S/SS guys bounced for far less. I don't necessarily agree with someone not at the race calling in a protest, but your protester was.