"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!!