"RUN WHAT YOU BRUNG?"

Something I really feel every racer needs besides my "Life * in * The * Fast Lane" series is the

"Best Kept Secrets in Auto Racing"
Cylinder Head Secrets, Camshaft Secrets, Intake and Exhaust Secrets, General Engine
Building Secrets; it's all here. Do you want more? Sponsor information; learn what they actually look for in a prospect. There is a ton of stuff here that will take your racing operation to the winners circle. Dont Miss It!

I'm ready to stir up a little controversy.There is several things that I simply don't agree with in the Nascar rule book.

1: Body Templates - Does anyone out there know of any place you can go buy a car that looks like the car you see racing on TV every weekend????? I don't think so. Take the Dodge Charger. You will never find a Dodge charger on the showroom floor that looks like Kasey Kaynes. They are dminsionally two totally different animals. The only thing Nascar requires is a (again) deminsionally stock hood, roof, and rear deck lid (trunk lid). Every thing else is almost, but not quite, open game.

Of course, most everyone knows that everything under the sheet metal is shop fabricated and modified. And now they are going to bring Toyota into the mix. Do you know of any Toyotas that fit current Nascar specifications?

My take is this. Make the car builders build the cars to the factory specs for outside deminsions. Put the burden back on the "Factories" to build models that deminsionally meet Nascar specs. And, do it in a manner that most all of us can afford. The factories can afford to do this.

Stock car racing is one of the best advertising mediums there is. Put the burden back on the factories to make their cars aerodynamically efficient. Put the burden on Nascar to insure that the templets are made to fit the car that the everyday Joe purchases to go back and forth to work. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for carbon fiber nose pieces and such. Anything that adds to the safety of the drivers and fans gets my vote. Nobody would want a 100 pound bumper to go flying into the grand stands or through another drivers windshield.

The thing that made Nascar so popular in the beginning was fan identification with the car their favorite driver drove.

Now they are working on "The Car Of Tommorow" (wooooooooo). I haven't seen it, but I can't help but wonder how close it will resemble the car from the showroom floor. As I see it, from a professional level, the days of stock car racing are long gone and that is sad.

2: Car Owner Points - I guess this is old school thinking but the idea of the teams locked into the field because they are in the top 35 in owner points is simply "CRAP".

Was this a Mike Helton thing? Maybe not, but someone is certainly in the pockets of the Roushes, the Yates, the Hendrixes, the Childreses, etc. Would some one please explain to me this? What is wrong with simple qualifing? You should bring your car to the track and attempt to qualify it. If you are not in the top 42 that Nascar allows for a complete field, You Go Home! What is wrong with that? Guaranteeing the top 35 teams in owner points a starting position should be down away with. Have you heard the term "Run what you brung"? Well, that's the way it should be. Nuff said.

Thanks,
Larryjack

***Life * In * The * Fast * Lane*** - Lets Go Racin'

This is one of the most important tips from Larryjack's Auto Racing Tips for new folks getting into stock car racing.

LIFE * IN * THE * FAST * LANE

Okay.
You've worked all winter building a beautiful race car. You've studied car building tips, engine building tips, and all of the auto racing history you could get your hands on. You've got a hundred pictures and you've bored your friends to death talking about it. You've bought a brand new drivers suit personalized with your very own name on it.Your custom painted helmet is a work of art second to none. Man, you are really styling.

The first race of the season is here and you're at the front of the line at the pit gate with your truck, trailer, and race car shining like new money. You get pitted and unload your car and equipment while people are coming by telling you how good and fast the car looks. You're riding on such a high that Robin Hood couldn't burst your balloon with his best laser sharpened arrow.

FINALLY!
It seems like you've waited forever for this moment.You're on the track and lined up for your very first heat race, circling around for the green flag. You are wound like a pretzel with excitement and, why not. You've watched races for years. You've studied 10 years of your favorite racing magazines. The racing magazines taught you about car building technology, engine building modifications, along with countless driver interviews. Nothing could possibly go wrong. RIGHT?

Guess what.

The green flag drops and you are instantly passed by four or five cars while being bumped in the rear by the car you are holding back. What the devil is happening? You finally reach the end of the front chute and turn the wheel. The car doesn't turn, goes up, bounces off the wall, comes back across the track, getting tagged by another car causing you to spin out in turn two. You are sitting backwards on the track and someone plows into you head-on.

By the time the bells quit ringing, you realize that you are hooked to a wrecker getting towed to the pits. You've gone from the highest point in your life to the lowest in a matter of a few seconds. That beautiful car that you hand-crafted is now a crumpled heap. Your body feels like you just went three rounds with a professional wrestler and your head's crying for a couple of headache powders.

How could this have happened after all you've done?

After all of your study? Instead of enjoying success during the most exciting night of your life, you feel like crawling in a hole and dying from embarrassment. You are positive that all of your friends are laughing at you after all your bragging. The car wouldn't turn in a 40 acre field and the engine wouldn't pull a greasy string out of a cat's derriere.

Hopefully, this didn't happen to those of you that currently race. We've all seen it time and time again, or, at least, a similar situation with about the same outcome. A lot of good people that could have become great competitors with the proper help, quit after experiencing this kind of decimation and financial loss. Others that continued, usually became "back-of-the-packers" experiencing a lot of broken parts, along with more wrecks, spending money hand over fist and going nowhere. A choice few, through hard work, determination, and the willingness to try to learn more, eventually work past the so-called break-in period, becoming as successful as their god-given abilities would allow. For most, this takes several seasons and, you guessed it, a lot more money.

Racing, even in the novice classes, has become ridiculously expensive. Nobody can afford to be knocked into the wall very often and when it's caused by a new up-and-comer, the feeling is that it probably wouldn't have happened if the rookie had known what he was doing to begin with.

Two things cause more accidents than anything else; lack of driving experience and ill-handling cars.

I may be able to help. Drop me a comment or a question.
Also, I know this can help!

"Best Kept Secrets in Auto Racing"

Check it out!

Thanks,
Larryjack

Nascar Hall of Fame

Nascar Hall of Fame

As most everyone knows by now, Charlotte, NC has been named the location for the new Nascar Hall of Fame. I feel that this is an excellent location based on todays demographics. Based on the history of Nascar, I'm not that comfortable with it.

You see, back in the "40's" when Bill France, Sr. was running at various dirt tracks, he got the idea for better organized racing. He wanted an organization that would set the rules and anyone who entered an event had to abide by those rules. He came to the upstate and visited with a number of fellow drivers about his ideas. One of those meetings was held right here in Spartanburg. Joe Littlejohn of Spartanburg was one of those present. My understanding from my Dad was that the deciding factors for originating Nascar happened here. This is really getting into another series of stories so I'll move on.

The three finalists, Charlotte, Daytona, and Atlanta, all have a rich history in Nascar. When the Daytona Speedway was built, the Nascar offices were operated from there. Charlotte Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway were soon to follow. Since it wasn't in the running for the Hall of Fame, I didn't mention Darlington Raceway. But Darlington is another story.

An interesting tid-bit about Spartanburg was this. When the folks that planned and developed Talledega Speedway first started looking for a place to put their "dream speedway", the little town of Spartanburg was one of the locations being considered. Why you may ask? Because, at that time, more car builders and drivers hailed from the Spartanburg area (Cotton Owens, Bud Moore, Mario Rossi, David Pearson, Billy Wade, Dick Brooks, Rex White, and Joe Frasson to name a few) than anywhere else in the nation. The next closest area of car builders and drivers was in Hueytown, AL, The Alabama gang of the Allisons (Bobby and Donnie), Red Farmer, and Niel Bonnet to name a few. Oddly enough, at that time Bobby was driving for Mario Rossi whose shop was in, you guessed it, Spartanburg. Then enters the idiots that represented our city and county councils at the time in Spartanburg and Spartanburg county. They felt like there was no money in organized racing and giving concessions to a bunch of lunatics wanting to build a 2 1/2 mile super-speedway in Spartanburg county was just plain crazy. Talledaga said "bring it on" and the Talledega Speedway was born. Of course, Spartanburg wasn't on the Hall of Fame list, but a lot of Nascar history started right here.

For the demographics of drivers and car builders, for the visions of Humpy Wheeler along with the whole state of North Carolina, and lets not forget the fans that fuel this wonderful sport, Charlotte is best suited for the National Association of Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame. For me, if I were planning a vacation to visit the Hall of Fame, I would have prefered Daytona. After all, I love the beach.

Thanks for reading. Any comments are certainly welcome.
Larryjack