New EPA Rule could end bracket racing (1 Viewer)

[rocketman]

There are a lot of unanswered questions here but since a ban on all race cars would end NASCAR, Indy and the NHRA big show which would cause a national stir, the EPA is taking a different approach under the guise of the clean air act. They are nibbling around the outside by banning all race cars originally made for street use.

This just in:
After the press release that SEMA sent out on Monday suggesting that street cars modified for racing would be banned, the EPA has clarified their position according to Road and Track Magazine. It turns out that the situation isn't nearly as bad as everyone was lead to believe. According to the EPA, beginning in 2018 you can’t modify the exhaust system or anything related to emissions on any street car or a street car you also use for racing. In fact, the EPA spokesman said they have no interest in regulating race cars. Just knowing that is a good thing. I wasn't the only one that thought this included bracket cars but still sorry I caused a bruhaha.

https://www.sema.org/news/2016/02/08/epa-seeks-to-prohibit-conversion-of-vehicles-into-racecars

 

[Jim]

I know that politics is a no-no (and I'm not going to name any particular party or individuals) but, elections have consequences.
There have been enough "canaries in the coal mine" to tell us the unrestricted growth of the aparatchiks in the unelected bureaucracy is quicly chipping away at our freedom.
Between the EPA, the HHS, and Homeland security clowns - the unelected (all protected by "no cut contracts") - have already taken many of our democratic freedoms.

 

[FABMAN]

Everyone opposed of such action by EPA should write their Congressman and State Senator immediately to let them know how you fell of these actions. This could be devastating to Jegs, Summitt, all the automotive aftermarket industry so please stand up for our rights..

 

[SoCal Racer]

Everyone opposed of such action by EPA should write their Congressman and State Senator immediately to let them know how you fell of these actions. This could be devastating to Jegs, Summitt, all the automotive aftermarket industry so please stand up for our rights..

Right you are. The automotive aftermarket is billions of dollars into our economy, and to see that dry up would hurt every motorsport from drag racing all the way down to those who just want better performance from street driven factory cars. To Jim's point, this is the kind of thing that happens when ideologues are in power. I'm old enough to have seen many personal liberties taken by them; and another election won by them may be our sports' death knell.... along with American freedom. And don't even get me started on the bogus science behind the notion of a human cause of climate change, ostensibly the reason behind the EPA's actions.

 

[*******]

Don't think my rear engine dragster was ever designed for " on road use " so I'd say it's safe?

 

[Jim]

Don't think my rear engine dragster was ever designed for " on road use " so I'd say it's safe?

Mike - I'm sure you're joking but, there isn't ANYONE who drives ANYTHING with an internal combustion engine who isn't in the crosshairs of these fanatics.

Unless, you're driving an electric BUS, you should feel threatened.

 

[rckymtn3]

Like a teetotaler at a Police Convention or a scientifically proven Gun Control white paper at an NRA Convention, I am sure I won't be well liked for this, but...

If you support the politicians who rabidly prevent big business and industry from being held accountable for their pollution, then you are going to pay in some way, and that way is the EPA being forced to nibble away at the edges since they're not allowed to bite into the big fat juicy burger smoking away on the grill.

The future IS clean energy folks. That's simply a fact of fossil fuel depletion. The straw stuck in the Earth will at some point, make that "empty milkshake sound".
If you deny that, well, there's no amount of education that will fix you.

It's going to happen.

Circle your wagons all you want. But if you want them to leave racing alone for the time being, you better give the EPA a juicier target.

Either way. There's no "saving" this sport or any other involving internal combustion engines. Just a delay in the ending.

This factual post brought to you by the most hated man in this thread.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Relax folks, NEVER gonna happen. Too many industries would collapse, from customizing, to aftermarket everything. Sleep well.

 

[Just Paul]

Unless, you're driving an electric BUS, you should feel threatened.

Does it have to be electric? Or is this OK?

 

[stitcherbob]

this country is close to going Socialist...the problem is these young ones have no idea what Socialist means...some think it has to do with social media!

 

[Randy]

This is coming from a regime who worships at the alter of man made global warming, except it isn't. So now they've changed it to "climate change." In their effort to save us from ourselves they allow windmills to chop the heads of bald eagles off, destroy the waterways on the west coast, and fund companies like Solyndra with $500 million as a political kickback (called, a loan) only to have the company declare bankruptcy a few months later allowing them to disappear with our taxpayer money after contributing heavily to a certain corrupt political party.

I've warned of the EPA getting to racing/motorsports years ago and got scolded for being "political." I said that the NHRA needs to come up with a proactive solution like NASCAR did mandating unleaded racing fuels.

I remember my car kicking the rods out at the 2010 Winternationals against Brian Hough where we beat him second round only to have the Safety Safary build a hay bail dam around our car in the shut off area floated with dry sweep. They wrapped the entire lower section of my engine round and round in layers of absorbent cloth, called for a AAA flat bed to take us back to the pits, put layers of absorbent material on the flatbed, and 40 minutes later we were finally back in our pit and unable to swap engines for the next round because we had no time left. I asked "What the fudge is going on here?" I was told by "someone" that the EPA was on the grounds monitoring the racing activities and that's the way it was.

What's that old saying? "They came for your money and I didn't care. They came for your guns and I didn't care. They came for your house and I didn't care. Now they came for me and there's no one left to care....or something like that."

 

[Gordon]

Two entirely different views on the same subject in just 11 posts, Kevin's & Randy's. And for the record, I'm not suggesting I agree or disagree with either of them. In my experience there are far too many of us that are so set in their political ways that we're incapable of debating because we refuse to change our minds, no matter how many "facts" (and I use that term VERY LOOSELY) are presented. It is, to me, the #1 reason we as "the People" can't seem to take back control of OUR COUNTRY - because we're too busy making a stand against each other and not busy enough taking a stand against our government. Entirely too many people want the government to fix all of our problems when they've proven time and time and time again that they're incapable of legislating their way out of a wet paper bag. I can't think of a single, solitary government run program that actually works. Not one. But I digress...

In the end Paul is right, it's NEVER gonna happen - there's simply too much money changing hands... and if there's one thing our government likes, it's money. This bill was likely submitted to fulfill a promise to some lobbyist group who lined some congressman's (or woman's) pocket along the way. Smoke & mirrors while the national debt skyrockets towards 20 trillion dollars.

 

[SoCal Racer]

The future IS clean energy folks.

I don’t disagree, nor do I think there’s anything wrong with that, but this isn't really about energy sources. It’s about government intrusion into an area they need not be. All motorsports activity is a very small percentage of the total emissions picture. But it also involves only a small segment of the population making it an easy target.
And clean air is one subject, but the EPA goes way beyond that by foisting the (false) notion that CO2 emissions cause climate change. They are not being “forced to nibble away at the edges,” they are simply trying to justify their existence since there is way too much money in industry for them to come down on it. So you are correct about big business and industry.

And even if I completely disagreed, I'd never hate you

I've warned of the EPA getting to racing/motorsports years ago and got scolded for being "political."

This is something I've warned of as well. While NHRA has many forces acting from within that threaten the existence of our sport, it’s high time for them to get their house in order and prepare to resist the external forces working to destroy it, like the EPA.

It is, to me, the #1 reason we as "the People" can't seem to take back control of OUR COUNTRY - because we're too busy making a stand against each other and not busy enough taking a stand against our government.

Well said. And this administration has leveraged this to their advantage by fostering division at every conceivable racial, economic, religious, cultural, or other line. While the people are distracted with these issues the government runs amok with our tax dollars; pushing their agendas and ideologies without regard for the people’s wishes - or any resistance from them.

Just remember that Al & Tipper Gore have publicly stated that they want to bring an end to internal combustion engines. That is the ideology that pervades their party, so consider that when you go to the polls.

 

[mike]

To me the bottom line is if They (the EPA, CARB, etc.) were only worried about controlling emissions they wouldn't give a darn how our engines were set up as long as the engine's emissions were within standards. But that isn't what they care about, they want to make sure that every engine is still configured as it left the assembly line; that isn't about emissions, that is about ending a hot rodding life style and hobby that They (the EPA, CARB etc.) don't like, don't want to see in this country and will do everything they can to end it.

 

[FABMAN]

It's about power and money period, VOTE WISELY !!!

 

[sdwarf36]

Has anyone actually checked any deeper than "The sky is falling-thanks Obama!" headlines?
http://jalopnik.com/the-epas-crackdown-on-race-cars-explained-1758111546?rev=1455052382182
Its a wording change in a rule they say they've had all along. Defining "nonroad vehicle."

 

[rckymtn3]

Every scientist that studied tobacco came to the conclusion that it was harmful to your health, except the handful that were on the payroll and/or accepting substantial money from the tobacco industry.

Every scientist that studied global climate change has come to the conclusion that the acceleration in this current change is indeed man-made, except the handful that are on the payroll and/or accepting substantial money from the oil and gas industry.

No one changed the name to climate change. It's always been climate change. Global warming too. It was just used in some scientific papers, and the press (you know they love a catchy name that is less boring) ran with that for a long time. They (climate terms) are both used, but in reality, most of the papers written pre-1970 were usually titled "inadvertent climate modification" when the paper was about man's impact on climate. Somewhere in the mid-70's the term global climate change and global warming were used.

The Higgs Boson particle being labeled the "God Particle". The press is the one who penned the latter term, not the scientist.
The Big Bang. Also not the term the scientist who discovered it used. The Big Bang was the term used by it's main detractor in hopes to make it sound silly.

It's just a name. The effect is anything but just a name.

Being concerned for the future isn't being political. It's taking the facts and trusting science.
We trust science every day, throughout the day. We trust our lives to science.
Somehow, a few well-placed emotional triggers are set down, and we don't trust science?

Strange.

 

[stitcherbob]

The NHRA's next rule change is to ban all burnouts.....even the nitro classes. It causes too much rubber smoke and it should slow the cars down, as you can't smoke even during the run....walking on eggshells down the 1/4 mile

 

[SoCal Racer]

Has anyone actually checked any deeper than "The sky is falling-thanks Obama!" headlines?
http://jalopnik.com/the-epas-crackdown-on-race-cars-explained-1758111546?rev=1455052382182
Its a wording change in a rule they say they've had all along. Defining "nonroad vehicle."

That’s exactly what I’m talking about! Politicians write things into law surreptitiously that are not enforceable until years later. There are all kinds of these “time bomb” laws on the books; and they may or may not be enforced – at the discretion of those in power.

 

[SoCal Racer]

Every scientist that studied tobacco came to the conclusion that it was harmful to your health, except the handful that were on the payroll and/or accepting substantial money from the tobacco industry.

Every scientist that studied global climate change has come to the conclusion that the acceleration in this current change is indeed man-made, except the handful that are on the payroll and/or accepting substantial money from the oil and gas industry.

No one changed the name to climate change. It's always been climate change. Global warming too. It was just used in some scientific papers, and the press (you know they love a catchy name that is less boring) ran with that for a long time. They (climate terms) are both used, but in reality, most of the papers written pre-1970 were usually titled "inadvertent climate modification" when the paper was about man's impact on climate. Somewhere in the mid-70's the term global climate change and global warming were used.

The Higgs Boson particle being labeled the "God Particle". The press is the one who penned the latter term, not the scientist.
The Big Bang. Also not the term the scientist who discovered it used. The Big Bang was the term used by it's main detractor in hopes to make it sound silly.

It's just a name. The effect is anything but just a name.

Being concerned for the future isn't being political. It's taking the facts and trusting science.
We trust science every day, throughout the day. We trust our lives to science.
Somehow, a few well-placed emotional triggers are set down, and we don't trust science?

Strange.

The interesting thing is it’s the IPCC’s scientists who are on a payroll, and dissenting scientists are shouted down and marginalized – even when they present solid evidence contrary to AGW. When you read the IPCC Assessment Report it’s full of scientists admitting to uncertainty and insufficient evidence. But most only read the Executive Summary - the one written for non-scientists (i.e. policy makers). There they suggest taking action only out of an abundance of caution. Politicians latched on to that and began hysterically proclaiming all kinds of doom and gloom nonsense; but at the same time saw an opportunity for a power/money grab.

Meanwhile, Mann’s “Hokey Stick” (misspelling intentional) was proved a hoax; Gore’s “Inconvenient…” movie is rife with errors and misrepresentations; and green agenda malfeasance has been unearthed all over the world. But did that stop politicians? Nope. Because they saw power and dollar signs.

I trust science. I don’t trust scientists on the payroll of the UN who have a global control agenda. Pay them enough and they'll produce any results you want! Want to see what kind of people these are? Check out http://www.green-agenda.com/ and also learn about Agenda 21. Both center on the UN's global control aspirations; and “climate change” is the tool they’ll use to get it - true or not. It’s in their own words - you can’t make this stuff up!