Tricky Rickie (1 Viewer)

Cliff

Nitro Member
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I've always liked Smith, all the way back to his Pro Stock days. In the past I have chosen to ignore his complaints about NHRA changing rules to try to keep parity, which is a difficult job to say the least. But what he did to his teammate (alBalooshi) was despicable. No surprise that he lost his sponsor. In ANY sport you can't treat a teammate like that. We will probably never know the whole story about what went on with alBalooshi's car and their interpretation of the rules. Even Smith said he was no cheater. Some people may say that what Smith did shows integrity, but I feel it shows a lack of integrity. Bottom line, Smith crossed the line there. Sorry guys but I will never again root for Ricky Smith or have respect for him.
 
I always liked Smith going all the way back to his Pro Stock days. I chose to ignore his continuing complaints about NHRA's rule changes in their efforts to keep parity. However what he did to his teammate (alBalooshi) was despicable. No wonder he lost his sponsor. We may never know the whole story about what went on with alBalooshi's car or their interpretation of the rules but even Smith said he was no cheater. But in ANY sport you don't do that to a teammate. Smith crossed the line there. Some people may say that what Smith did shows integrity. I feel it shows greed and a lack of integrity. Sorry guys but I will never again root for Ricky Smith or have respect for him.
 
"NHRA officials identified an oddity they took issue with on Al Balooshi’s turbocharged Camaro – an air line ran to the atmosphere-side of the turbocharger waste gate – and interpreted the move as illegal. Smith also took umbrage with the move, leading to the rift. A loose fitting on the NHRA’s mandatory boost controller has also become a point of contention. "

I have a 1957 Studebaker with the McCullough supercharger. The carb is sealed in a box and when the pressure builds, the only way in 1957 they had to ensure enough fuel was delivered to that carb and not pushed back down the fuel line was to plumb supercharger pressure through a small line to the atmosphere side of the fuel pump diaphragm. The added pressure balanced the pressure against the fuel side of the diaphragm, allowing more fuel pressure. Al Balooshi's car had a line (air line....is it powered or just open to atmosphere?) to the side of the waste gate that doesn't see pressure....thus allowing the gate to see higher pressure on the turbo side IF there is a pressure applied to that line. There is no reason for an empty line to go to that side of the gate....unless you wanted to keep water out of there like in an off-road situation...
Sounds illegal to me if there are rules/restrictions on those pressures. A loose fitting on the boost controller bleeds pressure to hide what's going on with the waste gate....
 
Very interesting information from someone that seems to know his stuff. Thanks for that. I wonder if there are any exact specifics in the rule book about that ? Racers always seem to find different ways to interpret the rules !
 
A trick that some used on cars like my 1985 Turbo Dodge Omni GLH was to just put an air bleed (carb jet or oxy torch nozzle) in the line going to the waste gate, therefore the turbo boost would go higher than the wastegate was set for. I think the computer had a vacuum/boost line going to it to tell it what the boost was, as there was no gauge or sensor on the motor. But that was for EFI fuel management.
Those little 4 cylinders got up to 300hp/300ftlbs out of 135 ci with intercooled turbo kits put out by Dodge, but the computer controls were still being perfected.
 
Very interesting information from someone that seems to know his stuff. Thanks for that. I wonder if there are any exact specifics in the rule book about that ? Racers always seem to find different ways to interpret the rules !

"...the Blower cars went from 16.5% Overdrive to 14.55% Overdrive. On the turbo side of the rules, they are losing another 3lbs of boost. Going from 36psi to 33psi. That means in the last couple of years they have lost 5psi."

SECTION 6: E3 SPRK PLUGS NHRA PRO MOD DRAG RACING SERIES PRESENTED BY J&A SERVICE, ENGINE:1, turbocharger (Page 3) Twin turbochargers limited to 88mm each. Turbocharger size will be verified by measuring the housing bore at the leading edge of the impeller wheel. The 2019 NHRA RULE AMENDMENTS 17 maximum diameter of the housing bore at the leading edge of the wheel may not exceed 2mm more than the maximum allowable turbocharger size permitted. All turbochargers must meet SFI Spec 61.1. Air-to-air or water-to-air intercoolers prohibited. Boost controller manufactured by Hyperaktive Performance Solutions, part No. PMBL mandatory. No other boost controller or form of boost control permitted. Must be installed per manufacturer’s instructions as documented on NHRARacer.com: NHRA Accepted Products, NHRA Accepted Product Specifications, Pro Mod, Hyperkontrol Boost System Installation and Operation Manual. Any modification to or any attempt to disable or defeat the boost controller is prohibited. Any attempt to corrupt or delete data associated with the boost controller is prohibited. Maximum boost may only be set by NHRA officials. Boost Pressure Limit: 33 psi


You could easily regain that 3lbs the NHRA took away with the funny business with the wastegate I outlined and hide it with the loose boost controller fitting
 
I always liked Smith going all the way back to his Pro Stock days. I chose to ignore his continuing complaints about NHRA's rule changes in their efforts to keep parity. However what he did to his teammate (alBalooshi) was despicable. No wonder he lost his sponsor. We may never know the whole story about what went on with alBalooshi's car or their interpretation of the rules but even Smith said he was no cheater. But in ANY sport you don't do that to a teammate. Smith crossed the line there. Some people may say that what Smith did shows integrity. I feel it shows greed and a lack of integrity. Sorry guys but I will never again root for Ricky Smith or have respect for him.

I do agree with we may never know the whole story.
With that said,... how do you handle a cheater?
I would have done something too, but not being there and not knowing what was going on, it could have been something different.
With the facts that have come out, I do think Balooshi and Personett were cheating, maybe they did not think so, but the fact is, by the rule book, what they were doing was not legal.
Not trying to argue here, I do want to know what you would do if your teammate was cheating.
 
I do agree with we may never know the whole story.
With that said,... how do you handle a cheater?
I would have done something too, but not being there and not knowing what was going on, it could have been something different.
With the facts that have come out, I do think Balooshi and Personett were cheating, maybe they did not think so, but the fact is, by the rule book, what they were doing was not legal.
Not trying to argue here, I do want to know what you would do if your teammate was cheating.

That's easy. Talk to him about it. If necessary, give an ultimatum. If needed tell the team owner / sponsor, and if necessary, give them an ultimatum. Nobody wants to see the terrible
press about being DQ'd.
Yes, depending on the situation, that may cost you a spot on the team (in whatever sport it is), but that is how teammates handle things.

Bob really knows his stuff (maybe NHRA should hire him !) and gave some really fascinating information. Thanks again Bob ! And yes,
that certainly makes that team look suspect.

But it still does not make me change my mind about Smith.
 
I'm a big fan of Smith Racing, both Rickie and Matt. I appreciate their willingness to be vocal whether their opinion is popular or not and they have proven themselves to be hard racers. But I am confused with this latest ordeal with Rickie. With reporting a suspected infraction, whether it was on his teammate or not, then acting the way he did when interviewed on television......…..just made him sound like he was talking out of both sides of his mouth.

Again, a lifetime hardcore racer that I have a lot of respect for regardless. Just hated to see it go down like that.

Sean D
 
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