Nitromater
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TSR unapproved device?
- Thread starter Jay
- Start date
If I buy in the next 10 MINUTES I get THREE?
Back in the 80's and early 90's I was very involved in racing in the super stock racing world.Call it gray area cheating or rules bending the stuff that went on then and I'm sure now was unbelievable. Our car was torn down more than once over the fifteen year period that we were active and never failed tech once. But some of the "innovation" discovered on other cars was quite ingenious. Call it what you will but it's there in every form of motorsport out there.
stitcherbob
Nitro Member
My initials ain't QVC, man!
Oz_NHRA_Fan
Nitro Member
Cry? Watch again. He was very measured. Didn’t accuse Tony, just talked about a level playing field.
Anyone remember the cheating scandal in the mid-seventies, of all places, at The All American Soap Box Derby ?? The eventually disqualified car had an electromagnet mounted in the nose of the car that when the boy rested his head against the back of the cockpit a (hidden) switch was activated by pressure from his helmet that would magnetize the nose and 'pull' it off of the metal starting gate as it dropped forward and down. Cheating ?? well.... the rules said nothing about electromagnetic assist....maybe a Gray Area then ??...but talk about a fast start and an unfair advantage! If memory serves the car was dominate and a post race inspection was performed because something 'did not seem right' and then finally x-rayed thus discovering the wiring, battery and electromagnetic device. Seems the kids dad was an engineer or something.
HoodooVoodooAngus
Nitro Member
Probably 75% of innovation comes from grey areas. If people weren't pushing boundaries (including those of the rule books). we'd still be going 7's at 200 mph. I don't think we need blatant cheating (Nitrous in Pro Stock), but if there's an area that's open for interpretation? These guys are going to do it 9/10 times.
I agree completely Jeremy, but remember that the rulebook in the 1990's didn't specifically mention Nitrous as not allowed. They amended the rulebook after "the incident". The "gotcha" section of the rules is where it states that anything not specifically addressed should be considered illegal.
You've got a good memory, Eric. That was in 1973. Jim Gronen of Boulder, CO was assisted by his Uncle, Robert Lange of the Lange Ski Equipment Company, and they came up with the idea and the device.
I raced Soap Box Derby in 1974/75/76 in Orange County, CA and came in runner up in the 1976 race. Almost, but not quite made it to Akron, Ohio for the finals. (I still have my car from 1976. Not sure what to do with it). That was as close as I ever got to "big-time" auto racing. I have read that Dale Armstrong also raced in the Soap Box Derby as a young teen.
stitcherbob
Nitro Member
I raced Soap Box Derby too! I was pretty small.... my memory of it is vague....
Maybe it was a shopping cart, but I know I made it all the way across the supermarket parking lot in record time without cheating...
ScojoDak
Nitro Member
AKA, The Gary Ormsby towel.
