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I think that the decision should come from Bill May and the owners that support the series week in and week out (Mike Mensendiek/Beau Binder, the Ambroses, the Bradleys etc...) and battle for points and wins on a regular basis. But I will respectfully chime in my two cents.
I think that these series (MMSA, Waynesfield, Lightning Sprints in general) is at a really sensitive place with what is going on under the hoods of these cars. It wasn't too long ago that $8-10,000 would allow a competitor to race for wins, not top tens. And now it takes that under the hood alone. What is the point guys? We are driving ourselves right out of the market. This is a hobbyist/development class. We all have daily jobs. There is no good reason to spend this type of money on these cars. If you've got the budget, go sprint car racing. No wonder car counts are down. Lightning sprints used to be the best bang-for-the-buck in racing, not so much anymore. (Sorry for the engine rant and a thread hijack but I feel that it had to be said).
To get to your question Rob, and I certainly didn't mean to pick on you in particular in the above paragraph, I would welcome you down to Brownstown to have some fun, as that is why we are all headed that way. But in order to protect the interests of the MMSA and what they organizers/racers are trying to do I would think that maybe you could only qualify for the trophy- no $$. What I don't want to see is you take the place in the A-main of some kid that is just getting into the sport and is trying to get some laps and following the rules that are set-forward. If a deal can be worked out where we start 21 (20 "MMSA" legal cars) and pay the 20 MMSA legal cars then I'm all for it.
I think that it would open a can of worms to openly accept a 2013 MMSA illegal car just this once because of such and such scenario without provisions. Wing or non wing engines are very important in racing. Ask all of the USAC guys prepping for sprint week if they'd be willing to swap motors with a local car.
Anyway like I said I don't have the weight to carry much of this conversation as I don't get to as many races as I'd like to. But there is an idea.
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Jim Gardner
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