Okay guys, this is my beef, I didn't feel I could say much, their sandlot, their ball and bat.....
I contacted the shootout people by e-mail on more than 1 occasion trying to clarify rules, every time they requested I call their office. (no paper trail?)
My reasoning is we did some unheard of things in today's credit card cookie cutter racing by using salvage yard parts and some good old back yard engineering. They were in my opinion very evasive with answers. The only 3 rules they would really stand on was age, tire and weight.
I have a HUGE issue with the change of the 1 hard and fast rule the day of the competition. Most of you folks reading this do not know me, I think I'm pretty much a reasonable person. I am also a person when someone steps on my toes I say OW.
I went to the office to question why and how they can change the rules the day of the race. The answer just about floored me
"there were 6 cars that couldn't make the weight without adding lead, which we feel is unsafe"
What we had here was some elite (money) teams that in my opinion skirted the rules, didn't build their cars to what I consider the spirit of the rules. Folks, there were ecotecs out there that sounded like a full blown race engine with the rumble and and shake of a national midget. Of course those 6 teams knew the same hard and fast rules I did when I built my race car. By the way they can easily add weight, the other 17 of us could no way in the world could remove enough weight to be close to their USAC/POWRi weights
Again in my opinion they might have shot themselves in the foot as a lot of the true ecotec teams were as disappointed as I was that it turned to what it has.
A kicker as we were on the platform getting ready to go down the ramp I was told we have to disconnect 1 of our 2 cockpit adjusters. When I asked why I was told "it's a rule" I lost my cool and told them what I thought about their rules.
With all that said, we did have fun, and our 1175 pound home built ecotec went from 20th to 9th in 11 laps until we knocked a hole in the oil pan when there was a flip and had to take evasive action and jumped the inside burm.
Mr Davis, I take my hat off to you, a series is only as good as the people running it
Jeff Palazzolo
Pacific, MO