Quote:
Originally Posted by SAC74
Dad,
Thanks for the info but the point of my post was not whether or not tech COULD be done, but whether it WILL be done. As you said in your post, they COULD very easily pump the national engines - in the division that pays at least $2000 to win, but they don't. How could anyone believe they will measure cam specs or check for aftermarket (or modified) pistons, valves, and crankshafts in their "Red-Headed Stepchild" division that pays $300 to $500 to win? All the people I talked to about building me a D2 engine wanted to know how tech was going to be done. Everyone of them said measuring the lift of the cam was easy, but only tells a very small part of what you need to know. Some of the guys I talked to wanted to know about machining on valves and pistons. They said you can see the tops of the pistons through the spark plug hole, but what about the underside? How will they tell if someone lightens them? What about light weight piston pins and coatings?
|
Sac
A lot of racers tend to get a bit anal when it comes to rules. Back 50 yeqrs ago in my early Go Kart days we used to fill the underside of the piston with cork and then varnish it. That was called stuffing the crankcase and worked in 2 cycle motors (at least we thought it did) There is no power to be had in a 4 cycle engine with the machine work on the bottom of the piston. I have seen a few motors pumped in Midgets and Sprints but not many in my lifetime.
Racers new to the sport tend to put too much significance in the engine. It is that thing that they feel is the real reason for a particular team being faster when in fact it is very seldom because of the engine. The National Midgets are blessed or cursed with a new engine that is indeed more powerful than the rest and because of that Owners are looking in other directions. The truth be known these so called overpowered cars are also set up by the best in the business. They also attract the best driving talent out there. So if the truth were known and these wonder engines were to disappear tonight it would be the same teams winning and the same teams wining.
So back to inspections the entry level race groups need some sort of inspection system to keep the newer race teams convinced that things are on the up and up. The Big Boys don't put as much stock in oversize engines and that is all you could do in both Midgets and 410 Sprints So the fewer inspections you see.
Honest Dad himself
