Grass Lake ASH Turn 1: You Make the Call

[14-H]

Lots of Whining over nothing

I was in the pits. I heard all kinds of whining and name-calling from certain Region 10 drivers about this event. I also heard that Mr. Gleason had "clear proof" that Matt D'Agostino committed a driving infraction. Now that I have seen the "clear proof", what is clear to me is that there was NO CHOP but a lot of bad sportsmanship.

[Hutch06]

yep.. that's a great point they are just doing there best !! and most of them don't want all the BS if they do make a call....so maybe pay someone to do it at all the big NAT. race's that people pay thousands of dollars to race!! or go back to my first post i am not putting blame on the judges i am saying get trained turn judges for the nationals....but i know that will never happend so guess i don't have a good answer.....

Perhaps each club that hosts a Nationals should charge $150-200/entry that way we can pay our turn judges... sounds like a great use of funds to me.

[csh2z]

I was on the water near the first turn in the tow boat. I saw the turn as clearly as possible.
Colin nailed the start and was headed toward the first turn thinking he was the inside boat (based on what he told me while being towed). Just before the turn, here comes Matt up the inside (doing what he has done for 30 years or more). He passed Colin by the time they were at the first pin. Matt and Colin both held there lanes. There was a boat outside of Colin slightly ahead of him that cut him off. I know the boat number, but at this point it's irrelevent. It was not Tony. After the turn judge made his call on 32-E, I called to him on the radio to tell him that it couldn't have been 32-E because 32-E was on the inside. The turn judge thought the offending boat had a Sidewinder on it and asked the judges stand for the boat number of Tony Lombardo. He knew Tony was running a Sidewinder. The judges stand replied 84-C. The turn judge then changed his call to 84-C for the chop. I called him again on the radio to tell him that 84-C went into the turn in 7th and was behind the incident. The turn judge then told the judges stand they were in discussion. As it turned out, the whole thing was being recorded by the turn judge. The discussion was actually a review of the tape. They realized that a boat from the outside of Colin actually chopped him but they could not get the boat number due to roostertails and fin spray. Therefore there was no DQ. If I were an official turn judge rather than a tow boat driver, I would have been able to make the correct call. I did not make the call because my location on the course could have been questioned as I wasn't actually "in the corner" where the turn judge is traditionally located.

[BP125V]

Zapruder????

There is a pic from turn one that substantiates what John Runne just posted. I wish the person that took the pic would post it here and end the discussion. Matt did not chop anyone.

[oldpitguy]

...I looked at these pictures a thousand times, and for the life of me I still don't see the guy on the grassy knoll.

otto

[csh2z]

Otto, apparently the lighting in the bar is insufficient! See you at Lock Haven.

[rumleyfips]

Chop Chop

I haven't been a turn judge for over 30 years but I am gratified to see my eyes are still OK. Matt ran around the inside on the livefeed - no harm no foul. What I saw was his speed . He knew he could outrun eveyone from the start to the first turn , and he did. The real question here is why the Sidewinder is allowed to be so much faster.

We have seen this before. Hot Rods were developed until they were faster than KG4s in the mid 60's. Swanson's were faster than KG4"s in the 70's. Luckily for ASR drivers like me the rotors were placed in a seperate class. Will this happen again?

Nice thread, now what happened with the pickle points. The pics on this site show them as plenty pointy, but the 1/2" radius is probably honoured. Please enlighten me.

69-CE

[Big Don]

There is a pic from turn one that substantiates what John Runne just posted. I wish the person that took the pic would post it here and end the discussion. Matt did not chop anyone.

I'm calling BS here. How can you say Matt did not chop anyone... Matt chopped me in 1988...I still owe him.

[Big Don]

Nice thread, now what happened with the pickle points. The pics on this site show them as plenty pointy, but the 1/2" radius is probably honoured. Please enlighten me.

69-CE

They did not meet the 1/2 radius rule upon a boat inspection. The majority of the SORC could not take a championship earned on the course away from him or anyone for that manner for a non speed advantage DQ. The boat had passed a 2012 saftey inspection therefore he was put back in. No they did not do a nationals inspection at Grass Lake and I for one support that. Why do that when the boats have already been inspected once this year. What needs to happen at our local races we need to start looking at that stuff and not just throw stickers on boats for the sake of doing them.

[csh2z]

rumleyfips,
The picklefork points on that boat do not comply with the rule. HOWEVER! The boat passed safety inspection prior to the race. The rulebook states that The safety sticker will only be applied after the boat meets all requirements within the safety rule. The inspector that applied the safety sticker (whether locally or at the nationals ) overlooked the sponson tips in his inspection. Therefore the driver has no reason to believe there was a problem. Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call to all our safety inspectors that it is important to be as thorough as possible. As with most safety related issues, the owner / driver was told if he shows up at an inspection again with it not corrected he will be disqualified. I'm sure those pickles have been ground round already!

[csh2z]

Now, Don't ask again rumleyfips. How many times does this stuff have to be explained to you?






joking!

[rumleyfips]

Old guys

John:

I remember a bunch of Runnes whrn I used to drive overnight Friday to race in New jersey and Connecticut. I don't think you wer the in a minute dad racing team though.

Don:

Fred Nelson pushed me out in the first turn at Silver Lake New York sometome in the 70's. I'm not mad. I swam back to the boat, got it started and got a third overall. Fooled you Fred.

John 69-CE

[Waterson Racing Team]

John:

I remember a bunch of Runnes whrn I used to drive overnight Friday to race in New jersey and Connecticut. I don't think you wer the in a minute dad racing team though.

Don:

Fred Nelson pushed me out in the first turn at Silver Lake New York sometome in the 70's. I'm not mad. I swam back to the boat, got it started and got a third overall. Fooled you Fred.

John 69-CE

This is not the first season those sponsons have passed inspection.

Is this the same 69CE that used to fly in a hooked nose Hanson ASR and wore angel wings?

Russ

[14J]

rumleyfips,
The picklefork points on that boat do not comply with the rule. HOWEVER! The boat passed safety inspection prior to the race. The rulebook states that The safety sticker will only be applied after the boat meets all requirements within the safety rule. The inspector that applied the safety sticker (whether locally or at the nationals ) overlooked the sponson tips in his inspection. Therefore the driver has no reason to believe there was a problem. Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call to all our safety inspectors that it is important to be as thorough as possible. As with most safety related issues, the owner / driver was told if he shows up at an inspection again with it not corrected he will be disqualified. I'm sure those pickles have been ground round already!

What prevents someone from making illegal modifications to their hull after they have passed an official inspection earlier in the season?

Note: I of course don't believe this may have happened but it could, yes?

Seems the old method of a nationals inspection might have acted as a check in the process.

[dt 01]

Perhaps each club that hosts a Nationals should charge $150-200/entry that way we can pay our turn judges... sounds like a great use of funds to me.

like i said no good answer...just of the top of my head how about a fee of like 5 bucks a entry ....sure you could pay 2 guys a couple hundred dollars each from that....or 4 guys a hundred each for 1/2 days.....