DSH at Grass Lake

[daveracerdsh]

Plugs

Alex...I had 2 small plugs removed....one for the starter cables and one for all of the wires and stuff I run to the motor. The plug where the starter cable went thru was completly sealed by the cables...while the other one had a very small amount of wiggle room in it. I am not sure which one TJ got me on.....maybe one or the other or both. I think there are a total of 7 rubber plugs ranging from quite large to very small...which are there to facilitate access for starter cables etc for the fishing motor version. I have honestly moved on with the whole thing.....I try not to dwell on the past...but I think we need to address this issue at Dallas next year. Also, I think as a group we are going to have to decide how detailed the inspection/tear down process is at record races and national events. I walked around the pits after my rig was loaded on trailer and saw at least 10 boats that if I was inspector I could throw out for minor things, ranging from non oem decals on motors to numbers that did not have one inch boarders to white numbers that were placed on grey hulls to non oem A cowlings, to Matt D'Agostinos illegal sponson tips etc etc etc. Again....I am not trying to beat a dead horse....and I do respect Scott Reed for "drawing a line in the sand" which sometimes has to be done. This is going to be my last post on the issue, and I am going to close the thread Tuesday night. I don't want to see this turn into a giant controversy. Dave

[MGallagher]

I support the decisions of the race committee and the inspectors. There was no bias.

As for the chop….. I think you are referring to the CSH elim and Kyle Bahl. Sounds like a chop to me. I would have supported that call too, I was going for the wrong buoy (driver error on me). I got crowded by a couple guys going into turn one in my CSR elim ….. but it is racing drivers make mistakes and turn judges can’t see everything, maybe I should have been where I was.

If you care take a little emotion out of it, you would recognize that there really is no limit to when the enforcement of the rule would end or would be available for a common sense call. You have to follow the black and white and change it if it is not correct or if it is not popular. That part takes hard work on the beach.

So, my point was we have too many rules. We get very excited to right new ones at the national meeting. We should not.

And for the debate on the hole in the cowl? I think more air is a speed advantage.

I agree! BSH should have re-run 2 heats, though.

[ram95]

And one last question before I consider a re-work on the plug-rule wording.... and for my records, etc.

Was this a case where only one plug was removed to facilitate the cable routing? Or... were other plugs not installed/missing as well.??

Anybody know? I don't have TJ's number or I'd call him. And, if Peter Faulk were still around (Detective Columbo)..., I'd give him a call too.

Alex

[daveracerdsh]

Tohatsu

Jeff Brewster has the Tohatsu that was on display in pits at Grass Lake, I have the other one in my shop in Kirkland, Washington. In my earlier post I was not slamming Fred....he is a good clean driver and we had a lot of fun in that heat. Davey

[reed28n]

APBA loves Tohatsus too

Hey, APBA loves Tohatsus so much that they tossed the 2nd-place Mercury in favor of one! : )

-Mike H.

So much that the Stock Outboard commission bought two to have in stock for immediate delivery when someone wants one.

[reed28n]

You sound frustrated

how about plain ole common sense reed? is there more to dave being pitched out than an un-covered hole used as a supply port for a starter cable? how could this be allowed to happen. pure junk man....

being from region 10 i watched and cheered for my buds. look for yourself on the apba videos. i've never seen a chop job in the first turn in heat 1 on daren more obvious by someone??? dave just told you he was pushed out every lap and had the weeds to prove it. yet your "volunteers" hunt for a missing rubber plug? really?

next to patrick gleason dave is the biggest apba supporter i know. he's a class act and i give him props for not blowing his lid over this "missing plug" deal. you guys sure know how to make guys who spend thousands in travel and lodging feel welcome.

I support the decisions of the race committee and the inspectors. There was no bias.

As for the chop….. I think you are referring to the CSH elim and Kyle Bahl. Sounds like a chop to me. I would have supported that call too, I was going for the wrong buoy (driver error on me). I got crowded by a couple guys going into turn one in my CSR elim ….. but it is racing drivers make mistakes and turn judges can’t see everything, maybe I should have been where I was.

If you care take a little emotion out of it, you would recognize that there really is no limit to when the enforcement of the rule would end or would be available for a common sense call. You have to follow the black and white and change it if it is not correct or if it is not popular. That part takes hard work on the beach.

So, my point was we have too many rules. We get very excited to right new ones at the national meeting. We should not.

And for the debate on the hole in the cowl? I think more air is a speed advantage.

[Haüenstein]

dave just told you he was pushed out every lap and had the weeds to prove it.

Don't believe everything you read on the internet! : ) All in fun. The video of that heat is pretty good.

It sucks that Dave got pitched. At the same time, it's hard to fault the inspectors for enforcing the rules that we, the racers, create. That is why we can protest. Common sense means drastically different things to different people.

[Haüenstein]

NBRA loves Tohatsu`s no stupid rules, just hard equal competition.
Art K

Hey, APBA loves Tohatsus so much that they tossed the 2nd-place Mercury in favor of one! : )

-Mike H.

[ram95]

Hindsight 101 - Hindsight is always 20/20.

It's a given that the 'Inspector' abides by what is written and it is not her/his perogative to interpret what the rule means... just what it says. It is OUR job to write the rule so that it says what we mean it to say. Hopefully WE have thought it through and considered all the scenarios that are important... and included an escape clause for what might get misconstrued that is otherwise considered inconsequential (eg, non performance enhancing).

On this matter of cowl plugs... I am the party guilty of submitting the paragraph saying that plugs must be installed. REEELAXX.. go get some schnapps and let me explain fer crissakes... Why did I write that? Well... I'll tell you... and I gave it a ton of thought.

My rationale was simple enough. The Tohatsu bottom cowl, being a fishing motor cowl, has about fourteen freaking holes in it where fishing motor crap penetrates it: Shift levers, throttle cables, fuel hose, electrical cable, pwr trim switch, shift shaft, remote control cables, power tilt motor power supply, and I forget the others. None of them amounting to a fart-in-a-windstorm... bbbBUT... I was concerned that there might be a problem during INSPECTION when one person had more or less plugs than the next person. SO... In an effort to avoid a problem... I tried to fix a problem that did not really exist by choosing the wording I used. At the 2010 SORC national mtg it was accepted along with the rest of the Tohatsu spec sheet. And, like a lot of other annoying rulebook details 'the Racer' (aka APBA member affected!!) never had a whack at it. Pretty much like the no DOT rule we got jammed with. Had anyone posed the question regarding the electric cable routing for a starter motor, the wording would have gotten fixed then and there. Silence ruled.

Today.. operating in the technically obsessed foreskin-finder mode I would word the paragraph addressing cowl plugs thusly: "Cowl plugs may prevent severe water ingestion, installation is optional". I can hear the booo-rays on that hummer!!

Starter motors (on the Tohatsu, and the J Merc) are an area that might ought to be addressed...........bbbBButt.. I'm happy to leave it alone if you are. Yeah.. that's what I thought... leave it alone Al.... hohoho@$%&&*gasp!!(#@.... I mean, c'mon dude who ever would have thought a diddly cowl-plug would result in a DQ.

Well folks... it did. And once again, I reflect upon 20/20 hindsight... Somewhere in the rulebook (which I can't access on this pc because it won't talk to Acro-bat!!!) there is a rule that allows for a protest to be filed. The SORC must promptly convene on-the-spot and decide the issue. In this case.. hopefully, the Commission(ers) would respect the inspectors dilema but would have ruled in favor of the racer (based upon what I have read here at least).

So, let's not blame MHRA or the Inspector... let's fix the wording to say what we want it to say.

Alex

[daveracerdsh]

Tohatsu

I was actually asked at DePue to bring my rig to a NBRA race.....I may do that in the future. Davey

[Art K]

NBRA loves Tohatsu`s no stupid rules, just hard equal competition.
Art K

[daveracerdsh]

Dsh

It was great to see you again Scott...I thought you did a dang fine job as stock VP....I am sure not trying to start any huge cluster you know what with this thread...far from it. And i sure do understand that keeping volunteers working and happy is no easy task. I consider all of the inspectors present as friends..I just think we need to take a common sense approach to inspection issues. With non speed related issues such as mine was...why not give a warning the first time? What if a racer came in with his/her APBA sticker blown off the side of the hull or cockpit side? It says in the rules you must have it....do we dq them? I am over getting thrown out....it happens. Trust me, I get thrown out all the time in club races for things so I am a pro at it. What I am honestly worried about is the message it sends to a struggling organization that is trying to retain current members and get new ones to join. As far as me quiting stock outboard racing to go to another catagory? My life has sort of intertwined with racing D stock hydro, I simply cannot imagine doing something else... and I have made it one of my adult life priorities to win nationals. And, I want the 302 Super Stock Hydro class to be a huge hit...I think it will be with the response Jeff Brewster and I got over the course of the week.....so at this point I am not going to sell my stuff and move on like some people have said would be the right thing to do. davey

[Hutch06]

I don't think anyone here is questioning Dave's support of APBA or his level of class. I will ditto what Scott Reed posted here and leave it alone.

222R, I very deeply appreciate your concern in our accomodations of out of state travellers. Thanks for your input.

[Team 12R]

wow....

how about plain ole common sense reed? is there more to dave being pitched out than an un-covered hole used as a supply port for a starter cable? how could this be allowed to happen. pure junk man....

being from region 10 i watched and cheered for my buds. look for yourself on the apba videos. i've never seen a chop job in the first turn in heat 1 on daren more obvious by someone??? dave just told you he was pushed out every lap and had the weeds to prove it. yet your "volunteers" hunt for a missing rubber plug? really?

next to patrick gleason dave is the biggest apba supporter i know. he's a class act and i give him props for not blowing his lid over this "missing plug" deal. you guys sure know how to make guys who spend thousands in travel and lodging feel welcome.

[Hutch06]

MHRA Inspectors? Or Rulebook?

"sorry to hear about your DQ by MHRA inspectors. i have to say this seems to be a really chicken sh** call on a non-performance item."

This was not an issue of "MHRA inspectors". This is a rulebook issue. I am not saying I agree or disagree with it, but please do not blame people who work their rear's off all week. This is what causes people to quit volunteering.

I'm sorry to hear of the failure at inspection Dave, it happens to the best of us, but appreciate all the effort you put into the 302ssh class. It has quite a few new MHRA members talking. Thank you for coming and I hope you had a good time at every place else minus inspection.

-Elek Hutchinson