Yes, I do.

$3K every 3 years or so is very reasonable, and yes, a well built motor can be competitive that long. It costs about that to go to Nationals (once) for most, so running an unreliable junkyard motor there is a false economy. Even on a local level, going through junkyard motors, and wasting $500+ weekends when they break down, is not very cost effective in the long run.

Your post illustrates the very reason why this issue is so difficult. The currently available solutions are not very satisfying. A power cap is considered onerous by many, and worthless by others (yourself included). So you aggravate many of the racers, and leave the rest feeling unsatisfied. The fact that no satisfactory solutions could be hammered out, even locally in the RM region, bears this out.

Our current ruleset has done a much better than average job at limiting cost, something to be proud of. Outside of LeMons, show me another National class where you can race for less?

Give us better solutions, and we'll closely consider them. Show us who does it better, and we'll see if we can apply those lessons. We continue to monitor the progression of technology & new ideas to keep racing as low cost as is practical.

It occurred to me that this is all missing the greater point. If someone wants to spend lots of money to dominate a Spec class, get professional instruction - that's worth far more than a fresh motor, and can't be regulated.

If all I had to worry about were drivers with "Fresh" motors, what you say is true. But when I watch some of the in-car video and see Traqmate data from this years Nationals and I see people that I know have strong engines gaining on a car on corner exit only to be outrun on the straight, no amount of driver skill can help in that situation.

That is the situation that our rules do nothing to resolve and from what I read on various posts about proposed rule changes, there is no true desire to fix.

I have no problem being out driven by someone who has spent money to make themselves the winning factor, but when drivers spend gobs of money to make their engines develop 145hp, which is more than a "Fresh" engine should develop, that's a problem! I can't compete with a driver who can outspend me by having a motor built that develops that kind of power!!! And to freshen an engine should cost less the the $3-4k you propose. I know Dirks did mine for considerably less than that and even after raising his prices I don't think he charges that much. And, while I haven't put my fresh Dirks motored car on a dyno, I can guarantee you I'm not making the kind of power that was being made by some cars at Nationals this year!

Dave,

Give us a better solution, or please cease questioning our desire to make this class better. I am open to better solutions. If you have more concerns, lets take this offline, or I can call.

Without hashing all of the data over again, I've spent many hours poring over the data, and video, and it's no where near as clear cut as its been painted. No dyno at Nationals showed >140HP in a Spec car, at this time.

Dirks won convincingingly with the same level of motor build you have in your car. He can do it, but it's impossible for you?

Sterling Doc wrote:


Eric,

Don't you dare assume that David Dirks and I have the same level motor. Just because he built my motor doesn't mean they are the same!! If you don't realize that, shame on you! If you want to call me out on something, don't you dare do it publicly!! That is not what I would consider appropriate behavior from the National Series Director!

As for presenting solutions, I presented my solutions at the time to Chuck when he solicited them from the drivers in our region. As I'm not privy to all the conversations that went on amongst all the regional directors, I don't know where they went.

Don't worry Eric, this will be my last post on this topic.

Dave, not questioning your integrity, just the assertion. If my assumption that Dave's motors are typically within 4 HP or so of his 138 is incorrect, I apologize. Probably best to take this offline - eric dot kuhns at gmail dot com. Or we can let it rest, up to you.