Rules are for everyone, or no one

I admit I’ve lost some off of my fastball when it comes to editorials. I’ve tried focusing on more positive aspects of racing, which is most cases are the drivers, or maybe I’m just getting mellow with age.

But there are some things in racing that just piss me off.  Here is a big one – inconsistency when it comes to enforcing rules, on the track or off it. I’ve said it before and I will say it again – favoritism, or “home cooking,” ruins racing.

I’ve been frustrated by other things, too – to the point where I may drop a couple of tracks from my coverage rotation next year.  I won’t get further into details in this blog, but sometimes the arrogance of some folks in charge, plus thinking you can live solely off your past glory when your race program is pretty ordinary, has gotten on my nerves. That may be another story for another time when and if I get motivated to dig deeper.

On track rules? Rough driving and jumping the start, for example.  Off-track rules? Being found illegal in tech. Weighing light at the scale.

The rules are either for everyone – or for no one.

First, I want to say this. I am beholden to no track or sanctioning body. I think Wissota or IMCA, which are the local sanctions, or even USRA, are like politicians in both parties – they both suck. Wissota and IMCA both irritate me, albeit for different reasons. I think sanctioning bodies, or track rules, should be about three main things when it comes to technical aspects of cars: safety, fairness of competition and affordability.

Instead, sanctioning bodies have some rules for the sake of having them, which add unnecessary costs and labor time to drivers. Or they have rules that are very vague and subject to the tech inspectors’ “interpretation” at each track.   One rule I will use as an example: series or sanctioning bodies that require a “Liteceiver.”  Tracks have yellow lights and flags, why add another expense for the drivers?

A big problem is racing in today’s world, as I said on a Facebook live a few weeks ago, is a lack of qualified tech inspectors. It’s a hard job and a thankless one – to be the bad guy, basically. There are fewer folks interested in the mechanical side of racing. But it’s an important job to ensure the fairness of competition. Some tracks are much better in this area than others. I wonder at some tracks if cars are even teched at all, and that includes both sanctioning bodies.

To me, the tech inspector (or inspectors) should make all calls in the tech shed and be independent of the promoter.  The promoter or track owner has no business being in those calls.  When the promoter or owner comes and overrules the tech inspector because he/she doesn’t like who is being DQed, THAT is a major problem. THAT is favoritism. So is, though if a track’s tech team simply ignores a rule because they are buddies with a certain driver. That’s just as wrong.

A potential bigger problem: when promoters or others in power try to influence the head tech officials of sanctioning bodies like Wissota or IMCA.  Let’s say a driver is DQed at a particular track for an illegal part or rules violation, and the head tech inspector for any sanctioning body upholds the disqualification. However, a certain promoter, unhappy that a prominent driver at his/her track is DQed, calls the director of the sanctioning body to get the call overruled, and it happens…well, that’s a problem, too. Has that happened? I don't have a firm proof of yes but I suspect it has.

The head tech guy in a sanctioning body, or series, needs to be able to make the final call on a rules or tech violation without any influence from promoters, sanctioning body high ups or board members (when applicable). When that authority it undermined, so is the sanctioning body or series’s credibility. The rules should apply to all or none.

On the track, I’ve seen too many cases of inconsistency this year. I don’t like to get on officials for calls – bad calls happen, people are human – but when it becomes a pattern where a certain driver is allowed to jump starts, who drive through people on a regular basis, with no consequences – that is a problem. And yes it does happen.

I’ve seen cars jump starts at some events this year, and nothing happens. Two laps later another driver does the same thing and is penalized.  I’ve seen some cars shove people out of the way with no consequences, and a few laps later, there is a little rubbing and that car is punished. Are these frequent occurrences? No. But they still happen more than they should.

But like the tech inspectors, the race director (or flag person or whoever makes the call), needs to have ALL authority to make those kinds of calls without the promoter being involved. I’ve heard from drivers over the years who’ve said a promoter or owner  has overruled an on-track call, because they don’t want “certain” drivers mad. Sometimes, they are local folks too, maybe even people who sponsor a night at the track or something.  When it comes to on-the-track behavior, there should be no favorites when it comes to the officiating. Will bad calls happen? Of course, and I am not talking about the occasional incorrect call. But a regular fan or driver can spot when a few folks get the preferential treatment on the track.

As a fan, I want to see consistency. Consistency in the tech shed rules enforcement and consistency in how on-track incidents are officiated. When you start applying those rules differently to different folks, that’s where people get turned off, fans and drivers alike.