Mike Willmon wrote:
>Yes Dennis, I intend to dispute it...once I can beat it ;-)
>
>>>
>>>
For those not quite following what these two are talking about, I'll
make it clear. It's about White Zombie's SC/A record that was set
'before' the revamping of the class rules last year, a record of 12.151
@ 106.25 that still stands as the official record. This record is
justified, accurate, and deserved. That said, I totally agree with both
Dennis and Mike.
The new class 'PS' for 'Pro Street' was developed specifically because
of my car, White Zombie. The rules committee agreed that although WZ
was/is entirely street legal, it had/has become something 'more' over
time. Everyone, including me, acknowledged that certain items had become
part of the car in my never-ending quest to keep pushing the
limits...stuff that an otherwise more normal street EV probably wouldn't
have as merely a very quick street car. A racer's specific custom rear
axle, the non-factory Ford 9 inch racer's rear end with Detroit Locker,
31 spline axles, and such are all items installed to mostly keep the car
from breaking stuff 'at the track'.
As a result of trying to make it more fair for others to design, build,
and race their street legal EVs, a brand new set of rules were agreed
upon that prohibit certain 'race specific' parts to be used in the new
SC class. At the same time, the brand new PS class was developed that
would allow the use of these items, plus other track specific items not
previously allowed in the SC class like racing slicks, fender flairing,
etc., where cars like WZ could continue to push onward to lower ETs and
higher trap speeds while still not venturing into the MC (modified
conversion) class. Anyone really interested in this should visit the
NEDRA page and read the rules as they stand now, and it will become more
clear.
I have attempted to get the NEDRA board to modify White Zombie's
'official' records in the SC class, because even though when the records
were set there were no rules against the way the car was set up, the way
the new rules read, the car no longer fits into that category. It's not
fair for new street racers to try to beat a record set that allowed
items that helped a certain car to get to that level, while not allowing
them to use the same equipment. At the same time, it is also unfair to
not acknowledge the fact that WZ did accomplish and set these official
records...it's kind of a dilemma. WZ's SC/A and SC/B records both fall
into this debate.
I don't blame Dennis for bringing this up, or Mike for that matter. I
agree that this needs to be taken care of. Believe me, I tried several
times last year to get this done, but no action was ever taken by the
previous group. I would hope that these legally attained records could
somehow still be acknowledged at the NEDRA page, perhaps by placing an
asterisk denoting 'set before 2007 rule changes' at these records
reflecting that they do not meet the new class rules.
We all want the NEDRA rules to be fair, we all want as many racers as
possible, and we all want new records to be set. I do not believe
keeping two of the Zombie's three world records as they are, is
appropriate and side with my fellow electric drag racers on this subject.
On the other hand, I also do not think it's fair to simply wipe them
away as if they never happened. I hope the new NEDRA board can come up
with a way to rectify this situation.
See Ya.....John 'Plasma Boy' Wayland
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