Paul
Nitro Member
One thing the internet has done for us (ok, other than the great porn) is enabled discussions like these where you get input from a really wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives. For example, we have some pro members with many years of experience from right in the heat of the battle and also some strong input from many experienced sportsman level racers.
You've also got some individuals who have a mix of racing and engineering backgrounds giving that side of the perspective.
This is a good thing fellas, I think in general some forum members need to be a little more open minded on discussions like this. For better or worse, its a new world and its foolish not to take best advantage of the positive aspects of it, and trying to blockade the opportunities to have open discussions like this where you can draw from a wide variety of perspectives is foolish.
Many forum members here feel that some of the people who contribute to these discussions aren't qualified or in some other way don't deserve to do so, along the lines of "if you aren't directly involved with a top fuel car, keep your mouth shut".
If that's really the way you guys want it to be, perhaps you should only allow posts from professional team members. But I think that would be a mistake as you would be shutting out a lot of members who can make legitimate contributions to these kinds of discussions.
For me, this newly raised issue on wheel spacers is a pretty good litmus test.
Virgil (who's accomplishments in the sport and perpectives on issues like this one I respect greatly) has already clearly stated how he feels on this issue. In summary he feels wheel spacers are ok and those that use them should be trusted to use them correctly. I'm an old fart myself (no offense Virgil), so this "old school" viewpoint on this issue does have some appeal to me.
But ultimately I feel pretty differently about wheel spacers. I think wheel spacers weaken the hub assembly as Al stated, and with the pressure to get to the staging lanes when time is short (yes, believe it or not I've been there myself) they are much too likely to be mis-assembled, as just happened with Tim Wilkerson's team. So I think they should be phased out of the sport, not all at once because of the economic impact, but over time, probably a season.
But if people really don't want to have these kinds of discussions here I'll go away and leave this forum alone, but with some serious regret.
I care about the drivers and participants in this sport and the sport as a whole, and I wouldn't be taking the trouble to take time away from my business and make posts here if I didn't feel I could contribute to making the sport better. Part of my business actually comes from this sport, so its only natural for me to want to contribute if I can.
Plus, we're just getting started here. We're just at the wheel hubs now, my plan is to work my way through the whole car (just kidding fellas, sort of).
You've also got some individuals who have a mix of racing and engineering backgrounds giving that side of the perspective.
This is a good thing fellas, I think in general some forum members need to be a little more open minded on discussions like this. For better or worse, its a new world and its foolish not to take best advantage of the positive aspects of it, and trying to blockade the opportunities to have open discussions like this where you can draw from a wide variety of perspectives is foolish.
Many forum members here feel that some of the people who contribute to these discussions aren't qualified or in some other way don't deserve to do so, along the lines of "if you aren't directly involved with a top fuel car, keep your mouth shut".
If that's really the way you guys want it to be, perhaps you should only allow posts from professional team members. But I think that would be a mistake as you would be shutting out a lot of members who can make legitimate contributions to these kinds of discussions.
For me, this newly raised issue on wheel spacers is a pretty good litmus test.
Virgil (who's accomplishments in the sport and perpectives on issues like this one I respect greatly) has already clearly stated how he feels on this issue. In summary he feels wheel spacers are ok and those that use them should be trusted to use them correctly. I'm an old fart myself (no offense Virgil), so this "old school" viewpoint on this issue does have some appeal to me.
But ultimately I feel pretty differently about wheel spacers. I think wheel spacers weaken the hub assembly as Al stated, and with the pressure to get to the staging lanes when time is short (yes, believe it or not I've been there myself) they are much too likely to be mis-assembled, as just happened with Tim Wilkerson's team. So I think they should be phased out of the sport, not all at once because of the economic impact, but over time, probably a season.
But if people really don't want to have these kinds of discussions here I'll go away and leave this forum alone, but with some serious regret.
I care about the drivers and participants in this sport and the sport as a whole, and I wouldn't be taking the trouble to take time away from my business and make posts here if I didn't feel I could contribute to making the sport better. Part of my business actually comes from this sport, so its only natural for me to want to contribute if I can.
Plus, we're just getting started here. We're just at the wheel hubs now, my plan is to work my way through the whole car (just kidding fellas, sort of).
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