# passed tech inspection



## mrtjet (Dec 3, 2013)

Have you seen something pass tech and there was nothing you could do about it?


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## neorules (Oct 20, 2006)

Either you trust the people doing tech, or you don't. If you don't trust them then its probably a good idea to not enter the race. I had to come to that conclusion a few years ago when questionable things occurred that pushed the grey zone but fell on the wrong side.


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## LDThomas (Nov 30, 1999)

If they are consistent in their 'passing', then it can be dealt with.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

that's why many rule books have "if not in here, it's not legal"
plus the INTENT of a rule needs to known by everyone.

some rules are written with 1 intent, but the rule is written that some can say "per the rule it is legal"

otherwise we will all have rule books the size of the obamacare law.


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

You know the question that I always liked to ask when checking or have been asked while being checked on Grey areas is "what was the intent of the mod in questions" You would be amazed at what information will come forward at that point if your ready to listen.

Boosted


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## sethndaddy (Dec 4, 2004)

This is why I stick to basement/brother/buddies racing. It's not a professional sport, its a fun hobby.


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## Slotmanmoss (Apr 17, 2008)

*Tech Inspection*

Why not build you a car like the offending car and see if it passes inspection? That will determine if it is rule interpretation or personalities cutting another racer slack to the detriment of the other racers.

Alan


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## mrstumpy (Oct 5, 2013)

I started slot car racing in the sixties, have raced 1/24 on commercial tracks, 1/32, and HO and progressed to real Stock Car racing. Yes, I have seen a LOT of shady stuff get by, or passed by a Tech Inspector who was a "friend." I could write volumes about cheating.

Sometimes the rule book wasn't clear or definative. As Smokey Yunick used to say; "When you find something that is not covered by the rules, you're being creative. When there's something that the rules do not SPECIFICALLY disallow, you're bending the rulebook. When you do something specifically forbidden by the rulebook, THEN you're cheating!"

In many cases, the Inspector wasn't as sharp as the cheater and things got by. The only thing you could do was to "rat out" the offender to the Inspector. A guy did this at a hobby shop Enduro some years ago and the resulting fight required the police.

In some cases the Inspector WAS the cheater! And in other cases the Inspector had built cars for others that were illegal and then passed them. We had a hobby shop owner who did this regularly back in '68. He went on to push Wing Cars at his place and then into bankruptcy, which most of us felt was well deserved but much too late.

Over the years I've seen a LOT of purposely fumbled turn marshaling of certain people's cars, a couple of times dropped on the floor "by accident" to put them out of the race. I saw a "ringer" who was rarely beaten and never lost at his own place "throw" a race so a customer could win. There was even a guy who figured out how to cheat the timing and scoring at commercial tracks with a small hand held magnet.

In real racing I was the head pit official for a time. To no one's surprise, the more serious the racing or the more money on the line, the closer you have to watch the competitors AND the Inspectors! And that goes just as much for slot car racing.

Stumpy in Ahia:thumbsup:


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## brownie374 (Nov 21, 2007)

You should never be allowed to tech your own car,I have seen that happen in our group and the inspectors car was too wide which he obviously knew because he tried to slip it through kinda sideways.When he was caught he threw the car down on the floor and it flew apart in many pieces.lol


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## FOSTBITTEN (Aug 1, 2013)

Well my Uncle would tell me "you are not cheating until you get caught". We raced karts. He would also "test" tech guys with something he knew was wrong just to see how sharp they were. Also he would put something in pre-tech so blatant that the tech guy would see it, then stop looking & the other things he had done would slip on through. 

That is why when I said I will build my 1/24th Late Model to be "legal" it will be to my interpretation of the rules. If that is not good with them. Then I will change it.

The best thing you can do to someone that is cheating & the tech guy is allowing them to cheat. Is to beat them fair & square. It may take a bit to do it but they will either get caught or the car will break.


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

FOSTBITTEN said:


> We raced karts. He would also "test" tech guys with something he knew was wrong just to see how sharp they were. Also he would put something in pre-tech so blatant that the tech guy would see it, then stop looking & the other things he had done would slip on through.



We did this all the time in Karts, you always threw something obvious in pre-tech to divert their attention. If it passed pre-tech it stayed in until post tech, if they found it in pre you added something else to get their attention. 

It's funny you say that, same thing we experienced. We had a small 1/10 mile banked dirt track here locally that we raced at and at best were 5th to 8th place finishes with 3 karts in different classes, They did a lousy tech job, only checking items that were hanging on a list in the tech tent, we always passed pre race, and generally did not finish high enough to get to post race tech and were never really competitive on this track. 

Now we could take the same engines & Karts to another track about 45 mile from here and our setups were KING, I was pulled out of practice and tech'd our first weekend up there because I was too fast & they wanted to see what was going on, it was almost a complete engine tear down & they checked everything, we passed as we were trying to stay within the rules, but they put several sets of eyes and tools on the motor.

As for the banked oval track, we soon learnt that no one but us was running anything close to legal there, so we soon built motors specifically for that track, and guess what we ran Top Qualifier and finished 1st & 2nd in the A mains with all three karts on the first night with the new engines. Funny in the tech tent it was a crowded affair, everyone wanting to see what we did, I reminded the tech about the list and that was all he ever checked

Boosted


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## mrstumpy (Oct 5, 2013)

When I started as the head "Pit Nazi" at the local dirt track in 1980 we were having a lot of trouble with cheating. At least until the track promoter and I had a serious meeting with our two inspectors. 

I had been watching the goings on and had noticed that one Late Model had a very oversize openning in the hood for the air filters. I decided to keep my eye on this guy and saw that when he went through pre-race inspection before the program started, the air filters were toward the front of the hood opening, but during the Feature, the air filters were toward the back. (The rule for the Late Models was a 1" set back behind the ball joint.)

Obviously, he was moving the engine back somehow AFTER inspection! That's a serious amount of weight to be able to use to make the car handle better. When he appeared the next Friday night I had arranged for the pre-race inspections to be done right in front of the pit booth and announced on the PA that everyone in the pits should come and watch. 

With our inspectors having been tipped off that something was wrong with this car, and the promoter looking over their shoulders, they found that the engine and transmission in this car were on sliding mounts, the driveshaft snout had been lengthened, and they had hidden a hydraulic hand pump in a false section of floor! They had covered the mounts with grease and dirt to hide things.

The engine could be moved back hydraulicly up to 4" before the races and back forward after the races! Obviously, all the other racers were watching this inspection and the crap hit the fan! "Mr. Set Back" was banned for the rest of the season and the promoter hired two new inspectors in the next couple of weeks. The old inspectors were reassigned to working the line up area. With the heat now obviously on, cheating dropped off a cliff and a few guys never did as well for the rest of that season.

But the battle ALWAYS goes on between the racers and the inspectors, and it will never stop. It's just human nature to try to cheat if the stakes are high enough. Sometimes guys will even cheat just for pride or to see if they can get away with it. The best way to keep things even is to publicly expose and embarrass the cheater, then toss him out for a predetermined period. It sends a message to every competitor!

Stuimpy in Ahia:thumbsup:


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

I never understood cheating
to me if you cheat to win, then how in your mind could you feel good about yourself????

Is it based on a lack of self confidence? 

Even if I know someone is cheating, I do care, because if I beat them with a legal car, then I feel like I did even better!

that is just me


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

Mike I totally agree on cheating, but its very frustrating to have your tail handed to you over & over and you know you have a good competitive car by the rule book, but cant compete. Only to be proven by going to another track, and your right there running in the top and better than most, with the same car. So who is cheating? the track officials, other racers? That to me is hard to deal with.

Personally I like to see rule interpretations stretched by builders, then the burden is on the track officials to interpret the mod and either allow or dis-allow it for all. I once saw an intake runner no-go gage, fall through on a Kart, then the tech tried to cover himself by inserting on a angle to show it would not go. That to me is worse than someone being creative and testing the rule book.

Boosted


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

> Personally I like to see rule interpretations stretched by builders, then the burden is on the track officials to interpret the mod and either allow or dis-allow it for all.


I think if it is intent is known before the race, then there can be no crying after failing tech. One reason i like pre-tech inspections.



> but its very frustrating to have your tail handed to you over & over and you know you have a good competitive car by the rule book, but cant compete.


make sure to get on the tech committee 
you can stop the cheating, plus you learn things.
our group had rotating techs (ie.. everyone had a shot to tech)


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## FOSTBITTEN (Aug 1, 2013)

Oh don't get me wrong I am in no way endorsing cheating. I just have different ideas on rules I think for most rules in racing (except for those w/safety in mind) are far too strict & limit creativity. But then they do not limit creativity because then someone will spend a ship load of $$$ in r&d w/exotic materials, computer models, etc. 

Some people who cheat generally are folks that have got beat so many times by cheaters they cannot stand it any more. And they adopt the "Can't beat them so may as well join them" mentality.


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## Gerome (Sep 25, 2011)

Down here in Southeastern Conference Football they say:

"if ya ain't cheaten ya ain't competin."


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## LDThomas (Nov 30, 1999)

That may have been the old SEC way. But with Texas A&M and MIZZOU on board, the time for cheating is over. Tighten up your chin straps and get it on...


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## Gerome (Sep 25, 2011)

I follow no SEC team but I really like their football. My team is not so strong.


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## mrstumpy (Oct 5, 2013)

I've been around auto racing for a LONG time, both 1/1th scale and various slot car and R/C car scales. It will never stop because it's human nature that some folks just can't play by the rules. In the bigger world this is why we have cops and jails.

Without rules and laws, there is no civilization. Therefore, it could be said that those who cheat are of a less civilized species of human. You know, like a politician.

As far as rules stifling creativity, I disagree. Rules just "frame" your creativity so that racing is fair for everyone. 

I agree that it's SO damn frusttrating to race and have someone who is SO much better that it's like Hendrick Racing in NASCAR running against the support classes at the local speedway. 

In a past era of real racing when one guy dominated, the promoter or track owner would say "so-and-so is stinking up the show." They came up with ingenious ways to curb anyone who tended to dominate the racing program. Stuff like a cash bounty paid to anyone who could beat him, or handicapping the offending racer by laps or seconds. One of the best deterents is the "Claim Rule." Anyone in the Pits can "claim" any one of the top three finishing cars for set fee. This is usually used in support classes, but at least one national sanction does it in their most popular class! 

It's often tough to catch a cheater, but with a little "creativity" you CAN curb them in other ways.

Stumpy in Ahia:thumbsup:


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## Roddgerr (Feb 8, 2006)

Our local dirt track had a rule, if you won the feature two weeks in a row you had to start the next feature no better than 12th regardless of where you qualified. If you won 3 in a row you had to start the net one dead last.


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## Gareth (Mar 8, 2011)

We don't seem to have the same rash of cheaters at the slot clubs where I race. The classes I race in all involve stock motors and no tweaking of them so the top builders tend to be the guys who are heavily blueprinting their cars and also paying attention to the other areas of the car to maximise its potential. 

We have had the odd car to turn up at the start line too wide to pass the tech block or with the wrong tyres but it tends to be a mistake by the owner. I've yet to be aware of a racer deliberately trying to bend the rules. 

Maybe we're not racing for high enough stakes! :tongue:


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

I did a little 1/24th scale racing with sealed motors that were tamper proof.

but yes
people found ways to tamper with them and know knew per say


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