How things have changed

[bobhod]

I was looking through the car specs from the different states today and remembered back to when Rob and I joined the SSME around seven years ago.
I particularly remember the phrase which I think was coined by Les from Perth which said "you run what you brung". In those days we could travel to any state and race our cars without compatibility problems and no arguments between competitors. Specs generally consisted of a single page.

Admitedly the cars of today have come a long way since then and many of the cars are a work of art with a lot of work put in by their owners, take the humble speed car for instance which when designed and built by Terry Bennett was a box stock item totally unmodified and fitted with Terry's speed car body it was a terrific entry vehicle for newcomers and those who could not afford a sprintcar.

Two states still have a single page set of specs for the speecar while NSW has two and the new specs for Queensland are six pages long.

I remember the last titles meeting we had in Sydney where the pits were full of competitors changing wheels,restrictors and other parts in order to be able to compete. Sure we must have rules but the more we have that are different from state to state could only end up with the; individual states racing against themselves in state and Australian titles.

I would hate to see that happen as the greatest thrill that I have had is the challenge of racing against other states and the friendship that has grown from this. I am now getting too old to race particularly since having a stroke but I still love to build cars and give assistance to new members, the only problem that I am facing in designing my new car is which set of rules to follow.

[lesblech]

until such time as all states communicate and discuss rule changes and agree to a common set of rules we will continue down this road
National titles should be run to a national set of rules so everybody competes on an even footing. What clubs do individually is up to them but i suggest they should try and align their specs to a common set that everybody can follow.
The other way we could go is back to the good old days when you run what you brung and nobody questioned what you were running ( Deal with the consequences of that)

I think cool heads should prevail and some thought by all groups to solving this issue over the next few years (strength in numbers)as our hobby is growing and needs to evolve.

[bobhod]

I fully agree with you Les and now that I no longer race I cannot make too many comments on the rules but it seems silly for the members of different clubs to say we will set our own rules and modify the cars to suit other clubs rules for title events.

The sprintcar specs have been the most successful and have basically remained unchanged for at least the last seven years and can be raced at any track. The rules specify what the car should looklike, its dimensions,its motor size and wheel size. Only a few other commonsense items are in the rules and this it what makes the specifications successful.

Its interesting to note that the new rules for the Penfield outlaw dirt mod class are basically the same as the sprintcar class and as such should prove to be a popular class The great thing about both of these classes allows you to put a little bit of yourself into the design which really boosts your morale when you win a race.


Shurely this type of specs can be applied to speedcars and amca's, all we need is to follow the sprincar guidelines and specify what it should look like, it's dimentions plus engine and wheel size. For looks the repositioning of shock absorbers should be allowed it only use the original shocks whose length should be allowed to be modified to assist in repositioning, and there you go a common set of specs.

[gasman]

Hey there guys, we havent been sitting on our butts over here, we now have a track to race on, and we are slowly building our numbers up. We decided from the start we would adopt the same rules you guys have, with a few small tweaks to suit the 'shaky isles'.
We are hoping to one day to get back over and race with you guys.
I'll post up some pics of the track soon, which is about 5km south of Hastings in Hawkes Bay, on the Sunny east coast of NZ.

cheers Chris O'Connor
Hawkes Bay Quarter Scale Speedway

[lesblech]

looking forward to the west ozzies making the trip to the shaky isles
Bring it on

[bobhod]

Nice to hear from you, If you ever run a NZ title event you can count on the Demon race team to be there.

[josebeatriz]

This could upset some people but here goes anyway.

1. Communication between the state has happened many times. Once I know of but no one responded. I sent my proposal to VIC, WA and QLD. Didn't do SA as I did not have a contact there.
2. A lot of egos need to be beaten down for things to progress. Not always is the freshest member the novice, they still should be heard.
3. You will never stop the few that are always trying to read between the lines to find an unfair advantage. That is why a proposal was so lengthy, I tried to fill in between all the lines so silly things could not be found.
4. Until sheep stations and real plastic gold trophies reduce in value, there will be too much at stake for any state to give any ground.

It would be nice to be able to compete on a level playing field and let the drivers ability register the result. The most important things that are missing is HONESTY AND TRUST, without these two elements, division will always exist.

[greg]

Last time I looked it was a HOBBY not anything more.A pastime if you will.

[bobhod]

Hi Jose I know how you tried and many of us wish you were still here trying.I sent an email to Pen field quarter scale speedway yesterday asking if a speed car with the shock mounting mod could race in the titles as there was no mention of it in there speed car specs. Today I received a loverly email back from Grant Muller which said they would welcome the car to race in the titles even though they had not discussed the mod and Said that they like to keep their specs as simple and as flexible as they can.

It is people like Grant from each state that should sit down and sort out the rules as soon as possible, this has gone on too long.

[josebeatriz]

Sorry Bob, this horse is flogged.
Like Greg I want to enjoy my HOBBY and be a happy OLD MAN PLAYING WITH MY TOYS and as soon as I finish my house I will be doing just that.
If an event comes up that I have a car for and it meets whoever's rules apply at the time, I will enter and have FUN.
If the car is not welcomed then I will watch. It will still be FUN.
Life is too short to worry about shut trivial crap, lets never forget that they are TOYS, expensive some might be, they are still TOYS and should be giving us enjoyment and not a heart attack.
Maybe when I get back, all the sheep stations are won, and everyone that needed one, got one, then we can go back to enjoying our HOBBY !!!!!!!

[jeff]

I am glad to get on this site now a nd then and see everybody talking about having a set of rules the same in each state.some know that I have been pushing this for a while.we don't need to go back to the days of a national body which everyone had to join to compete at titles.the sooner all states get together and set these rules for each class the better it will be.but at all times we must remember it is a hobby to have FUN. We are not racing for 'sheep stations' lol. At titles we are racing for a small trophy.if it is that important to anyone that they must have that trophy,let me know and I will get you one from my garage and put your name on it. Comoradory,friendship enjoyment and just competing together could be the goal for everyone?..............

[bobhod]

Thanks for your comments Jeff. Now how about this, if every club followed Penfields new rules for their Outlaw modified class with the first two paragraphs describing the car and its engine and left all other rules as they are and applied them to all classes then all problems would be solved.

If some people are not happy with this then they could have a box stock class for beginners, but what is box stock. You can buy a Baja and put a modified body on it but remember the price of a Baja varies from $450.00 all the way up to $2000.00 so would it be really box stock.

[greg]

The cost of stock HPI Baja is around $1500, the ones for @ $500 are copies.not the genuine article.
Mine is a genuine Baja, which I purchased several years ago from DDM, when the Australian dollar was quite high.It still worked out with the exchange rate about $400 cheaper then one I could have purchased from a hobby shop 20 minutes from home.
The genuine Baja comes with a tuned pipe or a standard box muffler as part of the kit, so it's your choice what you want to use.

[bobhod]

Hi Greg, the point I was trying to make is that there are a lot of cars available such as a neutech Thunderbolt model 2 or 3 which only comes from one supplier and they are all identical not that I am suggesting that we use them but the smartech traveller that Terry Bennett used in the first speed car only came from one supplier so they were all the same specs that's what is meant by box stock.

Shurely the Baja with such a great price range from many suppliers are not all equal.

[moonieq67]

HI ALL,
My name is Mark Evans I am the current President of the Qld Quarter Scale Speedway Club (QQSSCI). I agree that there needs to be a national body to govern rules for each class of race car that would be eligible to contest a national title event. I believe that each State or Club that wish to hold a title event, would need to elect a delegate to be a member of the board of the national committee, this could possibly accompanied with an annual fee? which would help to cover running cost's involved with a national body. I propose that each state/club to submit there current rules, and where the rules are the same over a majority then that would be the rule, where there are different rules that don't have a common majority, then the committee of the national body would have a vote to clarify that rule.

In QLD we have introduced a vehicle log book system, where we inspect each vehicle and stamp there log to state that they have passed inspection, on race day's they produce there log book with there nomination and we are able to that there car has been inspected and on what date. Something we had to do with amount of members we have and the availability of upgrade part's available on the market, that don't meet our specifications.

This said a committee needs to have somebody in charge ie: CEO / PRESIDENT to take control of proceedings. With a set of guidelines drawn up on how the national body will work and then distributed to all clubs.

I fully back a National body and would like to nominate Bob Hodskinson as the the CEO of the Australian 1/4 Scale Speedway Association, does anybody second this motion?

[greg]

Agree with the proposal ,Bobs got some good ideas, hearts in the right place, wants to see this hobby progress and not get bogged down.

[bobjeffreson]

Mark said....
"I agree that there needs to be a national body to govern rules for each class of race car that would be eligible to contest a national title event."
I also agree with what Mark said, however we had a National body until early 2005, when some members decided they didn't like it any longer and formed a breakaway group.
"this could possibly accompanied with an annual fee? which would help to cover running cost's involved with a national body."
We had that also!
Sounds like back to the future, yet I think we should give it a shot.
QSAC seems to work as a controlling body and maybe we could use that as a model.  Someone should communicate with Mike Sadler, Todd Hollway QSAC Co-Chairs. I like the idea of Co-chairs, as it would relieve the ever constant load on a single person. Believe me it happens!

[lesblech]

QSac Australia Here we come

[bobhod]

Don't worry Les I don't be live in national or controlling bodies we only need one member with current experience from each state and commonsense and an open mind.

[bobjeffreson]

"we only need one member with current experience from each state and commonsense and an open mind."

We also aimed for that in 2005 and its was knocked on the head by people who......  I'll stop here !!!!.
I'm not trying to be negative here.....believe me.... I loved the way it was, when I first became part of the National Quarter Scale Speedway Association, back in the late 1990s. It was  wonderful and lot's of fun
It would be terrific to get something along those lines today. It could and should be.... fun again.

[ando]

it,s still fun bob but there is a minority with a win at all cost mentallity who with the way they flaunt the rules and drive stuff it for the majority.

[bobhod]

I would like to thank Mark for recommending me to the position of CEO of a new committee to develop common specs and also to Greg for seconding the motion. I must say right from the start that I believe that rules should be kept within each clubs committee with greater consultation between club. The individual club presidents and their committee's are doing an excellent job and devote a hell of a lot of their time to the growth of their clubs.

I don't believe that rules and specs should be put to a vote amongst all members particularly those who are not involved in a particular class and as I have seen many times that small groups band together to prevent change, I have also heard that there are also some members betting that any attempt to develop a common set of rules will not work this time just like it has failed many times in the past.

let's look at what can happen when common rules don't exist. For the past seven years, four as a member and then due to a stroke which prevented me from driving I elected to stop paying my membership and instead to pay the membership for one of my grandson's so that he could race the cars that I built and also to add a new member to the club.

During thast past seven years we have raced our sprintcars in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane which was made possible by all of those clubs having common rules. This year we are looking forward to racing and generating new friends at Penfield ,another club with common rules.

This year there will be seven Demon sprintcars driven by some of the best drivers in the country competing at Penfield and should one of those cars win which is a hard task given the many other cars also with top drivers such as Mickey Rimmer one of the best drivers in the country that due to fairly new rules which only allow predator plate cars to race and ban all others would not be allowed to race at the next Australian titles to be held in Perth next year.

The funny thing about this is that Larry Cross has sold the Predator company and its future as yet is unknown.

The further that clubs grow apart in their specs means that people will stop travelling to other venues to race and clubs will end up racing amongst themselves.

In making these comments I hope that I have not upset anyone especially Les who I consider to be one of the most devoted members in Australian quarterscle racing.

I all club presidents agree to looking at common rules then I would only be too happy to help draw up a new set or rules. At this stage there are only a few differences in the rules, please don't let them grow.

Bob
'

[jeff]

For over seven years I was president of the national quarter scale speedway association later renamed the Australian quarter scale speedway association.it was then that bob jeffreson took over for few years and then bob Coombes.then the division came with bob jeffreson retaking the presidency before the association was folded. During all this time there was one set of rules for each class nationally which all members raced under with no one complaining or trying to flaunt.everyone paid an annual fee and everyone had to be a member to race in national or state championships.toe it was good as you didn't have to worry about changing your car to suit another states rules just enter the event and go race. I have been an exponent of getting back to this where I can race here in Sydney and the go to vic or as or Qld or wa without altering my car.if it means forming another association and electing a board to run it then lets do it and soon so we can get the racing back to what it used to be......FUN..........

[rac92]

Perhaps a national body is not the answer but a legitimate set of rules maybe.
With the wide variety of aftermarket parts now available there will always be someone (and they are out there now)who will not play by the rules so until there is a way of enforcing such rules then having them is a waste of time.
Some years ago I put forward a control engine for the sprintcar class at major meetings and it was canned because it was "too hard to change" or dont want to give up the advantage I already have and then be seen to be cheating because my car doesnt go the way it used to.
If this had been adopted then the so called Aust Title for the last few years would have been on a level playing field. It was quite a fair and simple scheme and cost effective. The playing field will never be equal until some form of engine control or testing is carried out.
Various clubs have now gone down different routes allowing some gear that was never allowed years ago and this trend is to the detriment of us all as is hard to put in reverse.
They got that and now I want this is a very dangerous route to take.
Probably 18 months ago I was contacted regarding universal rules and I was taken aback by the lack of flexibility shown regarding what guys did or didnt want to do.
There are now too many agendas and egos in the way of our hobby to progress and until these issues are addressed and some of the win at all costs and the ontrack aggression is curbed there will continue to be a lot of racecars parked in the garage.

[bobhod]

Hi Rob I don't believe in a national governing body either and all though I all ways believed that a controlled engine system would not work. I believe that drivers, good drivers like yourself win races and not the cars that they drive. Rob and myself have been racing for seven years now and collectively have won many titles and a car that I sold to Richard Brooke which came straight off the track covered in dirt had just created a new lap record at Luddenham.

During those years we have ran box stock engines and believe that 99% of drivers do not cheat.

At present there are not a lot of differences in specs and if each club was to communicate with each other at a senior level then this problem could be easily fixed it just needs a little flexibility.

Thank you for your comments Rob, I hope that everybody involved in trying to sort out the problem reads them, looking forward to seeing you again in Adelaide.

Bob