Rule change with no notification. I’m all about staying within the limits of the rules but to change them with no notification is disappointing. At least a general email or something on the website saying hey the rules are different this year make sure you read them would be nice. 4 wheels must touch. Unreal. My little man is devastated. Months of efforts down the drain. I bend the left axle down to at least graze the table and dude says “oh you’re really gonna hate me now. No bent axles. “ Lmao. Thank god it’s a kids event in a church.
And we got disqualified from districts.
- Thread starter Dennis
- Start date
Those people suck! Changing the rules at the last moment is just not fair
Sorry to hear about that for your boy and you.
Sorry to hear about that for your boy and you.
Thanks man. I don’t matter. But to his face over my over site or their lack of communication is beyond crushing. Man we had a fast car too. Out first sub 3.000 car. His confidence was high. We took 4th last year by very slim margin.
4 wheels touching. And no bent axles. They didn’t notice my steer wheel axle bent or didn’t care that everyone else there had a steer wheel axle bent too. And yes over half the scouts where hammering on there cars to get the 4th wheel down. He didn’t say a thing about no bent axles until he watched me frantically bending the axle to get it down. God I feel so bad for my boy he worked hard on this car. Our first sub 3.00 car. We would have killed the competition in this race.What was the rule change if you dont mind me asking? I really just do not understand why those folks do thinngs like that.
It’s all good. Lesson learned. I’m definitely pissed at them for the lack of communication on the change and letting others pass on other broken rules. But it’s more my fault for not rereading the rules for this year and just assuming they were the same as last years. I let my boy down and that’s the biggest disappointment. Now to learn a new skill. How to build a 4 wheel touching car that isn’t completely unpredictable. Thank goodness for the premium content on this site.
It's pretty common to have a pack change a butt full of rules and then never enforce them.
If they didn't publish the rules before the scout year began, I would have stood my ground with them.
If they didn't publish the rules before the scout year began, I would have stood my ground with them.
Had that problem at our district race this year. New rule was that no devices could be added that held graphite in the wheel. I don't know that I've ever seen a device that holds graphite in the wheel? They questioned our wheel shields but I showed them that the shield was open underneath and didn't touch the wheel or keep the wheel from touching the body. They were ok with that and let it pass with no problems.
I was caught by surprise at the rule change. We've run under the same rules for years, I was not expecting a change but I should have looked anyway.
I was caught by surprise at the rule change. We've run under the same rules for years, I was not expecting a change but I should have looked anyway.
Sorry to hear that. I changed our pack rules to the same as the district rules from the past several years to make it easier on the kids that qualified. After winning districts again this year we were told that our car was in violation of the wheelbase rule but they didn't want to tell scouts they couldn't race their cars, no mention about it before or during check in, only after we won. The district rules say nothing about it and are sent out by the district. When I asked I was told it was their pack rules. I just responded, well good thing this was the district races with district rules. It was fun having my kid look at me like we might have done something wrong, but it was a new pack running them this year, so I chalked it up to lack of communication. I'd hate to think it was sour grapes.
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My guess is that someone saw air shields last year someplace and THOUGHT it was to hold graphite in the wheels. Then lobbied to make sure that nobody had "extra" graphite? Possible lack of understanding?
Sorry this happened to you! I had a similar situation happen at the adult/sibling race last year. Being new, I didn’t know to look at the rules and see if they were different, just assumed they would be the same as the pack rules. Nope! I was able to get my car into compliance in a mad rush, but it wasn’t nearly as fast.
I learned from that disaster, and now I always take an extra set of wheels, straight axles tools and a drill just in case this happens! Also been known to have a backup car . I’m terrified of this happening to us again, so we would be prepared to rip apart and rebuild or race the second car. Might not be as fast, but at least we could race.
I learned from that disaster, and now I always take an extra set of wheels, straight axles tools and a drill just in case this happens! Also been known to have a backup car . I’m terrified of this happening to us again, so we would be prepared to rip apart and rebuild or race the second car. Might not be as fast, but at least we could race.
Am I crazy, or wouldn’t a device that holds graphite in most likely hurt the car? Looks like it wouldn’t allow enough graphite out to hit the sweet spot and would just slow the car down. It seems like it would be especially detrimental if it held in extra.
Either way, that’s a weird rule! I’ve never heard is it before and never heard of such devices.
I dont think you are "CRAZY" (yet anyways)!! I think its a gimmick thing from a long time ago...some derby guru put out a video of drilling a hole in the body of the car just above each rear axle and filling it with that messy stuff and then using a set screw to hold the axles in...said it was dual purpose. I have been around the Pros a LONG time and I have yet to see one of these guys do anything like that...I could be wrong ???
That’s brilliant! I’m going to do that, along with packing the bores with graphite/alcohol paste and applying a sticky substance to the nose where the starting device drops. Then I’ll test it on my tread mill. I’ll be unstoppable!
Well that really sucks … however your racing doesn't have to be over this year you can race at this years Mid America Derby www.midamericaderby.com
Yes, I would think it would slow the car also. I'm pretty sure TBR is right. We ran the shields before and somebody thought they held graphite in. The inspector was cool with it though. The pack that runs the district race are good people so no worries. I will be reading the rules closer next year if my son decides he wants to race!
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