NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS TAKING SHAPE! NEED USER INPUT

[DerbyDad4Hire]

There is a group trying to get the old style wheels taken out of the Street Stock class for Nationals. There is no longer a shortage of wheels for the foreseeable future and I have now dropped the prices on all Predators to make the choice of wheels up to you as builders. Who feels there needs to be a separation of the wheels? They are all 2 grams and 7.5mm wide so is there a reason to try and cut the field in half? I am taking a poll please vote.

 

[TRE]

There is not any speed difference anyway..

 

[zigzag]

There is not any speed difference anyway..

This was going to be my question - is there any speed difference?

Either way - if the wheels meet the specs for the class and can be obtained by all racers not sure why you would split the class.

 

[BulldogRacing]

I believe the SS class is the bench mark for PWD racers. I would love to see as many racers at Nationals as possible. I believe this would be an opportunity to see if the old style wheels are truly faster. We would see many cars built with new and old style and the results would be obvious as to the speed advantage because we could compare the whole field. How much faster are the fastest and how much faster are the slowest. My guess would be there is not too much of a difference in the top times, but this would answer the age old question. Also, I believe we would get a much higher attendance from APR racers if we split the classes up. I think it would be good to merge rules from all leagues so we can try and a make this a huge event. I'm going live again this year and would love to see all the racers that can come be at the race. We all love this damn thing lets blow up nationals! I will race all the classes, I want to see my cars compared to the top dogs! Good luck guys and get building now! May 7th baby!

 

[HurriCrane Racing]

I don't feel there is a substantial speed gain in the old style wheels but then maybe I'm just gullible. I have cars running on both styles of wheels and to be honest, they run very comparable speeds. I won the street stock Nationals on new style wheels over cars that were on the old style wheels. I had cars in the finals of the MOTM SS running on both styles. The cars are so close in speeds that it really depends on who I am staged next to, as to which car finishes higher.

I would rather not see the SS class split based on wheel style. If the class is split by wheel style, I'll run both...

 

[Kinser Racing]

Whiners are going to whine. You can never please everyone.

 

[GravityX]

Personally I would like to see both run in the same class. If this is the case, I will produce at least two cars for this class, one with each style wheel, NOS and current style. Heads up racing boys! So... are you running a turbo or a supercharger? They both ram air into the engine, and both style wheels carry the car down the track. Let's RACE!!!

 

[bracketracer]

I voted to run them all together, but I would like to see the car names tagged to indicate whether they are running the new or old wheels just out of curiosity.

 

[B_Regal Racing]

I do believe there is a speed advantage with predators; however, only the elite builders will be able to exploit it. If you are a mid-pack racer (or aspire to be), the predators will not help any. I did vote to race 'em together, but the reality is if the goal is to combine the different leagues into a single race, there will be those who will oppose. The more mainstream the rules with the less perceived advantage, the more who will race.

 

[LightninBoy]

There is a group trying to get the old style wheels taken out of the Street Stock class for Nationals. There is no longer a shortage of wheels for the foreseeable future and I have now dropped the prices on all Predators to make the choice of wheels up to you as builders. Who feels there needs to be a separation of the wheels? They are all 2 grams and 7.5mm wide so is there a reason to try and cut the field in half? I am taking a poll please vote.

In SS - I personally don't care one way or another. But If removing the NOS wheels from SS (for Nationals only) increases participation, why not? Sounds like a small price to pay to make the event more inclusive.

Please don't run two separate SS classes. I think that would be the worst solution. Just allow them or don't.

I'll just take this opportunity, however, to repeat my position that the NOS wheels have no place in the BASX class and I won't race in that class until it goes back to being a budget minded and basic build class.

EDIT: OK I just saw that fully compromising on this wasn't even an option in the voting. LOL. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Guess I'll vote "eliminate the SS class" as a proxy for "eliminate the NOS wheels".

 

[Mister B Racing]

I agree with B_Regal that there might be a speed advantage with predators; but only the the top builders know how to get that advantage. I am a mid-pack racer and I used post 2009 wheels to keep costs in check, but when I did try the predators they were not any faster so I don't use them.

Why is SS the only class being mentioned to limit wheels? BASX and SP can use pre 2009 wheels too. If you ban the use of certain wheels in SS, they should be banned in all classes.

The more common the rules are between NPWDRL, PDDR and APR the more who will race.

 

[5KidsRacing]

Maybe Jig-a-Loo should be banned in SS as well….. very limited supply, can be expensive…

 

[Kinser Racing]

Maybe Jig-a-Loo should be banned in SS as well….. very limited supply, can be expensive…

lol

I still haven't tapped into my supply (Thanks Scott!). I'm still on my first can that I got from Pep Boys.

 

[5KidsRacing]

At the PWDR, per their rules, the Maximum Velocity wheels are faster than BSA.... better ban those... wait already did!

 

[5KidsRacing]

In order to compete in 2010 I had to go from using a $3 tube of graphite for my lube to using a $100 bottle of Legends, $5 can of DuPont Blue and a $20 bottle of Krytox oil! We needed a poll back then to eliminate oil. Big advantage… very costly.

 

[5KidsRacing]

I guess my point is this… You can’t punish the “out of the box” thinkers by eliminating their “finds”. The SS rules have always allowed these wheels and shouldn’t be changed…
Everybody wants the fastest racers to tell their secrets, but why would they do that if the people that can’t find speed in their secret make it illegal?

 

[Kinser Racing]

I guess my point is this… You can’t punish the “out of the box” thinkers by eliminating their “finds”. The SS rules have always allowed these wheels and shouldn’t be changed…
Everybody wants the fastest racers to tell their secrets, but why would they do that if the people that can’t find speed in their secret make it illegal?

Truth!!!

 

[zeebzob]

The wheels are available.
They are not expensive.
You should try racing something with an engine...THAT is expensive!

Bottom line, don't be a puss. Just race. If you don't win, no one will will think any less of you.
People will think less of you if you make this a big deal...which it's not.

 

[DerbyDad4Hire]

The wheels are not the issue as far as proxy racing goes. The issue is the race day oil that gives the live racers the true advantage. There is no legitimate reason to ban the old style wheels in Street Stock. Splitting the class is killing the most prestigious class in pinewood derby.

This is NOT A LEAGUE RACE. It is the National Championships. It is 4 months away! There is not one racer that has a problem building a car to the rules of any other single race they go and race in. The wheels are available to every racer either raw or cut. My new Predator is now cut just like the car that broke the track record but did not race Man of the Mountain. The Predator line has been refined to the cuts that have shown the most performance over a year of trials and testing. If you don't like them then get the wheels that you think are the best. Nobody cares!

This race will be run on a brand new track. Everyone will be running it for the first time. There will be a 2nd track set up to tune and play with cars. I am thinking that all cars should be teched in at the same time and not handled until after they are raced. Come to the race ready to run! The track will be smooth and race ready set at 27.1 degrees so it should run the same as all the others. We are working on a new format for the race to make it a one of a kind event.

 

[DerbyDad4Hire]

The wheels are available.
They are not expensive.
You should try racing something with an engine...THAT is expensive!

Bottom line, don't be a puss. Just race. If you don't win, no one will will think any less of you.
People will think less of you if you make this a big deal...which it's not.

Thank you Andy.