Mike
Well-Known Member
From time to time, I am made aware of things people have said and done in other venues. For the most part, I try to let that stuff slip in one ear and right back out of the other. Gossip is gossip and most of it isn't worth the time it takes to read it.
But then, there are the times when someone says something that is designed to deceive others, to trick them into making rash decisions and possibly fatal mistakes. Suddenly, small talk turns into malicious and dangerous talk.
A former member of this site (who shall remain nameless, for obvious, legal reasons) has once again shifted gears and is making comments and observations that are incredibly stupid. And to simply let that kind of chatter stand unchallenged is an off-hand form of acceptance. Which, as many of you already know, is not my style.
It seems this asshat was in attendance at the 2013 NTBA Nationals, in Carson City, Nevada. And since he was unable to further inflate his own ego by any other means, he was challenging people to street races. The asshat is sniping at one of the NTBA elected officers who refused to race him, because of his elected office. Let me ask you this - what if that NTBA officer had accepted the asshat's challenge and something had gone terribly wrong? How would that have looked in the next day's newspaper?
Let me make something perfectly clear, to all of you. Street racing is completely illegal and is also dangerous beyond belief. I'm not here to tell anyone what they can or cannot do with their own lives, but I am going to tell you that trying to break laws and risk lives, all in the name of bragging rights, is about the most infantile and ignorant decision anyone could possibly make. At no point in time, have I ever suggested anyone violate any laws or risk any lives. And it isn't going to happen in the future, either.
People, I spent a lot of years involved in drag racing. I am likely more of a hard-core performance enthusiast than anyone here. But the drag racing I was involved with was sanctioned drag racing at sanctioned tracks, where cars were required to pass stringent technical inspections and where safety equipment was on hand to handle the inevitable accidents. Drivers were required to pass physicals, to ensure they were healthy enough to be operating cars at high rates of speed. And in spite of all of these safety precautions, I have still witnessed friends being injured and being killed.
My best friend drove off the end of a track in Kentucky, where the car ended up flipping, violently. Thankfully, the car broke up as it was designed to do, shedding off excess weight, in order to keep the driver safe. But in spite of all the safety items he was required to wear, which included arm restraints, he still suffered a broken wrist.
I watched a friend leave the starting line in a Top Alcohol Funny Car, for what should have been just another pass. The car violently shook the tires, came out of the groove and struck the near-side retaining wall. That broke the steering on the car, which might have been a good thing, as it kept the car scrubbing along the wall. But it apparently knocked my friend unconscious. The headers were bent back into the body, which caused the body to catch fire. And before the safety crews could get to where the car finally came to a stop, my pal had suffered life-ending burns.
Another good friend crashed a Top Alcohol Funny Car and suffered head injuries that leave him living in his own little world. He was no longer able to hold down a job, but he sometimes forgets the need to pay his utulity bills and to go to the grocery store, so he can eat.
Now I know, all of you think your car is as safe as Aunt Polly's rocking chair, but I'm telling you, I'm yet to see any of you posting cars with a purpose-built racing chassis, complete with a roll cage. How many of you have 5 or 6-point racing harnesses, to keep you in the car, if something goes wrong? How many of you are wearing multi-layer firesuits, with gloves, arm restraints and HANS devices?
And when one of you manages to step up to show me your car is built to those kinds of standards, let me ask you what you know about the T-Bucket on the other side of that Carson City highway? Does it meet the same standards? And even if it does, are you prepared for something like this to happen?
People, things happen. Bad things. Dangerous things. And they happen on cars that have passed extremely tough safety checks and are racing on extremely well-prepared and very flat racing surfaces. And there are no guarantees a car isn't going to come at you from the other lane.
Racing is dangerous as Hell, even when you do it the right way. And hear me well, when I say racing on a public street or road is NOT THE RIGHT WAY. No matter what some puffed-up asshole may try to tell you. I don't care how 'perfect' the stretch of road he has selected seems to be, racing there is illegal and extremely dangerous.
People, this ill-informed idiot wants to suggest anyone who didn't pick up his challenge to risk their cars and their lives are somehow missing the boat and are not fun-loving. Don't you believe it, not for a second. If that kind of idiot wants to race, then it seems to me he should have built a race car, rather than buying a street rod. There is a difference between the two, whether he is too stupid to see it or not.
Build your car so it will satisfy you. If you want to build a car that is all show and no go, then by all means, build it. Drive it. And enjoy it. What difference does it really make, if the car produces fewer than 200 horsepower on a questionable chassis dyno? The correct answer is, no difference at all. Do I see members of this site posting inflated horsepower guesstimates? Nearly every day of the week. But the bottom line is that kind of bragging puts no one in any danger, so I just chuckle to myself and keep reading.
Be safe, all of you. Think about what you are building and build it to be as safe as you can make it. And then use common sense, whilst driving it. Don't let smart-assed blowhards goad you into making bad decisions.
I have also been made aware this same maroon is suddenly about trying to drive a wedge between the NTBA and Bob Chester, of Spirit Industries. People, the last time I looked, both the NTBA and Spirit Industries were all about helping T-Bucket enthusiasts live their T-Bucket dreams. Which means our attitude toward both of them should be inclusive, rather than exclusive.
Remember, anyone who supports T-Buckets is supporting your personal hobby, so be sure to support those who support you.
Yes, I am aware the maroon suddenly has an ax to grind with the NTBA, but that is his own, personal problem (of which I feel he has many, BTW). Don't let him pull you into his personal pity party. As I observed when running him out the door of this site, square pegs were never meant to fit into round holes.
Street racing is dangerous. Please, please, please, do not put yourself in dangerous positions. Always operate your vehicles within their limitations, and if you want to race, then visit your local race track and race safely.
But then, there are the times when someone says something that is designed to deceive others, to trick them into making rash decisions and possibly fatal mistakes. Suddenly, small talk turns into malicious and dangerous talk.
A former member of this site (who shall remain nameless, for obvious, legal reasons) has once again shifted gears and is making comments and observations that are incredibly stupid. And to simply let that kind of chatter stand unchallenged is an off-hand form of acceptance. Which, as many of you already know, is not my style.
It seems this asshat was in attendance at the 2013 NTBA Nationals, in Carson City, Nevada. And since he was unable to further inflate his own ego by any other means, he was challenging people to street races. The asshat is sniping at one of the NTBA elected officers who refused to race him, because of his elected office. Let me ask you this - what if that NTBA officer had accepted the asshat's challenge and something had gone terribly wrong? How would that have looked in the next day's newspaper?
Let me make something perfectly clear, to all of you. Street racing is completely illegal and is also dangerous beyond belief. I'm not here to tell anyone what they can or cannot do with their own lives, but I am going to tell you that trying to break laws and risk lives, all in the name of bragging rights, is about the most infantile and ignorant decision anyone could possibly make. At no point in time, have I ever suggested anyone violate any laws or risk any lives. And it isn't going to happen in the future, either.
People, I spent a lot of years involved in drag racing. I am likely more of a hard-core performance enthusiast than anyone here. But the drag racing I was involved with was sanctioned drag racing at sanctioned tracks, where cars were required to pass stringent technical inspections and where safety equipment was on hand to handle the inevitable accidents. Drivers were required to pass physicals, to ensure they were healthy enough to be operating cars at high rates of speed. And in spite of all of these safety precautions, I have still witnessed friends being injured and being killed.
My best friend drove off the end of a track in Kentucky, where the car ended up flipping, violently. Thankfully, the car broke up as it was designed to do, shedding off excess weight, in order to keep the driver safe. But in spite of all the safety items he was required to wear, which included arm restraints, he still suffered a broken wrist.
I watched a friend leave the starting line in a Top Alcohol Funny Car, for what should have been just another pass. The car violently shook the tires, came out of the groove and struck the near-side retaining wall. That broke the steering on the car, which might have been a good thing, as it kept the car scrubbing along the wall. But it apparently knocked my friend unconscious. The headers were bent back into the body, which caused the body to catch fire. And before the safety crews could get to where the car finally came to a stop, my pal had suffered life-ending burns.
Another good friend crashed a Top Alcohol Funny Car and suffered head injuries that leave him living in his own little world. He was no longer able to hold down a job, but he sometimes forgets the need to pay his utulity bills and to go to the grocery store, so he can eat.
Now I know, all of you think your car is as safe as Aunt Polly's rocking chair, but I'm telling you, I'm yet to see any of you posting cars with a purpose-built racing chassis, complete with a roll cage. How many of you have 5 or 6-point racing harnesses, to keep you in the car, if something goes wrong? How many of you are wearing multi-layer firesuits, with gloves, arm restraints and HANS devices?
And when one of you manages to step up to show me your car is built to those kinds of standards, let me ask you what you know about the T-Bucket on the other side of that Carson City highway? Does it meet the same standards? And even if it does, are you prepared for something like this to happen?
People, things happen. Bad things. Dangerous things. And they happen on cars that have passed extremely tough safety checks and are racing on extremely well-prepared and very flat racing surfaces. And there are no guarantees a car isn't going to come at you from the other lane.
Racing is dangerous as Hell, even when you do it the right way. And hear me well, when I say racing on a public street or road is NOT THE RIGHT WAY. No matter what some puffed-up asshole may try to tell you. I don't care how 'perfect' the stretch of road he has selected seems to be, racing there is illegal and extremely dangerous.
People, this ill-informed idiot wants to suggest anyone who didn't pick up his challenge to risk their cars and their lives are somehow missing the boat and are not fun-loving. Don't you believe it, not for a second. If that kind of idiot wants to race, then it seems to me he should have built a race car, rather than buying a street rod. There is a difference between the two, whether he is too stupid to see it or not.
Build your car so it will satisfy you. If you want to build a car that is all show and no go, then by all means, build it. Drive it. And enjoy it. What difference does it really make, if the car produces fewer than 200 horsepower on a questionable chassis dyno? The correct answer is, no difference at all. Do I see members of this site posting inflated horsepower guesstimates? Nearly every day of the week. But the bottom line is that kind of bragging puts no one in any danger, so I just chuckle to myself and keep reading.
Be safe, all of you. Think about what you are building and build it to be as safe as you can make it. And then use common sense, whilst driving it. Don't let smart-assed blowhards goad you into making bad decisions.
I have also been made aware this same maroon is suddenly about trying to drive a wedge between the NTBA and Bob Chester, of Spirit Industries. People, the last time I looked, both the NTBA and Spirit Industries were all about helping T-Bucket enthusiasts live their T-Bucket dreams. Which means our attitude toward both of them should be inclusive, rather than exclusive.
Remember, anyone who supports T-Buckets is supporting your personal hobby, so be sure to support those who support you.
Yes, I am aware the maroon suddenly has an ax to grind with the NTBA, but that is his own, personal problem (of which I feel he has many, BTW). Don't let him pull you into his personal pity party. As I observed when running him out the door of this site, square pegs were never meant to fit into round holes.
Street racing is dangerous. Please, please, please, do not put yourself in dangerous positions. Always operate your vehicles within their limitations, and if you want to race, then visit your local race track and race safely.
