Well, there is a lot of irony here.
There's people on this forum who said when they come to GLD they are "worried" because they see people getting teched in with "unsafe" cars. One guy said he has pix or video of us being "lax" on tech. Some got after Brian about not being certified and running too fast.
They have this saying that I am very fond of repeating.
Be careful what you wish for, it just might come true.
There's no "secret" here. It's simple: If your car is not "correct" with regard to NHRA rules relative to the ET you run, you won't pass tech, and if you lie and say your car is slower than it is, we no longer have the 3-strikes" rule. Now it's ONE AND DONE. And no refund.
So, before you come racing, make sure you have your ducks in a row and there won't be any problem.
Now, I have been around this game a LONG time. I have seen how the bitching goes round and round- So what will happen is this- Guys who truly felt they were scared to race next to people with "unsafe cars" are going to be very pleased now. And guys who ran 11.44 (example) and had no tubes in the car are going to bitch and say how we suck, blah blah blah.
Experience has shown that you are damned if you do and damned if you don't dudes.
So be on notice: We are strictly enforcing NHRA rules and you get ONE strike and you are out, and they WILL keep track of you, which means if you come back and haven't corrected the issues, you won't race.
Story worth telling from last Sunday when Nick was taking pictures of GTR's... We had a group with motorcycles and cars all together. Several of them had 'Busas and other very fast bikes wearing
blue jeans (!)
And when we warned them they need leathers, they gave us "attitude" and were assholes to be blunt. I went right up the starting line and made the starter hold them up, and told the guy who had previously gone 149 MPH in blue jeans that he MUST keep it under 120. He proceeded to go 154...
Sure enough, later on one of 'em went to the hospital with a severe case of "track rash" when he wrecked his 'busa.
More on the "you can't win" bitching-
"I can't see the races with all those people on the line"
"Somebody's going to get hurt with all those people up there"
(Both very true!)
So... now we have the wristbands and the gates. And I invite anyone who wants to try being the "asshole who won't let me go up there and watch my friend race and take video of him and hang around on the line". It was really fun on Sunday when the Import Wars event went on. Some of those guys wanted to fight.
RSD:
"They let those damn test-and-tuners take up all the time while us bigtime street racers sit and wait"
"RSD sucks! I sat in the lanes and waited to make only three runs while they let those Chitown guys race round and round"
"RSD is becoming a damn test and tune"
"RSD is only for "bigtime street racers and they don't care about us guys who just want to race our buddies"
GLD is responsible for the failure of Merrill-Lynch!
When there's no track to race at, all the problems will be solved.