You know what is the saddest part about all of this is that this series was created by men who saw a need and filled it as a series of racing that could be affordable, by building a program where the car could be raced nation wide based on a rules package that was universal across the country.
I noticed last year for the 2012 rulebook, the story that has been in every other rulebook prior about the founding of legends car was not included. Why is it no longer included, I really don't know, but in my opinion is is seems to be the direction change of the new management which has a different vision of the founders.
For those of you who do not know, I have been involved in Legends racing since 1994, back when cars were delivered without oil coolers, you could get the bodies in many different gel coated colors. Back when we had steel spindles, open 1200 engines, two piece axles and some freedom of what we, as racers, wanted to use for other parts like wheels, air filters, engine parts and engine builders (either built in your garage or send it to a builder) as long as the fit within the rules book you were good. If you were found cheating the part(s) were confiscated and your were penalized.
So, over the years, I have seen many, many changes in the Legends car. The first major change happened when they went away from the Carrerra shock. The reasoning of this change was to keep the cost of racing this car to a minimum and also to have a propriety product. Carrerra would not make a proprietary product for 600.
Several things about the Carrerra shock was it was adjustable internally with a ramp systems. It was designed to have three adjustment levels. But it did not take long for the "racer" found out due to manufacturing tolerances that each shock could have as many as 27 different setting if the adjusting cam was not flat in the bottom of the shock. That combined with the valleys and peaks of the adjuster meant that you could have as many or more shock than a cup team did. I remember going to my first nationals in Charlotte in 1995 and seeing the "pro" guys with dozens of shocks hanging on racks in their trailers. We pitted next to a guy that was dyno tuning and adjusting shocks just for that track/event. Plus the oil could be changed in those shocks to change the characteristics as well.
So, that change was tolerable because it did two things, eliminated the need to have dozens of dyno tuned shocks for the Saturday night racers and gave 600 all of the monies for the product.
Then we had to go to aluminum spindles because of cheaters which was another expense to the racer, and put all of the money into 600's pocket.
Now light weight wheels, softer tires, lighter & lighter cars...
Then the biggest change of all, sealed engines.
Why did we go to sealed engines?
Well, there are many reasons that have been put out there, but it really boils down to who gets the money. They had "certified" sealed engine builders across the country and they were doing engines illegally because if you had "Joe's" engine it ran better than "Fred's" engine. So, to stop this from happening we, 600 Racing, have to bring the program in house. That did a couple of things, sure it eliminates the cheating by sealed engine builders, but it also put all of the money in the pocket of, now, USLCI. Why were the "certified" engine builder not penalized and/or stripped of their certification and another in the are found and appointed?
USLCI also has a variety of different "sealed" engines you can buy from them, it just depends on the horsepower you want and how much money is in your pocket that you want to put in their pocket.
But, why wasn't there a technical inspection program that checked all engine sealed or unsealed? I remember at all of the early year national events, if you finished in the top three you were taking you engine home in a box. I have taken many of my engines home in a box following a top three run.
In my opinion the current management is taking this program in a different direct than the founding fathers had the vision to go. Sure, USLCI is a business and I am a stock holder of the stock which I bought when it was offer to use Legends races in the mid 90's. glad it is making money, but it is sad to see the change in direction and I am fearful for the future of the series.
At a time when the nation has been in a troubled economic state for then last several years and there is no relief in sight, why is USLCI making this series more expensive for the racer. The sanctioning bodies logo of "INEX" was put in place because the was supposed to be "INEX"pense racing. If we really want this series to grow outside of the hub area of NC then this series needs to become inexpensive again and let the racer feel like there is a choice in something they bolt onto their race car.
I am sure this message will make its way to USLCI and I hope that it is read, not as a complaint but as a concern for the direction of this program that has such great potential to succeed, but if they keep squeezing more & more money from the racer, they might be headed down hill.
I can tell you that locally our car count have been suffering for the last several years. The beginning of the season always s starts strong, but by race 3 or 4 of the season the car count drops and then by the end of the season there is barely enough cars to have a complete field.
I have been around a long time, and I am not sure, but possibly longer than anyone working for USLCI and since I am in California we are the furthest thing from the minds of USLCI in NC. But, since the program was started as nation wide program, the cares & concerns of the nation need to be heard and considered.
Don't forget, we have a new INEX approved brake system coming out...was it because of Brakeman caliper and people spend too much money on them? Well since the Brakeman calipers are illegal because they use a o-ring instead of a square cut seal that problem could have been eliminated years ago by disqualifying the racer with those illegal calipers. Now, in Dennis' own words, the new system works as good as the Brakman calipers and they have not even been raced by the masses yet. Once the get out in the field and people start testing new pads & combination the system will surpass the stock calipers. So, guess what, if you want to be competitive you have to put more of your money into the pockets of USLCI.
But, just like I have said all along, "we are paying to play in their sandbox"
The question is now... is it worth paying them to play in their sandbox?
Randy - RPM
