Disengaging starter pinion gear

[Ncsu1stbaseman]

First time posting, new member of this board but have been reading a long time. I am a huge fan of Legends cars and hope one day to own and race one myself.

I was reading over some other racing forums and came across the following. I know it has been mentioned that Legends' can suffer from unhappy starters if a spin occurs and the clutch is not engaged fast enough.

Is using something like this an option on a Legends car?

http://www.hyperracer.com/hyper-racer/proracer/components/startersaver.html

[justfreaky]

Bryce,

Unfortunately, current rules do not allow this device. The Legends class is a "spec" rule class. They don't leave a lot left to "interpretation" of the rules.

Welcome to the site! Hope you are finding info you need to get you into a car . Let me know if I can help you with anything here on the site.

Regards,

Steve

[Ncsu1stbaseman]

Steve,

Thank you for such a fast response. I was curious if the starter system could be modified since everything wih he engine is pretty locked down.

I think  it will be a good amount of time before I could get a car. But I will def stay updated on this forum.

Bryce

[Legends16]

Welcome Bryce!

I wish something like that was legal. I have heard that not only can you destroy a starter when it comes to turning these engines backwards, but in some cases you can break one of the chains inside the engine. I've never experienced this myself but have read about it on some forums. If one of these were to come apart in a sealed motor, you would have to send it back to Inex.

 I destroyed a starter last year when I spun the car. I took it apart to see what it looked like and was amazed to find the destruction. The brushes dug themselves into the armature and stripped it right off the pole.

Normally the drivers first instinct in a spin is to hit the brakes, not the clutch. In my short time of racing these cars I've seen a very common trend of cars spinning and rolling back up into the racing grove collecting other cars. IMO, this is an issue that could be looked at. I've given this some thought but it is what it is.  I wish we could do something about it.

[ZForceRacing01]

Sounds like politics to me. I would think if the right person talked to INEX this is something that could be fixed. These cars have such a short wheelbase they spin easy. Drivers should be more concerned with getting the car under control then saving their starter, both for their safety and the safety of their competitors.

If we could provide some evidence of drivers causing further accidents because of dumping the clutch instead of getting on the brakes. We might could talk INEX into a rule change which would allow something like the gentleman mentioned.

Basically make it a driver safety issue.

[VMS Motorsports]

To have a part Ok'd by INEX, the manufacturer would have to submit the part to Scott Reinhart for approval.

It can be a long process, and often be frustrating and fruitless like when we submitted the R2C air filters.
Other times it can be rather smooth and easy like with the DRP wheel bearing spacers.

[Gimpster]

The device was submitted to them for use in the division over 10 years ago and denied (my understanding after discussing it with Mike Patrick mega years ago when he was a dealer). It is a performance advantage. If you are familiar with the internal workings of the gear case, there is a chain that runs off the crankshaft to a sub shaft. That shaft in turn drives the starter and alternator. Simply disconnecting your alternator so it does not charge relieves drag on this chain/shaft feed to the crankshaft and that is illegal also. Disconnecting the starter with this device also relieves drag by taking the starter out of the sprag/one-way assembly relieving drag against the crankshaft, hence why it was rejected.  Pushing the clutch in is the best habit to get into anyway to keep from breaking intake cams (same theory different chain in the motor driven off the crank, so if you used this device, you would still have to push your clutch in)... the device is deemed a performance advantage... you could try to submit it  again but I do believe it would be a fail right off..
~Gimpster~