Another crate cheater bites the dust

[Hoosier]

from Stan Lester
4 hrs ·
6/19/2018 (Carnesville GA)
FASTRAK Competitor Found Illegal at Tyler County Speedway
FASTRAK competitor was found with illegal valve springs at Tyler County Speedway this past Saturday night. The valve springs on the car of TJ Salango were found to be “not in spec” and penalties thereof will apply. Competitor will be barred from all FASTRAK events, weekly and touring until June 16th, 2019 and fined $1000 as stated on page 5 of the 2018 rule book.
CHEATING WITHIN THE BOLTS This includes but is not limited to Valve Springs. Driver is fined $1000 and barred for 365 days. Same penalties apply to car owner if different from driver. Loss of ALL points Cannot compete at any FASTRAK track or event until all fines have been paid or satisfied includes that car. Track event: (Track receives 25% of $1000 fine) EXCEPTION: If FASTRAK “authorized” engine builder signs legal “affidavit” stating that competitor had NO knowledge of rules infraction in relation to building of ‘said’ engine competitor may be reinstated. Must be signed in front of Probate Judge in Carnesville GA, County of Franklin. In the event a engine builder is found wrong and competitor signs “affidavit” in the same manner as listed about *ALL RULES in effect for ALL OPEN SHOWS that are FASTRAK Sanctioned. *By participating in ANY FASTRAK event (Touring, Weekly or Open) Competitor, Owner and any affiliates of such agree to a “hold harmless” agreement under the terms of this rule book. Competitors, Car Owners, Engine Builders have the right to “appeal” at the FASTRAK Corporate Office. Findings at said appeal shall be binding and FINAL! Appeals must be filed in writing within 48 hours of infraction. Appeals must be faxed to: (706)286-8432 FASTRAK CONSIDERS CHEATING WITHIN THE BOLTS OR THE INTENT TO CHEAT A VERY SERIOUS OFFENSE AND IN DIRECT CONFLICT WITH CRATE ENGINE RACING AS IT WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDED. ENGINE BUILDERS WIL BE BARRED FOR LIFE, BOND FORECLOSED ON (FASTRAK BUILDERS) PLUS FACE SERIOUS FINES AND OTHER POSSIBLE PENALTIES.
Competitor will have the right to appeal the decision per the 2018 rule book within 48 hours of this being posted. Letters will be sent to all FASTRAK weekly tracks to advise them of this penalty and legality of competitor.
Competitor has agreed to send the money back to Tyler County Speedway and the speedway will be distributing the differences to the other competitors accordingly. Competitor will also lose all points for the 2018 season.
All Drivers please note: It is our understanding these springs were from PAC Racing so if you have them be careful. The secret is out.
All track tech men note; These springs cannot be detected without testing with a bench tester.
FASTRAK Corporate Headquarters
(678) 935-7304

[ptown]

Crates suck, they should never be mentioned on this board.

[Stefan2k4]

We were told in the other thread that there was no point in spending extra money on a crate late model motor and that cars that seemed to have more horsepower were really just rolling the corners better. Sounds like this guy didn't get the memo!

[mcarter815]

1. Cheater valve springs aren’t very expensive and it doesn’t require breaking the seals to install them. 2. The cheater was caught, so what’s the problem?

[93Nelson]

Bingo^^ exactly what I was thinking

[fryefan]

Glad to see that they are teching them and penalizing those caught cheating.

[RW57]

If more tracks would grow a set of balls and actually tech the cars it would help clean up crate racing.1 yr is tuff but I bet they will think twice next time.

[Clayton_Wetter]

We were told in the other thread that there was no point in spending extra money on a crate late model motor and that cars that seemed to have more horsepower were really just rolling the corners better. Sounds like this guy didn't get the memo!

We were told that but it didn't stick on my wall. hahahahahaa

[MI Dirt Fan]

Just curious as to know why someone would run incorrect valave springs according to the rules on a crate knowing they will probably at some point check that? I mean it's not something you can exactly hide.

[billetbirdcage]

Just curious as to know why someone would run incorrect valave springs according to the rules on a crate knowing they will probably at some point check that? I mean it's not something you can exactly hide.

Lack of tech.

Those PAC springs and others will measure correct or least close enough (when checking on the car with a tester - not real accurate) but will show incorrect if removed from engine and tested on a bench tester where you can measure more then just spring seat pressure.

Most local places will not remove springs to check them.......basically laziness by the tech guys and promoters not wanting to keep racers at the track for another hour after the races to do the tech. At a larger or national event with a bigger sanctioning body, this will/more likely get tech'ed.

People can complain as much as they want on crates cheating, but it's not any different then a steel head, hydraulic cam, lift rule, or any other rules in any other class that still need to be checked regardless. We've all been to tracks that have rules but never check or enforce them, cheating will happen in any class that isn't checked, not just the crates.

[MI Dirt Fan]

Wasn't sure at what lengths they went to inspect or tear down stuff from track to track series to series.

So do they like confiscate say the top 5 after the event and check them?

[billetbirdcage]

Depends on what they are checking.

Since springs are easily changed without having to break a seal, that is one of the first places guys cheat. A lot of times they use an "on the head valve spring tester" which just checks the pressure of the spring in the closed position and verify it's semi close to the pressure it's supposed to be. Problem is they aren't overly accurate if you trying to see just a few pounds.

They will generally also check the installed hieght of the spring and a few other things like rocker arm ratio and a visual inspection. You can find blatant cheaters this way, but can still slip by a few things unless you pull the spring off the engine and check the install hieght spring pressure as well as the compressed or open spring pressure.

Things they may do without having to take the engine or break seals is:

1. whistle the engine, this checks the compression ratio of the engine. This checks to make sure the compression hasn't been raised by milling heads, pistion change, or CID being to large.

2. remove springs and rockers to check

3. Puff engine - checks cubic inch or size.

4. fuels - check for legal fuels

5. appeared Broken or tampered seals, will likely cause them to take engine or tear it down there.

That's just a few they can or will do, there are many others just depends on the series and how far they want to take it.

[kntcrshr 666]

Bravo! If you want crates to work you must tech lots and ban if caught! Should've given him a 2-5 year ban. Get the point across that cheating ain't no joke and will ruin the class.

[kntcrshr 666]

On the point I just made you must gain the racers trust and make sure everyone has a fair chance! Partly why short track racing is dying is that the trust is gone. Politics and playing favorites is extremely destructive to racing. Especially if you want a good following. Call me a conspiracy nut, but I think this is why IMCA is still doing ok. I've heard they are good about teching and will disqualify you. Who wants to put lots of time, effort, and money into racing in a class where you're always wondering if you're getting punked by the guy winning all the races and the sanctioning body?

[Josh Bayko]

Glad to see that they are teching them and penalizing those caught cheating.

It only will work if the various crate sanctions uphold each other’s suspensions, and currently, they don’t really do that.

[nc mudcat]

There's always another side to the story.

https://racingnews.co/2018/06/21/tj-salango-tells-his-side-of-the-story-with-the-fastrak-valve-spring-infraction/

[kntcrshr 666]

There's always another side to the story.https://racingnews.co/2018/06/21/tj-salango-tells-his-side-of-the-story-with-the-fastrak-valve-spring-infraction/Lol. He wasn't "sure" of the valve springs, but didn't doublecheck to make sure they were legal. Translation: He knew he was cheating and is now playing stupid to hopefully not get in trouble.

[mcarter815]

Bravo! If you want crates to work you must tech lots and ban if caught! Should've given him a 2-5 year ban. Get the point across that cheating ain't no joke and will ruin the class.

2-5 years means we lose another car in the sport. Banned for the rest of the season gets the point across but doesn't kick the guy out of the sport.

[CageFaraday]

Crates suck, they should never be mentioned on this board.

Could not agree more. They have their own section and the people who care are over there. Secondly, why not just make everything outside the bolts, "Open". Whatever carb, whatever spacer, springs, headers. Let's Race!

[kntcrshr 666]

2-5 years means we lose another car in the sport. Banned for the rest of the season gets the point across but doesn't kick the guy out of the sport.Well if he willingly cheated and if he don't want to come back. Too bad. One less crappy jerk at the racetrack. The point is you darn better make sure you're legal. None of this gray area bs of "I didn't know it was illegal". No. Make sure it's legal before using it. Doublecheck. The guy that just got caught was lying, or being careless. Apparently he wasn't concerned about playing by the rules. Give that mofo 2 years off instead of 1.

[Hoosier]

Could not agree more. They have their own section and the people who care are over there. Secondly, why not just make everything outside the bolts, "Open". Whatever carb, whatever spacer, springs, headers. Let's Race!

2600 people have read this thread. You may ignore any thread.

[mopar92]

There's always another side to the story.

https://racingnews.co/2018/06/21/tj-salango-tells-his-side-of-the-story-with-the-fastrak-valve-spring-infraction/


In other words... “I got away with it previously and they didn’t pop me”.

[formercrewguy]

Weld the valve covers to the heads. Problem solved.

[a25rjr]

Quote: In other words... “I got away with it previously and they didn’t pop me”.

He probly never got teched by Brad. Brad works at one of the top crate motor rebuilding facilities.

Im sure as soon as he saw the different color of the valve springs, he knew it wasn't a GM part! Brads a regular contributor in the Tech section and seems to know his stuff.