Open Letter to UMP

[kazual]

Have the local, non-touring teams unite and tell UMP, WOO, and LOLMDS they will not run touring or marqueee events under the current set of rules that handicap them. If the sanctions knew their showcase races were only going to green flag 12-15 cars it would cause higher ups to listen. And I also believe in the Easter Bunny, The Great Pumpkin, and Bigfoot.

[GRT62]

a 2'x2' opening in the nose piece would kill 95% of the aero advantage we are seeing now days.

[hotshoe65s]

The body rules, in my opinion, are not the area to focus. Anyone can build a body as exotic as the next guy for about the same amount of money. Keep the body rules simple. I work in NASCAR and see how body rules can get out of hand. Here is what they can do to reduce costs.
The only new body rules that would be easy to regulate would be an overall length rule to reduce the nose length, overall width, no decking dish, etc. Those are quick, easy to check, and still allow some creativity.
Other than body rules:
Maximum of 5 springs on the car. No bumpstops. Maximum of 1 full spring rubber per corner. By doing all that you reduce a guys ability to manipulate the aero platform. Yeah you can try to coilbind the RF, but that is very load dependent and will be difficult to do with ever changing track conditions.
No triple or 4 way adjustable shocks.
No traction shock.
Spring in front of the LR axle tube would be a possible way to reduce grip.
Keep going with the tire rules limiting the number or tires used per event.
Increase the total weight of the cars by 50 Lb or so to discourage trying to buy lightweight parts.

At the end of the day all of that will reduce the overall grip of the car and reduce the need for data acquisition and spring smashers. But to get back where local guys can compete and afford to race supers you need to address the engine rules.
I think if you have all sanctioning bodies agree on engine rules, then set an effective date, you could get back to a realistic engine cost.
Have a group determine the rules. Pick a date a year or two from now and say after that date these rules are in effect. So use the engines up now. After that date you can't run them anymore. Yes that will leave guys with expensive motors, but the costs of that are going to equal out after one or two engine rebuilds or replacements for expensive motors. It sucks to stick people with engines, but the sport will be better off in a few years due to it. By giving them a year or two to use up their engine will allow them to get use out of them first.

[Josh Bayko]

I've posted before what I'd do with the bodies.

Nose must be mounted straight and symmetrical.
Ears can be no more than 1" higher than the filler and must be equal on both sides.
Deck must be flat with no rake.
Sides must be equal height on both sides.
Sails must be filled in. You can still have windows if you want, but the gotta be covered with Lexan.
Roof must also be mounted flat with no rake.

All of this would help slow the cars down some. Tech would be a breeze. All you'd need to enforce is a level and a tape measure. It would also make the guys who design wraps' lives a lot easier.

[rmrc]

I've asked Sam Driggers from UMP to read these posts, most are in agreement that bodies are a good place to start. Keep the posts and ideas coming.

[Bigdirtfan]

Ump needs to save super dirt late model racing again. Kazual is right, new and drastically different rules then what lucas and woo are running. Ump is still the sanction for eldora speedway, that means they still have the power. Id like to see some steps taken to make the weekly national championship points actually go to a weekly driver as well.

[CIRF]

I've posted before what I'd do with the bodies.

Nose must be mounted straight and symmetrical.
Ears can be no more than 1" higher than the filler and must be equal on both sides.
Deck must be flat with no rake.
Sides must be equal height on both sides.
Sails must be filled in. You can still have windows if you want, but the gotta be covered with Lexan.
Roof must also be mounted flat with no rake.

All of this would help slow the cars down some. Tech would be a breeze. All you'd need to enforce is a level and a tape measure. It would also make the guys who design wraps' lives a lot easier.

Spot on post right here, folks. The only things I would add is the tread width must be the identical front and rear and the four wheels must measure out square. Still only need a tape measure to do that.

[Clayton_Wetter]

Spot on post right here, folks. The only things I would add is the tread width must be the identical front and rear and the four wheels must measure out square. Still only need a tape measure to do that.

You think so SURF?????

[CIRF]

You think so SURF?????

Are you pickin' on me again, Clay?! I'm gonna' sic power boy on you if you're not nice to me!!

[hotshoe65s]

Spot on post right here, folks. The only things I would add is the tread width must be the identical front and rear and the four wheels must measure out square. Still only need a tape measure to do that.

That's an absolutely terrible idea. That's the same path Nascar took and it has been nothing but a disaster. DirtCar is right across the street from NASCAR's Tech center. they should walk over there and see how many millions and millions of dollars have been spent trying to monitor tread width, cambers, and wheel center locations

[RaceEngineer]

Spring in front of axle does nothing. A lot of other good ideas here though.

[Josh Bayko]

Spot on post right here, folks. The only things I would add is the tread width must be the identical front and rear and the four wheels must measure out square. Still only need a tape measure to do that.

I tend to think the body rules I proposed would reign a lot of the wild track width differences in all by itself.

I’m not really a fan of outlawing suspension pieces. The costs associated with replacing that stuff far outweighs the cost of new sheet metal and noses.

[CIRF]

I readily admit that it's been over a decade and a half since I've been involved with a dirt late model and that makes me totally ignorant of how things are on the cars today, I have no illusions about that. However, it seems like it would be a rather simple procedure to determine whether the front tread width is the same and is in line with the rear. But then again, I've been out of the loop for so long that.............

[TackyTracker]

Hopefully people that read this realize that it has to change.. I'm not an engineer,driver,owner,sponsor or promoter but a FAN that wants to keep going and PAYING..

FIX IT

[grt74]

racing cost is up and pay out is down (weekly) until thats fixed i don't see a fix, and it is costing track owners more to run too, one of the biggest issues i see, several different classes, all we need is supers, mods-open wheels, street, and 4 cylinders, its ok to go down in a class-its still racing

[dirtcrazy4u]

Aero is by far the cheapest way out. By changing bodies it opens up a hole new set of problems. The downforce that would be taken away would create a situation where you mite as well toss the set up book out the window. You've now made teams spend more money to try to come up with some other way to gain that advantage back. You've got guys in lucas and wrg that see exactly what's going on. Weekly SLM racing will never be what it was. Local teams are picking and choosing were they want to run. Many teams are going that route today. Do I have the answer, NO and neither does anyone else.

[RaceEngineer]

Aero is by far the cheapest way out. By changing bodies it opens up a hole new set of problems. The downforce that would be taken away would create a situation where you mite as well toss the set up book out the window. You've now made teams spend more money to try to come up with some other way to gain that advantage back. You've got guys in lucas and wrg that see exactly what's going on. Weekly SLM racing will never be what it was. Local teams are picking and choosing were they want to run. Many teams are going that route today. Do I have the answer, NO and neither does anyone else.

Absolutely nothing wrong with tossing the setup book out the window. Taking tons of grip away is the point. Your feared result is the goal. We want to hit the reset button and lower the ceiling of how much traction is possible. You think setups stayed the same when UMP took the humper tires and wedge bodies away? Did it not open the gates for the Golden Age?

[EvelB7]

They need to fix the bodies... Aero grip is easy and cheap, yes; however it creates poor racing. The best races are created when you have less grip and are forced to lift the gas. It comes down to who can a)drive into the corner deeper or b) get back to the throttle first. Very little of throttle time with current down force and a bigger issue is that the car is so dependent on the air you 'stall out' or get a severe push when you get close to someone.

[dirtcrazy4u]

Ok, so I'm steve francis. I say 2019 we bring a spec shock to the RF and LR, Monroe Matic LOL,. Toss out your shock package, you get to the track and you come on over to the lucas trailer and I'll hand you the shocks you need to bolt on. WRG would be elated to hear that. The WoO would be saying, told you so. Either side doesn't want to stick there neck out in fear of something like that happening. O, by the way, remember I'm SF. I win the lucas 2019 title and tell all. I'm not washed up yet.

[RaceEngineer]

Ok, so I'm steve francis. I say 2019 we bring a spec shock to the RF and LR, Monroe Matic LOL,. Toss out your shock package, you get to the track and you come on over to the lucas trailer and I'll hand you the shocks you need to bolt on. WRG would be elated to hear that. The WoO would be saying, told you so. Either side doesn't want to stick there neck out in fear of something like that happening. O, by the way, remember I'm SF. I win the lucas 2019 title and tell all. I'm not washed up yet.

No one is suggesting that option. Shocks are not really an issue anyway. You can still win with ones you bought 8 years ago. However, a car from 4 years ago needs completely rebuilt to put a new decking in it.