Nose Piece

[Jking24]

Why does Five star get this freedom? The shock companies certainly get whacked by rules everytime they come up with some new gadget that may unnessarily drive the price up..... engine builders have rules around what they can and cant do in the aims of keeping costs down. I don't think its out of line to hold five star to the same standard. They could make the whole thing out of CF and save a substantial amount of weight, which would allow you to put it where you want, which would be an advantage.. you would have to pay a bunch for it though. and its not "A late model" by classical standards. No rednecks in their 2 bay shop have the ability to mold carbon fiber or composite fiber glass. they can however use tin snips and a sheet metal break

Actually rednecks in the 2 bay shop can make carbon fiber and composite fiberglass. You don't need much more than a trash bag and a shop vac. I have a friend making roofs hoods fender tops and fillers. The kicker is the time and attention to detail that goes into making the molds. Kinda like masters said their are usually people spending less money outrunning you. The kicker is the time. Most of us just don't have the time to invest

[Lizardracing]

Time is exactly right.
I came from a time where everyone built their car and there wasn't a catalogue to buy parts from. These days, with production cost in mind, it's always faster to buy the part than I can make it.
I just finished making a roller gas pedal. I have three hours in it vrs $150 for an AFCO unit. I have $40 in materials
It took me two hours to make a coil over kit for the RR OR I could have paid $150 for the kit. I have $60 in materials.
I try to make all my own stuff cause I enjoy it and it's fun to outrun the catalogue cars but I can't race 2 nights or more a week either. Not with a full time job. Also, My lathe and Mill tooling aren't free by any means.

I don't have a good answer for turning back technology aside from 3D printing or CNC milling at home. Neither of those are gonna be less than a new car by itself. I can say weekend warrior guys spending $30-$50k for a car and racing for $600-$1000 to win is just plain stupid. Especially those who like to tear up stuff and they have $500 repair bill every week.

[fastford]

I came from that time as well lizard , back then we had oil shocks and built our engines out of what we had or scrounged up used , you could take a 600 hp engine in the slick and out run a 900 hp engine , with the technology in shocks and springs alone today , that little engine dont stand a chance ......

[Lizardracing]

True Story. More rules usually end up costing the racer money so that's not a good answer unless you put enough rules in place that the entire car is a spec car kinda thing. That's not working out for NASCAR very well at all, or NHRA, FIA, F1, or any major sanctioning for that matter. Funny, locally everyone left the super lates type LM and UMP/USMTS type modified in favor for B mods. A mods and LM are down to 10 cars per class weekly and the B-Mods are up to around 30 per night. Cost is the biggest concern for most. $12/gallon for fuel and the spec engine rules are killing the classes for Steel block, steel head, FT cams and pump gas/E85 for the B-Mods. Although a soon to be problem is the low budget Amods and LM are now over spending in the B-mods so the most limited thing is the payout. I will have to agree the bodies need looked at and a real racer type needs to be involved so guys can still make stuff at home is needed.