Hi guys,
I just joined. I look forward to talking with all of you. I have a question about a sprint car rule. I'm watching the outlaws and they mentioned earlier about a rule that said you could not change the, I believe, it was the right rear tire before the dash or you would not be allowed to race in the dash and you would be placed in last place. Huh? What's up with that? Who's the genius who came up with that rule? What is the rationale behind it? That means you have to patch up your torn tire and race on it and hope to hell it doesn't explode on you. What if that tire causes an accident while you're in the dash? You or another driver could be seriously hurt if not killed. It could also total your car, and everyone else's. Someone please explain it to me. I've never heard a rule like that before. One driver said that someone's going to get killed because of that rule, I agree with him. Anyway, sorry to rant on my first post. Have a good weekend and Happy Summer.
Bonnie

Hi Bonnie. The rule has been in place just about everywhere in short-track for quite awhile now. It is aimed at cost containment. That said, and what may not been made clear is that there are rules in place, usually at the discresion of the race and/or tech director to allow replacement of unsafe tires. Sometimes with a penalty, sometimes without. Sometimes only to be replaced with a pre-stenciled tire (used) and sometimes new.

Depends on the series.

The intent if the rule is to keep teams from mounting new tires on the car everytime they take to the track. Hope this helps.

It also keeps teams from changing to a right rear with a different diameter for the dash, such as one that allows you to turn better for a few laps but might burn itself out if run to full feature race distance.