More Seat Belt Baloney
My car doesn't run below 11.50. This excerpt from the 2023 rule book says that because I don't require a SFI 2" etc. harness (11.49 and quicker), I can run an expired SFI without an issue. Mine is dated 2019. I don't have a roll bar, and only use the lap belt portion of the SFI.
When I went to the track recently, for the first time with this car, the tech guy told me I needed the factory seat belt. And yeah, I told him the factory belts are 50 years old. We agreed that it's a stupid rule. I know he's just doing his job. (Well kinda, he didn't even look under the hood, and I told him this car had never been run before.)
As I mentioned this page in the rule book, he said politely, that he knows the rules. Apparently, he doesn't know this one. I had the rule book in my phone, but he didn't want to see it. We went around in circles for a bit, then he said, "okay for tonight".
As an aside, I don't get how they get away without looking at a car. All he checked was my helmet and belt dates. And of course, I could've used someone else's helmet for tech, and used my perfectly good expired helmet to race.
My car is legal to the letter of the rules. But he doesn't know that. I wonder how many cars go down that track as ticking time bombs, so to speak. I'm 64, does the 18 year old in the other lane even know that his car is bogus if they don't look?
Anyhow, I guess if I have trouble the next time I go, I have to be diplomatic. I don't want to get on the tech guys wrong side, even if he's wrong. And of course, it could be a different guy, and he might have no issue.
My car doesn't run below 11.50. This excerpt from the 2023 rule book says that because I don't require a SFI 2" etc. harness (11.49 and quicker), I can run an expired SFI without an issue. Mine is dated 2019. I don't have a roll bar, and only use the lap belt portion of the SFI.
When I went to the track recently, for the first time with this car, the tech guy told me I needed the factory seat belt. And yeah, I told him the factory belts are 50 years old. We agreed that it's a stupid rule. I know he's just doing his job. (Well kinda, he didn't even look under the hood, and I told him this car had never been run before.)
As I mentioned this page in the rule book, he said politely, that he knows the rules. Apparently, he doesn't know this one. I had the rule book in my phone, but he didn't want to see it. We went around in circles for a bit, then he said, "okay for tonight".
As an aside, I don't get how they get away without looking at a car. All he checked was my helmet and belt dates. And of course, I could've used someone else's helmet for tech, and used my perfectly good expired helmet to race.
My car is legal to the letter of the rules. But he doesn't know that. I wonder how many cars go down that track as ticking time bombs, so to speak. I'm 64, does the 18 year old in the other lane even know that his car is bogus if they don't look?
Anyhow, I guess if I have trouble the next time I go, I have to be diplomatic. I don't want to get on the tech guys wrong side, even if he's wrong. And of course, it could be a different guy, and he might have no issue.
