Ted Christopher (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
Ted Christopher’s chance at absolution of a late season disqualification by officials at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl has been denied.
New London-Waterford Speedbowl general manager Shawn Monahan confirmed to RaceDayCT Wednesday evening that Christopher’s disqualification from a third place finish in the season ending 75-lap SK Modified Nationals at the shoreline oval on Oct. 25 has been upheld after independent review of the situation.
Monahan announced three days after the event that Christopher had been disqualified after failing post-race technical inspection because of an illegal head issue with the motor on his Doug DiPisa owned Prestige Motorsports entry. But, Monahan also said that he would essentially allow an appeal of sorts. Monahan offered to Christopher’s team the chance to have the illegal part examined by an independent engine builder.
The head in question originally passed a go/no go gauge used by track officials to examine heads, but Speedbowl lead tech inspector Mark St. Hilaire deemed that the part didn’t pass visual inspection. Track officials took issue with what looked like grinding in the valve area, which is not permitted.
In collaboration with NASCAR, the part in question was sent to Charlie Long of Charlies Automotive in Apex, N.C.
“He made the comparisons between a completely stock head and the head that Teddy had on his car,” Monahan said. “… What Charlie Long said to me in an e-mail was ‘The submitted head has materials removed in the bowl area and short turn radius in a fashion that cannot be achieved when conforming to the rulebook.'”
Christopher had finished third in the event behind winner Keith Rocco and second place Matt Hirschman. Eric Berndt of Cromwell was moved to third in the final finishing order.
“The only thing I’m really mad at is that all year long I bitched to the tech guy about the bodies that they’re letting people run down there,” Christopher said. “And it doesn’t matter if it’s a body or a cylinder head or a transmission or rear end. He let that go all year, never addressed the subject of the bodies. Yeah, the heads are illegal, but I brought it up to them week after week after week and they never did anything. The problem I’m having is that your tech guy is not doing his job, but he did it pretty good for me each time I was in tech.”
Said Monahan: “I don’t want any competitor or team to think that we try to single anybody out. I just want fair racing and I wanted to get that second opinion to ensure that we were doing the right thing. I want Teddy to be part of 2016, but rules are rules and we’ve got to enforce them and make it fair for everybody.”
Handled appropriately by Shawn Monahan. I’d like to see that the staff at the Speedbowl are enforcing all rules equally to all drivers. If there is indeed a problem with bodies they should clamp down on it and let the teams know that it will be enforced in 2016. Or, change the rule.
MERCY!!!!
LOL!!!!
So he says the head are illegal. doh Those heads will affect performance on a track like Waterford far more than the body issues he’s complaining about. We’re talking about Waterford Speedbowl, it ain’t a super speedway, and aerodynamics on a bullring are just about worthless.
Pete used to build motors for Shawn when he was cheating. So the GM knew it was a cheated up head on there. It was probably one of his old ones…
TED says Yeah, the heads are illegal, but What You got busted .same motor you ran so good at Stafford and still could not win .and how about the other wins same motor .you cost Keith Rocco the National Title the engine builder should be band from building Sk spec motors. the illegal intake matched the heads thy should have checked than.
clearly this team was singled out ..in this case the head or heads from ALL podium finishers should have been tested independantly. or the same decision made as with the intake swap …the shock issue is obvious and yes its not enforced. the bowl showed it could find cheated or modified shocks with the sk lites..it chose to NOT excersize that with the sk`s .. right or wrong. still some work to be done for consistant enforcement..it will allow for a more level playing field and result in better car counts (my opinion)
Once a cheater, always a cheater as the saying goes. Would you trust someone who has cheated before? I doubt it. They deserve to be scrutinized by tech if they have been busted previously in the year.
Like I said before – the engine builders should be fined and suspended from the NASCAR tracks when parts like this are found to be illegal. Can’t believe TC cries fowl then admits they were illegal???? NASCAR should get involved in suspensions of owners and engine builders…. this is a clear cut cheating incident, engine builder and owner fined and suspended for some pre-determined length.
So my question is who is the engine builder that did this engine?
Wah wah wah wah wah 😭😭😭. Still think teds the man though. Should be tough to beat at the bowl next year.
Can’t wait to see what Doug DiPisa has to say about this.
Speed, tell me about the shock issue and how was that deemed illegal? That whole deal was confusing to me.
Hey darealgoodfella. Aero dynamics may mean nothing there. But what did Shawn state rules are rules
Waiting for the owners comment, so they go from not winning any races to a lot this year with a cheated motor. Always thought a great driver could win in a good car, turns out only great cars win races and Teds ability can no longer overcome the difference. They needed more to compete for wins. Sad reality of Sk racing and why only a handful of drivers/teams with big budgets win.
I’m sure you can explain this one Doug. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha hope you don’t get beat by an aero package at the bowl next year when you take 30hp away from your car.
Do away with all the rules and “run what ya’ brung”.
I’ll bet a dollar to a Dunkin Donut Bavarian Creme dount the same teams/drivers would be in the front and the same teams/drivers would be in the back.
The creme always rises to the top, OK, in the donut it runs down your chin when you bite into it.
Submitted with respect to all Mod fans and a smile.
humphry..corey barry dq illegal shocks. sk lites..championship driver/team illegal ..simple.. change the rules anyone found clearly cheating will lose all points accumulated to date. handicap rest of year.claimer rule .. anyone finishing the feature may purchase carb,intake,shocks of any other car.. have the car owners post a bond at the beginning of the season…if everyone is running the same stuff this is OK right ..anyone running up front is cheating.. show any reputable engine builder the spec motor rules and then ask if he can get you the same hp as rocco,teddy or anyone else running top 5 every week at stsfford or thompson the same ..they will laugh at you ..
The independent tech inspection was a brilliant move by Shawn Monahan to defuse complaints by TC/Prestige, and bolster the credibility of the Bowl’s tech procedures. What’s surprising is that TC’s motor was not thoroughly inspected earlier in the season. I know he was DQ’d for an illegal intake in May, but the heads were not examined until late October??
Teddy gets caught cheating every single year.Its the same story.That Brady 00 has more illegal stuff than legal,always a problem.
Lol. The reason as for last year with Ted not winning a race or coming close to winning was that the car last year was a home built chassis. So all u Ted haters. Find something else to do with your time. I see how much Ted and the Dipisa family’s is on your minds.
for the best of ALL involved ….the track …the fans ….the racers ….sometimes thing should be handled behind closed doors …..the point season was over ….this was a special show if you like to call it …he finished THIRD ….THIRD …did not win the race …..mark to the tech man should have called shawn and told him what he thought he saw ….then let them button things up like nothing happened ….the next day shawn calls the car owner or the mouth teddy tells them to NEVER bring back the cheated up heads to his track …….end of story ….everyone wins …what you don’t know will not hurt you rule …….NASCAR at the highest level has done this for 50 years ….take my word know many people that got the call more than once
Just a fan. What if you finished fourth w a legal car, is it fair that the 13 takes YOUR money!!!! I could see if the 13 car was new to the track and hadn’t had a top 5 all year than I would agree
Humphrey your not to sharp you should of been able to figure out who builder is if you read all the BS by now,Pete is probable the most honest of the bunch,like the guy said the only legal car in the front bunch is the pace car,but you never know the inspector might not like the looks of that either
TC said there illegal after they were inspected not what u guys make of that
or it should have been written better and just maybe Doug bought a engine
with those heads and did not know what the builder did to the them he knows
there gonna be looked at sounds fishy to me and God knows i would never
stick up for TC a coin has 2 sides.
Pete rhymes with cheat. For a reason. Anybody ever wonder why Gaydosh only runs a couple shows a year? Same motor builder. Pete was VISIBLY nervous in tech that Sunday. Also, (just a fan) too much lap money and purse money to just sweep it under the rug, so to speak, so the call has to be made. Your comment was just plain idiotic.
TC has won over 200 SK races between the three CT tracks but II always remember a quote from Bobby Allison. DW might have won 84 races but 83 of them he was cheating.
Who is “Gaydosh”?
Just A Fan: “this should be handled behind closed doors” are you F’ing kidding me? Only thing that gets handled behind closed doors is Doug DiPisa and crew’s threats of lawsuit (that happened with fuel issue/DQ#2). I’d love to see a more transparent tech process (not a more closed one) where the tech trailer has a window where other competitors could see the tech process openly. I should point out that despite saying that I am a TC fan and he’s one hell of a shoe! He probably just shows up and drives the car that’s given to him by Doug DiPisa and crew so I doubt he’s the problem here. In fact, TC should think twice about driving for team DiPisa/Prestige going forward.
The challenge for post race inspectors isn’t how to treat the cheater, but how to treat the non-cheaters with fairness. Screw the though of “don’t bring that back again” idea. Instead, seize the illegal part and put it up in display shelf along side the handicappers tower with driver/owner’s name on it along with the date of the infraction! Leave that up their in plain sight all season long instead of having the infraction buried in website penalty box.
When you can see a clear and visible speed advantage coming out of the turns and down the chute, then you have 2 choices: 1) You can rack it up to a talented driver who knows how to push his right foot down to the firewall, or 2) You can make a mental note on the performance advantage and start to ponder what HP performance advantage does that competitor have over others? Ability to pull the field is not talent OR “body aero cheating”, it’s horsepower. Rolling through the turns faster than others like the 3 of Gada used to do IS driver/chassis setup talent (could also be shocks).
This year, the 88 and 13 clearly had something the rest of the SK field didn’t have. That’s visible to everyone with eyes. Question is how do officials level the playing field? Cost to rebuild an engine if the inspector wants a full engine tear down to weigh crank shafts or to fully inspect heads is very high cost considering the purse for weekly racing at the Speedbowl. Most teams don’t build their own engines anymore so that means those top 4 non-cheaters in tech on a tear down week would be hit with a big financial burden.
Good job Waterford Speedbowl management and tech crew for ferreting out this team’s effort to cheat and gain a competitive advantage over their fellow competitors. It’s no different than a steroid user being caught. For this story, it’s not the 2nd time the cheater got caught this year, instead it’s the 3rd time!!
Memphis Raines, I actually have wondered why Gaydosh only shows up a few times a year. I guess that might make sense. Rafter, Justin Gaydosh is the #94. In past years he would race the first half of the season then never come back. He’s had a few incidents with Rocco. I believe one of those incidents is when Rocco broke his wrist the first time. So this year I thought it was refreshing to see someone able to keep up and beat Rocco. Now we know the only way they did it was to cheat. So can anybody beat Rocco legally on a regular basis? What does Rocco’s car have that nobody else’s does?
Dear I have an idea,
You’ve got to be the dumbest individual in the racing community. I’ve popped in here on and off to see what garbage is being spewed from some people.
Please, 2 things. Post by your real name so we can all see who you idiots are. Please put a face to the name.
Maybe you guys should know your facts before making yourself look like idiots as I mentioned earlier. And just do you know, Ted supplies the motors. Are you able to comprehend that, or do I have to slow it down for you to understand ?
You come on here like your the almighty God of racing to TRY to prove a point but if you were so worried about trying to make yourself look good at least put a name to give you some credit or in your case NO credit.
As for You saying your belief is for Ted to stop driving for me. You can keep that as your pipe dream because we all know it’s only yours.
I won’t even get into the other jibberish you posted because I-We already know the kind we’re dealing with.
And another one Memphis Brains. Pete does not do Gaydosh’s motor.
Just another self important idiot with no clue.
Rafter,
Justin Gaydosh made several starts in a white, number 94 SK modified at Waterford.
https://www.google.com/search?q=justin+gaydosh&rlz=1C1KMZB_enUS571US579&espv=2&biw=1600&bih=775&tbm=isch&imgil=y9JCIhd2f2Xg4M%253A%253BS7iUDYJQVXUJkM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fyankeeracer.com%25252F2012%25252F04%25252F08%25252Fwaterford-speedbowl-47-nascar-whelen-all-american-series-results%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=y9JCIhd2f2Xg4M%253A%252CS7iUDYJQVXUJkM%252C_&dpr=1&usg=__zFWPo0yGlKEsVnl0TnFFy8O5qPc%3D&ved=0CDMQyjdqFQoTCN_Q-o79_sgCFY1-iAodphYMeA&ei=uEc-Vt-UHY39oQSmrbDABw#imgrc=y9JCIhd2f2Xg4M%3A&usg=__zFWPo0yGlKEsVnl0TnFFy8O5qPc%3D
Sorry I had to do these in multiple posts. Kinda busy. For all your theories about why the 13 was able to beat the 88.
Well first is I went out and bought the same equipment he has. And if you think it was horsepower that was able to beat him, why don’t you walk up to Keith and ask him if it was the horsepower that he sometimes he was beaten by.
Since all you guys know so much, do you even know that Keith practiced my car for a weekend ? I’m pretty sure he can allaborate a little more for you.
I’m still cracking up with the glass window in the tech shack comment. Maybe Mr Idea should have a glass belly button to see what us normal people are doing, because his heads so for up his — it must be unfair.
for all you non’s that never owned a race car …..never spent a dime on a race car ….never stayed up 24 hours to fix a race car to get to the next race should have some respect and listen to the people that have for over 40 years and understand what is best for all the people involved not just you or your own opinion …….if not pull out your wallet put on some work cloths and buy a car so you will see things threw a different set of eye balls …..all this bull would be a NON issue if it was handled the right way by the track and its tech guys from day one dealing with this one car owner and his mouth of a driver ….not one of you non’s would have anything to talk about …..which is the point again….what you should not know will not hurt you …i am not and never said to let these guys cheat or get away with anything ….it is how you handle it so the rest of the world does not know about every little tid bit that really matters….it is hard enough to get people threw the gates at race tracks these days …..if you have a joke of a series like the mrs were the winner gets thrown out every week two or three days after the race there is not a fan in the world that will keep coming back for that bull……you guys with no dog in the fight should just buy another beer or hotdog and just watch and enjoy the race as a fan should ….again if not buy a car then bitch to the track if your treated unfair ….to ( i have a idea ) ….you should talk to your hero ted he will tell you the reason that car ran so good this year and it had nothing to do with any big power that no one else had from petes motors ….
maybe this will open peoples eyes to were i am coming from …….how many of you are Dale Earnhardt Sr fans ….how many cried the day he won the daytona 500 ….well he cheated ….the motor was a leaker …holes were filled with wax that melted with the engine heat to let air in to help override the restricter plate…. nascar tech found it after the race called up to the top brass to make the call…fast forward to same team kevin harvick at the wheel re-new year on his contract there plate cars sucked the year before …..he puts it on the pole for the daytona 500 ….leaker ….nascar lets it go …it burns up in the 125 because it was leaking to much ….set motor back to nc ….head of rcr motor shop r@d tells richard childress the problem and its cheating …..he said shut up turn your head some times you have to do what you have to do …a couple months later he is fired …. ….i can tell you things like that has happened at every level in nascar racing ……racing is fine line balance between putting on a show and keeping people in the stands and keeping a full field of cars ….that is what waterford is up against ….they had great racing this year ….they do not need this kind of stuff happening open to the public ….
Am I the only one who has noticed that DiPisa has one primary defense mode?
i am out of this one with my last words of wisdom …lol……waterford is a handling track period !!!! you are turning the car 60% or more most of the time …..you need a motor yes but a good handling car will beat a car with a lot more horsepower every time if it can get threw the turns ….say the greatest sk ever made was 400 horse a good one would make 385 -390 that will not over come a better handling car …want proof …….a few years ago rob summers won a MRS race at the bowl against open tour motors 570 horse plus with SK motor …..
I listened Matt B. and Mike S today talk about this story on todays 94.9 news radio racing show. Maybe all the parties ( Teddy, Doug D, Mark St. & Shawn M) involved in this tech issue could call live on next weeks show and tell their sides of the story? IMO it is time to put this issue to rest.
Sorry Doug, the title for “dumbest individual in the racing community” appears to be either you, someone on your team or your driver in thinking you could game the Speedbowl tech officials for a third time. FYI – I’m a fan of good old fashioned side by side racing.
I tend to root for the underdog and root for a bunch of drivers. I rooted for your car as I watched TC give Rocco a run for his money. I’ll castrate anyone who’s caught cheating though – sorry, but that’s in my DNA. Nothing personal Doug. Thank you for correcting my thinking that TC just showed up and drove for you. I did think that he actually brought just his carburetor and helmet – his bringing the motor package is news worthy! Why? Because it was found to be illegal by a third party validating Waterford’s statement that it “doesn’t look right”.
Screen names are not the issue at hand – the issue is a cheater got caught cheating again! So what you are trying to say is that he’s the one that’s making you look bad? Is that correct? Perhaps a good headline for a follow-up article would be “TC Tarnishes Prestige Motorsports Reputation”. Was the TC bitching about other competitor’s bodies his attempt to keep officials busy and away from your car/motor? His cry for body inspections is a joke as you could run a butt ugly non-aero friendly body and have no decrease in performance at Waterford. I guess I’m less of a TC fan now with that intel. Who should I root for now?
Know your racing says; “Hey darealgoodfella. Aero dynamics may mean nothing there. But what did Shawn state rules are rules”
Rules are rules, and the motors are TC’s and they are illegal. The DQ was about the motor. The DQ had nothing to do with the body, shocks, and all the other diversions and distractions. buh-bye.
Remember boys and girls.
Jealousy will always be the best compliment.
Thank you for your interest in promoting my team. It’s much appreciated. Only question like someone mentioned earlier.
Where’s your’s ???
Thought so.
Doug, just wondering why you are not upset at the engine builder or TC since he brought the illegal engine…. Especially after the first bounce, unless you knew the engine was illegal??? Maybe you and teddy should forget about illegal bodies and worry about making sure ur engine builder can make good power wo cheating.
I’ll give you the quick answer.
Racing is not my life unlike many others. There’s not much that’s gonna change it. We all feel the same, if we race we race, if we don’t, we don’t. Simple as that.
LOL Doug – Jealousy? NOT! If I were a car owner I would not want my good wins or shows tainted like yours are now. I can’t think of anyone who says “I would love to be like that guy who was caught using steroids”. Are you really proud of the crap you guys pulled this year?
Since you already said you don’t have time/energy/heads to replace the one taken for testing, is is fair to say this engine was in the car all year? All of the 13’s podium finishes are now tainted. Too bad you were not nailed every week that motor was in the car! Heck while I’m thinking of more ideas, perhaps every point your team was awarded this year should be taken you and you should have a big fat ZERO points for being a repeat cheater. You are the one with a problem that’s not going to be easy to solve.
This time, we now have conclusive NASCAR evidence of cheating. “He made the comparisons between a completely stock head and the head that Teddy had on his car,” Monahan said. “… What Charlie Long said to me in an e-mail was ‘The submitted head has materials removed in the bowl area and short turn radius in a fashion that cannot be achieved when conforming to the rulebook.”
You guys are all crazy if you think HP doesnt matter at Speedbowl, give Rocco or Teddy Wendel Dailys motor and see what happens, ask anybody not in top 5 if they wanted more power. I am proud of the tech standing his ground, maybe next year these teams will be legal because the guy obviously knows what he is doing. Call a spade a spade!!! Everytime this team was called out, intake, heads, fuel it was cheating. I personally believe a legal Sk and Sk light don’t exsist and everyone knows it. More legitimate tech will only help in the long run.
Some of u are not into aero? Silk one year could not all about drive his car down there
when he lost his spoiler try it sometime and get back to everyone.
After one of the wins in September the tech at Waterford dropped a scope into the motor head looking for anything strange; the tech took about 10 mins looking at it and said it was good. To say all the wins were tainted is a bit much especially when the head passed the same test 3 weeks earlier.
Jerry, let’s get real. So you just said “the head passed the same test 3 weeks earlier”. NEWS FLASH: Re-read the original story and you’ll see the head was independently tested and found to be illegal by NASCAR and that backs up the findings of the Waterford Speedbowl tech officials who detected that “something didn’t look right”. You just made my point about the prior podium appearances being tainted.
Perhaps 3 weeks earlier, they didn’t look at the “bowl and short turn radius” areas of the head. The finding of the head being illegal is now etched in history and that galvanizes the fact that any wins earlier in the year by TC and this team are tainted. It’s also worth noting that such actions probably did rob Rocco of another National Championship.
If those heads were such an advantage over the field he should have won every race right ? Maybe he was just sandbagging at the last race ? Even a bad handling car with that big steam should win everytime right ? Or does Rocco’s car also have something ? Maybe everyone is cheating and the best two drivers are winning ? Anyway you look at it without TC And Rocco racing I say the races would suck . You can buy a complete Chevy ho engine for under $5000 so why is it that petit , btk , and the others are getting crazy money for these engines ? When you build an engine whether it’s an 1 cylinder or an 8 cylinder the idea is to make each cylinder as efficient as possible and that is where the cost is . If you want to keep the field clean the only way to do it is with a claimer engine . Now you will put those guys out of business and we can go back to building the engine in our garages . Like them or hate them You guys all pay to watch them race .
So I guess Rocco using an illegal intake all year at Thompson goes un-noticed; should those wins should be considered tainted? Saying TC and team robbed Rocco of another championship is a stretch.
Some questions for those who know:
– What does an SK motor from a “top” builder cost? What’s included/excluded?
– Did Petit build the motor for which Rocco was DQ’d at the World Series?
– Did Pete (East Coast Racing Engines) build TC’s motor which blew at Stafford near the end of the season?
Since my last post when I asked about shock gate I went out and did some research. Mind you I don’t have a dog in the fight in this division however I believe in being fair.
Here is the rule right from the WSB SKL rules on shocks.
8.9.1 Coil Over Shocks
A. The following shocks are permitted; – Fronts- Pro Shocks # TA55½B – Rears- Pro Shocks # TA74½B – Shocks must remain as manufactured, they may not be modified/adjusted in any manner.
I went out and collected some SKL shocks 2 used (right off a car that ran this season) and 2 new right out of the box (spares). Got someone to dyno all 4 and guess what, not a one came out the same matter of fact the ones out of the box had more deviation than the rest. So me being a good racer would pick the one that gave me the best advantage to place on the left front which is the one I heard they tested that night and determined illegal. So what is the matter with that especially when they met the rule above? However, the tech inspector finds your shock with more rebound than the rest and you get DQ’d.
Here is another rule right from the WSB SKL rule on carb adapter plates.
8.4.10 Carburetor Adapter
A. the Canton Racing Products part #85065A aluminum adapter plate must be installed between the intake manifold and the carburetor. Modifications to the adapter are not permitted.
Then I went out and measured 4 different adapter plates, 2 used and 2 new (got 2 from existing cars and 2 right off the shelf in a sealed package. Shazam, not a one measured the same matter of fact the 2 off the shelf (sealed package) had the largest openings. So again me as the good racer would take the one with the largest opening and use it, more air in more horse power especially with a smaller carb. Then you go through tech and because yours has the largest opening you must be cheating and you get DQ’d.
Which leads me to my final comment which I am sure I will get beat up over. Above are performance driven items as are many more that will give you an advantage over the competition and there in nothing in the rules that dictates tolerances one way or another. You go out and buy legal parts that meet the specified rules, or so you think, they go through tech and you get DQ’d. Maybe someone with some authority needs to contact the manufacturers and let them know their QA/QC needs to be better or that will be the end of them being the part of choice. In the long run the racer gets hurt with no recourse and the manufacturer keeps getting richer. Only my opinion.
humphry, manufacturing QA/QC is a TOTALLY different issue. These heads were modified AFTER manufacture.
Dareal, I REALIZE that and NOT sticking up for the modifications that were done to the heads after manufacture. My point goes to some other issues that need to be addressed going forward if there is going to be fairness across the board and enforceable rules. I just feel people are being possibly being DQ’d for issues that are out of their control.
Maybe not this year, but he did the last 3 years. Sorry your motor was illegal. That sucks.
humphry, it makes no sense at all to go after normal manufacturing variation when the parts are being modified after manufacture. If and only if there was no illegal modification of parts going on, then it would be worth going after tightening up manufacturing variances.
Why force manufacturers to tighten up tolerances when some hacks are going to work it over anyways?
Doug DiPisa says; “Remember boys and girls.
Jealousy will always be the best compliment.
Thank you for your interest in promoting my team. It’s much appreciated. Only question like someone mentioned earlier.
Where’s your’s ???
Thought so.”
LOL!!!
Nobody is promoting your team. Nobody is jealous of a cheater, especially one that was caught. Why would anyone want to do that?
I doubt anyone wants to cheat so they can be like you. And saying that the motor is TC’s does not mean you are not culpable. You are the team owner, you used those parts, you are responsible for EVERYTHING.
psssssst… it’s not a good idea to complain about how tech is not doing their job and what tech is not calling while you are illegal. If you are going to complain that tech is not doing their job, make sure you are 100% legal. It’s one thing to get caught cheating, another to get caught cheating and make yourself look like a hypocrite.
You should stop doing this to yourself.
No hacks did anything to the with parts that came off the shelf and they had significant variations. When people are being disqualified for deviations due to manufacturing QA/QC issues something has to change. If they were “worked over” fine then a DQ is in order. I guess we will just go along fat, dumb and happy until someone with very deep pockets decided to challenge it and let the chips fall as they may.
Humphry – this story is not about a potential rules-specified stock part variation (you brought that up with mention of a shock issue in SK Lites). The issue you are bringing into this discussion is from Sept. 1 https://racedayct.com/2015/09/corey-barry-dqed-from-sk-light-mod-win-at-speebdowl-joey-ferrigno-gets-first-win-at-track/ and that’s got it’s own comments. Perhaps add to that story there?
Instead, this story is about a cheating team getting caught in their intentional rules prohibited changes to a part. This driver/team got nailed earlier in the year for their illegal intake and they barely wiggled out of a DQ for their running illegal fuel. It’s about lack their of character and their stepping over a line in order to come out on top and instead making themselves look stupid. What’s not known is how many feature runs they DIDN’T get caught in displacing others who may have been legally competing against others.
wow… you have to love the responses whenever TC has something going on… Shawn you have some sort of tally of how many posts get made when TC is involved… its good for the site and good for area racing got to love it. Hate em or love em you have to love the excitement… face it everyone loves to hate a winner… the same could be said for Keith… I don’t own a car or drive , Sorry Doug. but have been a race fan for 30 plus years… so I will make a couple of uneducated assumptions and observations..” If you ain’t cheatin’ you ain’t racing” ..I would bet Dougs annual racing budget ( if I had that much ) that everyone from TC and Keith to the field fillers at the end of the line have some sort of cheated up part on their cars… every racer and race team looks for an advantage..call it what you what blatant cheating , the gray area whatever its a part of racing..Jimmy Johnson’s , 6 time sprint cup championship team has as many or more penalties , fines and probations as any cup team… guess he needs to give back the trophies and apologize ? guys like Ted ad Keith and other top drivers win consistently because they have the best equipment, crews and owners who spend and because they have TALENT… top cars are tech-ed more frequently and at higher levels than competitors that avoid the top 5 weekly… so the likely hood of their ” gray area ” issues being discovered increases…. its almost a challenge to find ways to disguise it.. if this offends some people they are not realistic race fans… they live in fantasy land.. that said ,when you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar it rightfully should get slapped… only thing you expect is consistency on the penalty calls.. and one more thing.. has anyone evr heard of the party that got caught with the cheated part, the wrong fuel, the illegal shock step up and say yes we tried to get that one by but got caught ? If you are not acting like the most surprised person in the pit area when your illegal part gets caught you must a rookie…… just my thoughts.. guess there has to be a better way to machining on the heads.,….. have all off season to work on that…. LOL love it…
I guess you only post some peoples cursing comments you guys all suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!we are DONE with racing NO SPONSERSHIP NOTHING YOU GUYS AGIAN SUCK
humphry says: “No hacks did anything to the with parts that came off the shelf and they had significant variations. When people are being disqualified for deviations due to manufacturing QA/QC issues something has to change. If they were “worked over” fine then a DQ is in order. I guess we will just go along fat, dumb and happy until someone with very deep pockets decided to challenge it and let the chips fall as they may.”
humphry, parts that were not to be modified were modified. Read the article. This thread is NOT about parts and the QC/QA manufacturing variances. This thread is about parts that WERE modified, which is AGAINST THE RULES, and then found and then deemed ILLEGAL PER THE RULES. Here you go:
“The head in question originally passed a go/no go gauge used by track officials to examine heads, but Speedbowl lead tech inspector Mark St. Hilaire deemed that the part didn’t pass visual inspection. Track officials took issue with what looked like grinding in the valve area, which is not permitted.
In collaboration with NASCAR, the part in question was sent to Charlie Long of Charlies Automotive in Apex, N.C.
“He made the comparisons between a completely stock head and the head that Teddy had on his car,” Monahan said. “… What Charlie Long said to me in an e-mail was ‘The submitted head has materials removed in the bowl area and short turn radius in a fashion that cannot be achieved when conforming to the rulebook.’”
There you have it. The heads were illegally modified. When parts that are not to be touched are being modified, tech must go after those illegal modifications for the illegal modifications are going to be far greater than any manufacturing process variation, and hence provide more advantage. Perhaps when tech doesn’t have to be overwhelmed with these illegal modifications to parts that were not supposed to be touched, then tech can pursue manufacturing QC/QA variances.
Mike P, LOL!!!!
But in this case, the driver admitted the heads were illegal (the driver owns the motor). It’s in the other thread. This team didn’t act surprised, but admitted to the infraction and went on to COMPLAIN about the unfairness when all sorts of other cheating has been going on. Gets caught cheating and then plays the victim. That is just laughable.
darealgoodfella… i dont think they admitted it initially thats why they requested a third party inspection… Teds “confession” came after the part was third party tested and determined illegal..
and then of course then you need to point out everyone elses violations… thats the other part of the whole getting caught deal that i forgot to include…make sure you take some other cheaters with you….
all part of the scene and has been for years … come on you have to admit it is fun to listen to…
and bye the way ” i don’t like the way you look ” see its all fun …
I think it is time to move forward on my previous suggestion of bringing ALL the parties together this Saturday on the Lets Talk Racing radio show. It would probably be the highest listened to show ever, just like when Trump is interviewed. Everyone here is pointing fingers at each other from Doug DiP, Teddy C, the engine builder whoever it is, Mark St. H, and Shawn M. I say, get them all on at the SAME TIME so everyone will know who, what where and when this motor was cheated up and we can finally put this issue to rest.
Old Timer… the motor was reviewed by an outsider and confirmed it had been illegally altered. There is nothing else to figure out. It doesn’t matter as to know who, what, where and when the motor was cheated up. They were caught using a cheated up motor in a race. That’s all we need to know. That is the conclusion. But TC and DiPisa keep wanting to direct and deflect attention to alleged infractions of others, to get themselves out of the limelight, and make like they are victims of some vast conspiracy. In doing so, they implicitly admit to the infractions, and just keep themselves in the limelight.
darealgoodfella… In my opinion, it’s all about credibility and reputation.
IF I was in Doug’s shoes, and IF I was not made aware that the motor was cheated up before hand I would be super pissed and want the air cleared just to regain my personal credibility and reputation.
IF I was Teddy and IF I did not know the engine builder cheated the motor up without my consent I to would be pissed and would want to get the air cleared to regain personal credibility and reputation.
IF I was the engine builder and IF I was instructed to cheat up the motor by Doug, Teddy or anyone else I would want the word out to regain personal/business credibility and reputation. The engine builder really has a lot at stake in this situation as he has more to lose than the rest financially should he become known for taking it upon himself to build cheated up motors to benefit his interests.
Now if ALL parties involved knew the motor was cheated up than so be it. They ALL are cheaters and every win this year in my book is tainted. I actually started rooting for Teddy this year given all the struggles the team had at the Bowl over the last few years. However at this point I don’t know who to believe. If by chance this motor was in the car ALL season than they all should be ashamed and should find some way to right the wrong. Maybe they could make a donation to a charity of their choice in the total amount they won in purses and point funds this year at the Bowl. I think this gesture would help regain respectability with the other race teams and fans. Otherwise I’m done rooting for the team and its driver. Once a cheater always a cheater, just like once a thief always a thief. They are all the same in my book. My hats off to the Speedbowl for not sweeping this issue under the rug as they easily could have. Hopefully next year they will dig deeper into the motors and other things sooner in the season to keep all the competitors in check.
I personaly know of guys that race with illegal stuff but never make it to tec. A few years ago at a track I will leave unnamed they were told they could race but don’t finish in the top 5 . There are guys who just want to run but not ever win. Believe me it’s true . There are plenty of cheated up cars at every track . If you don’t think so or you think that only the guys that run up front are cheating then you are an imbecile . Further more if the tracks wanted to stop it like I said before CLAIMER MOTOR or you check the 10 th place guy or 1st , 7th and 9 th place guy you need to switch it up and than you will see more interesting stuff . In order to have a full field of cars you need to let things go that’s just the way it is . I don’t care what you put under the hoods the same guys are still going win . When bodine came out with his 3 point rear suspension back in the 70’s was that legal ? You could argue it was or was not but the truth is he had a huge advantage over the field but that’s why they call it a modified . Inovation or lack of it today has killed the sport . JMO.
I think the bowl has dq’d more throughout all the divisions this past season then before. That’s got to be a good thing.
An interesting excerpt from TrackRat by Bob Englehart (p. 142-3): “Both men (Stafford’s tech inspectors) sing the praises of Ted Christopher. “He’s a great driver and we can tell you with no doubt in our minds that TC’s cars are always legal”.
Jim,
I don’t see a reason to check a car placing 10th. Whatever it’s doing, it isn’t working.
Check the cars in the top 5, those are the money and points winners.
claimer rule for heads, intake, carb and shocks … use published MSRP for these parts and allow any car/team finishing the feature to purchase those parts from another car/team ..if everyone is running the same stuff there won’t be an issue. right ? where sealed engines are used a dyno sheet for that engine must be provided prior to the first race and a comparison (dyno) can be done if there is a dispute and a bond or bounty could be applied (cash) .remove all points earned to date if the rules are broken period …
You may not know this but dyno figures can be manipulated to read anything the engine builder wants them to read because they are computer controlled and there is a correction factor. And the dyno is not the true be all and end all. I know of engines that come off the dyno with the absolute worse HP and Torque numbers and are a bullet on the track and visa versa they have the best HP and Torque numbers and are an absolute pig. And oh by the way who is going to pay for the comparison Dyno? What engine builder are you going to use to do the Dyno test? Who will be present for the Dyno test (if it were my engine you bet your butt I would be there along with my engine builder). And how are you going to determine if there is a comparison Dyno needed? The car is to fast, I don’t like the way it looks or sounds, it wins to much? If the engine runs that good you are not going to find out what you truly want to know on a dyno.
If it is a sealed engine there is supposed to be a tech official at the engine builder to witness the assembly and affix the seals. So I would venture a guess the tech inspector does his job and makes certain that there in no rule breaking prior to sealing the engine. Also why would any sealed engine builder want to tarnish his reputation by cheating?
Maybe you can tell me why there is really only 1 car amongst many on the WMT that is running a spec engine that is dominating? Did you ever think it just may be the chassis, shocks, cross weight, diagonal weight, F/R percentage wheel weight etc. etc.?
I will say this again, it was proven that there was cheating involved on the 13 and the punishment fit the crime and I am not arguing that point. However you can’t craft rules without a logical thought process to achieve a measurable result. If your going on a witch hunt then you better know what you are looking for and the right way to find.
Get well TC hope the surgery went well .
Who is Rocco? I can name 10 drivers
who are better then him.