REVISITING PAUL SMITH'S INCIDENT
Mon, 2008-03-31 23:18
While some may consider this “old news” – and we’ll readily admit that
this incident took place at the Gatornationals – repeated attempts to
get NHRA’s version of what took place resulted in unreturn phone
calls. However, Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com cornered Dan Olson at
Houston, finally eliciting an answer to a simple question: How did
Paul Smith’s Funny Car easily pass technical inspection at the Gators,
and was then allowed to run in the first qualifying session, only to
have officials insist upon major chassis alterations prior to the
second session?
In Smith’s words, “Everything was fine when we went through tech. I got here on Monday night because I wanted to get the bodies teched because we hadn’t raced all year. On Tuesday they teched the bodies, and on Wednesday (the NHRA inspectors) came by (our pit area) and teched the car. Nobody said nothin’ about nothin’.
“This winter I got with Dan Olson and he told me, ‘Put two steering columns in and put the Murf McKinney kit in the bottom, and change the cross member from inch-and-an-eighth to inch-and-a-quarter,’ so that’s what I did. We came here, went through tech, and they said it was fine. I never knew anything was wrong until after the first session, and then they come over here and said ‘You can’t run (any more) until you cut (the steering box mount) out and change it.’ While some may consider this “old news” – and we’ll readily admit that this incident took place at the Gatornationals – repeated attempts to get NHRA’s version of what took place resulted in unreturn phone calls. However, Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com cornered Dan Olson at Houston, finally eliciting an answer to a simple question: How did Paul Smith’s Funny Car easily pass technical inspection at the Gators, and was then allowed to run in the first qualifying session, only to have officials insist upon major chassis alterations prior to the second session?
In Smith’s words, “Everything was fine when we went through tech. I got here on Monday night because I wanted to get the bodies teched because we hadn’t raced all year. On Tuesday they teched the bodies, and on Wednesday (the NHRA inspectors) came by (our pit area) and teched the car. Nobody said nothin’ about nothin’.
“This winter I got with Dan Olson and he told me, ‘Put two steering columns in and put the Murf McKinney kit in the bottom, and change the cross member from inch-and-an-eighth to inch-and-a-quarter,’ so that’s what I did. We came here, went through tech, and they said it was fine. I never knew anything was wrong until after the first session, and then they come over here and said ‘You can’t run (any more) until you cut (the steering box mount) out and change it.’
“Why did it even pass tech? Why did they even let it run at all? If there was a mistake about the whole deal, it wasn’t my mistake, ‘cause I don’t tech cars. They could have said, ‘We’re going to let you get through this run here, but we want it replaced tonight,’ instead of us butchering the whole car up to fix it right here in the pits.”
When Smith asked them why the car had passed tech in the first place he said, “They wouldn’t give me an answer.”
An observer close to the situation then offered this pungent remark: “You know what NHRA stands for? Never Has Real Answers,” which caused Smith to break out in laughter.
When Dan Olson was questioned about this in Houston he said, “Our tech guys overlooked a part on the car. After we realized it was overlooked we had them fix it. As soon as we found out, we made them (remove the welded in steering box) and replace it with a bolt-in unit.”
An extremely reliable source close to this situation told CompetitionPlus.com that he unintentionally caused Smith the problem by mentioning the steering mount to Olson during a heated conversation on other technical matters.
Regardless of the cause of Smith’s problem, the question must be asked: If the NHRA tech inspectors are as well-informed about the latest rules as the racers and media are constantly being told they are, why didn’t they know that Smith’s car didn’t meet the required specifications? Remember, the Gatornationals was the third race of the year, not the first.
In Smith’s words, “Everything was fine when we went through tech. I got here on Monday night because I wanted to get the bodies teched because we hadn’t raced all year. On Tuesday they teched the bodies, and on Wednesday (the NHRA inspectors) came by (our pit area) and teched the car. Nobody said nothin’ about nothin’.
“This winter I got with Dan Olson and he told me, ‘Put two steering columns in and put the Murf McKinney kit in the bottom, and change the cross member from inch-and-an-eighth to inch-and-a-quarter,’ so that’s what I did. We came here, went through tech, and they said it was fine. I never knew anything was wrong until after the first session, and then they come over here and said ‘You can’t run (any more) until you cut (the steering box mount) out and change it.’ While some may consider this “old news” – and we’ll readily admit that this incident took place at the Gatornationals – repeated attempts to get NHRA’s version of what took place resulted in unreturn phone calls. However, Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com cornered Dan Olson at Houston, finally eliciting an answer to a simple question: How did Paul Smith’s Funny Car easily pass technical inspection at the Gators, and was then allowed to run in the first qualifying session, only to have officials insist upon major chassis alterations prior to the second session?
In Smith’s words, “Everything was fine when we went through tech. I got here on Monday night because I wanted to get the bodies teched because we hadn’t raced all year. On Tuesday they teched the bodies, and on Wednesday (the NHRA inspectors) came by (our pit area) and teched the car. Nobody said nothin’ about nothin’.
“This winter I got with Dan Olson and he told me, ‘Put two steering columns in and put the Murf McKinney kit in the bottom, and change the cross member from inch-and-an-eighth to inch-and-a-quarter,’ so that’s what I did. We came here, went through tech, and they said it was fine. I never knew anything was wrong until after the first session, and then they come over here and said ‘You can’t run (any more) until you cut (the steering box mount) out and change it.’
“Why did it even pass tech? Why did they even let it run at all? If there was a mistake about the whole deal, it wasn’t my mistake, ‘cause I don’t tech cars. They could have said, ‘We’re going to let you get through this run here, but we want it replaced tonight,’ instead of us butchering the whole car up to fix it right here in the pits.”
When Smith asked them why the car had passed tech in the first place he said, “They wouldn’t give me an answer.”
An observer close to the situation then offered this pungent remark: “You know what NHRA stands for? Never Has Real Answers,” which caused Smith to break out in laughter.
When Dan Olson was questioned about this in Houston he said, “Our tech guys overlooked a part on the car. After we realized it was overlooked we had them fix it. As soon as we found out, we made them (remove the welded in steering box) and replace it with a bolt-in unit.”
An extremely reliable source close to this situation told CompetitionPlus.com that he unintentionally caused Smith the problem by mentioning the steering mount to Olson during a heated conversation on other technical matters.
Regardless of the cause of Smith’s problem, the question must be asked: If the NHRA tech inspectors are as well-informed about the latest rules as the racers and media are constantly being told they are, why didn’t they know that Smith’s car didn’t meet the required specifications? Remember, the Gatornationals was the third race of the year, not the first.
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