A question about how your club enforces rules

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A question about how your club enforces rules

Postby Mayberryman » Fri Jan 12, 2018 4:57 am

I have read many sets or rules and listened to several track owners talk about no chemicals or chemically altering tires on slot cars, my question is how do you enforce these rules and how far do you go. I race in one club where it is obvious that different "Treatments" are used on tires from NSR oil to scale auto tire dressing to lighter fluid and everything in between. As long as the car is not presented on the track with wet tires anything seems to go. In another club I have been seen as the bad guy because after every race I clean and condition my tires with NSR oil or other oils or suntan oil and place it in my box or on the shelf for the next race. By the next race the chemical is either absorbed by the rubber or the excess is wiped off using lighter fluid. How does your club or track owner handle these situations. I understand the argument for dry tires because of potential damage to the track but as long as the tire is dry when the car is presented I can not see this being a valid point.
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Re: A question about how your club enforces rules

Postby RichD » Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:56 am

We have beat that problem by only running on silicone or urethane tires. For people that run on rubber tires I believe that it is pointless to have rules that you can't enforce. The best that you can do is to forbid the use of tire conditioners at the actual race. In any case if a conditioner is applied well before the race and there is no excess visible on the tires at the start of an event at the very least there would be no damage to the rubber on the track surface. If someone seems to have much better grip than anyone else you might suspect that he has found a superior treatment, but in fact he just might have gotten lucky with tires from a good batch.
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Re: A question about how your club enforces rules

Postby Dogsbody » Fri Jan 12, 2018 9:42 am

We allow AJ's TNT tire cleaner or a lint roller only. We can't police what people use at home and so far that hasn't been a problem. And we run silicones and occasionally rubber. One guy does try to sneak in use of NSR oil which the vintage club, which runs rubber 99% of the time, doesn't allow it since it's not widely available (yes, it is) and I pointed the former out and was told, he's so slow it doesn't matter. Odd logic to say the least.
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Re: A question about how your club enforces rules

Postby strangebrew » Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:08 am

Have the tech man clean each car's tires on a test pad treated with an accepted tire cleaner or an alcohol/water mixture before events.
Better yet..........sprinkle talcum powder on the start finish line.............. :laughing-rolling:
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Re: A question about how your club enforces rules

Postby waaytoomuchintothis » Fri Jan 12, 2018 1:37 pm

Strangebrew, I'm still laughing at that one an hour later.

I am not a fan of strict rules except when it comes to messing up my track with crap. I have thrown people out of my building for doing that after I had told them it was never allowed. Actually, I think we talked about that incident when you were here. Never saw those guys again. Cleaning tires is not the same practice as treating the tires with compounds that **** up the track and cause hours of cleaning, sometimes repainting. So, I guess you could say I don't like rules that interfere with the fun, except MY rule. I'm a serious hard*** about that.

That said, Spencer, I have some questions. How sure are you that these various concoctions are fully absorbed by the tire? Also, lighter fluid (naptha) can not mar a track, so I don't really get that one at all. One of the things I have used to clean tire goop off a track is lighter fluid, for cryin' out loud. Like I say, "cleaning" isn't "doping".

To me, the crucial point of this is "host's rule". Its your place, you make the rules, and those who refuse to abide by them get thrown out. Club rules should follow the same line, with a significant difference. If the rule is dumb (and I have to say that the rule against lighter fluid is dumb, clearly unresearched), then the rule needs to be addressed, because the source of club rules is the club, not an owner of a track, so these rules are inherently changeable. But ultimately, those who refuse to abide by the rules get thrown out, period. You're a cop, this has to ring true for you.
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Re: A question about how your club enforces rules

Postby Mayberryman » Sat Jan 13, 2018 7:59 pm

I agree with you on the potential damage that can done to the track and on that note I will say that I clean the tires on my cars with lighter fluid before the race. What I am talking about is treating them with oil days before the race and then cleaning the surface with lighter fluid.
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Re: A question about how your club enforces rules

Postby waaytoomuchintothis » Sat Jan 13, 2018 11:32 pm

I wondered if what you were doing was along the lines of preservation, rather than sticky-glue. If it makes the tires just like new, then it is impossible that it creates an advantage to my mind. From what you say, what you are doing is preservation of "like new" performance. If that is correct, it simply can't be an advantage. After all, anyone can buy new tires, right? What you are doing doesn't improve on new condition if I understand you correctly.
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Re: A question about how your club enforces rules

Postby chappy » Sun Jan 14, 2018 10:31 am

In our club we run urethanes only. The only cleaning is water or saliva. When we have a special event such as the 2.4 hrs or the special classic events, the tires are handouts. The next choice was Rubber such as Ninco Classic , again handouts.
Usually in the endurance races we give 2pr to the participant and he can pre mount the tires. We use Sally Hansen Hard as nails which secures the tires very well and dries very quickly. We shy away from CA glue, as a run or drip in the wrong spot ruins a tire.
We just try to keep it simple and even. A one brand tire is easy to control in the urethanes, and some have a special urethane marker dot embedded through the tire to ensure compliance.
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Re: A question about how your club enforces rules

Postby Czar » Fri Jan 19, 2018 6:39 am

I agree with Waytoomuch....
If someone needs to cheat, don't invite them back. I you feel that is too harsh, put them on probation and then throw them out if there is definitive, on-going proof that they have cheated. If they are making the racing "not fun" or causing damage to the track why would you hesitate to eliminate them and spoil everything for the other racers? Life is too short to put up with cheaters and liars.
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