doug in nc
Spectator
7.6 WINDOW RESTRAINTS
All cars shall have a window net, the clear O.E.M. glass, or a piece of clear Lexan or other polycarbonate material, in place of both front window openings whenever the car is on-track. All open top cars (i.e. convertibles) shall use arm restraints instead of a window or window net. Occupants may choose to use arm restraints in lieu of the required window or window net.
I find myself ALWAYS finding some tid bit of information in the rule books that I either missed or forgot and one of them was arm restraints/window nets. At any level of racing it's on the driver and his team to be fully compliant with the rules for the event in which they are participating. When it comes tech time, the inspection is just a formality really and the driver should already have everything squared away.
At Am events, we hear "You let me run it like that last time" which really chafes my willy. From time to time we hear it at the Pro-Am level too but not as much. The opportunity to run something last time that wasn't compliant with the rules should have been interpreted as a courtesy or a fix-it ticket approach to getting the team and driver in to the action. Ultimately, the rules and safety requirements are there before and after the event and the vehicle should be fully compliant regardless of what is or is not checked during tech.
This past weekend I found myself barking over the radio that window nets/arm restraints were not in the rule book and I couldn't force a driver to comply with a new rule, day of, if it wasn't in the rule book. Well, I was in the wrong, big time, and wanted to clarify for everyone. It IS in the rules and I missed it, I owe an apology to the drivers for instructing them wrongly AND to the FD officials telling us that they were required.
So... with that I see I have more reading to do and I would hope each driver would CONSTANTLY be reading the rule books to make sure they are up to spec with every aspect of the rules/regulations in order to be compliant but more importantly, safe for future events.
Doug
All cars shall have a window net, the clear O.E.M. glass, or a piece of clear Lexan or other polycarbonate material, in place of both front window openings whenever the car is on-track. All open top cars (i.e. convertibles) shall use arm restraints instead of a window or window net. Occupants may choose to use arm restraints in lieu of the required window or window net.
I find myself ALWAYS finding some tid bit of information in the rule books that I either missed or forgot and one of them was arm restraints/window nets. At any level of racing it's on the driver and his team to be fully compliant with the rules for the event in which they are participating. When it comes tech time, the inspection is just a formality really and the driver should already have everything squared away.
At Am events, we hear "You let me run it like that last time" which really chafes my willy. From time to time we hear it at the Pro-Am level too but not as much. The opportunity to run something last time that wasn't compliant with the rules should have been interpreted as a courtesy or a fix-it ticket approach to getting the team and driver in to the action. Ultimately, the rules and safety requirements are there before and after the event and the vehicle should be fully compliant regardless of what is or is not checked during tech.
This past weekend I found myself barking over the radio that window nets/arm restraints were not in the rule book and I couldn't force a driver to comply with a new rule, day of, if it wasn't in the rule book. Well, I was in the wrong, big time, and wanted to clarify for everyone. It IS in the rules and I missed it, I owe an apology to the drivers for instructing them wrongly AND to the FD officials telling us that they were required.
So... with that I see I have more reading to do and I would hope each driver would CONSTANTLY be reading the rule books to make sure they are up to spec with every aspect of the rules/regulations in order to be compliant but more importantly, safe for future events.
Doug
