The hardest argument I have to counter is Mobil1fans that New Hampshire is boring and since I cant really I will just say its far worst with a restictor plate.
It didn't help much that Jeff Burton was hooked up at that place during the late 90s, either....If I recall correctly, he was always in the hunt there for the win from around 97-01, and was one of the few places he could qualify decent at that stage of his career...
I have to say that I don't have my head in the sand, as someone suggested. I stay fairly close to what's happening with racing at my track, believe me. Crate motors are a good deal, I will grant you that. If you want an engine for your pickup truck or your street rod. However I can build a built engine for my class that is much better for the same kind of money or a little more and it will not fall flat on it's face in the end of the straight. And the top running guys in my class have built engines. One of them ran crate for awhile, but runs a built engine now. Crate engines are for guys that either don't want to get involved in the parts selection or nitty gritty of engines. Pop it in and go. The track wants to see crates because theoretically then they have no tech issues with engines. I am not scared of selecting parts for what I want the engine to do, nor am I worried about the reliability factor either. Doesn't matter whether it is a crate or built it should be freshened after the season anyways. Bottom line... crates were originally intended for guys restoring cars, street rods and pickup trucks. They are for street operation with a little strip action on the side. If you don't believe me go back to the mid 90's when Mopar Performance (the originators of the crate engine package BTW) was advertising them, they had a 380 hp 360 and a 300 hp 360 (Magnum based not LA). They aimed the market at guys who had musclecars and street rods, not stock car racers. Oval track is just an offshoot of that program.
Well now I have seen seen the crate engine bolts with my own eyes and they are the real deal . The only mistake I made is that they are $140 + shipping. I now find out that these bolts have been available through several sources for over two years . The person that has them pointed out this add on the net that shows just how long you have been able to get them and as you can see the price has come down and the only thing that does that is availability.
http://oval.race-cars.com/partbd/messages/4044.htm
The argument will be made by the built engine guys and the crate guys forever but now knowing this , how do you just let the crate guys sail past tech ?
you don't,if we have a issue wrt to a crate it goes on the dyno,if it is legal then the club pays,if it is not then the protested car will pay and be sent to bed with out supper and loss 15% of their points to date. as for catching them any tech guy with half a brain will be able to till if a crate has been worked by the action on the track. i do not advocate crates in the lower classes by itself,it should go hand in hand with a spec. engine, i have the ability to build a 3500 dollar street stock because of my vocation, that does not mean that all racers have this ability,they have to pay top dollar to a machine shop. they cost sky rockets due to mock up and remock up, not every racer can do this. give them the option to buy a 4200 dollar crate so that they can race. the asa crate package are purpose built for circle track racing not hot rodding and the grocery getter.
A true Race Crate Motor should not exeed the cost of $8500.00 and there are plenty of them out there at that price... and less. For Example... Jasper is the high end at $8500.00, Blueprint is the low end at around $4500.00 so I cant see why the crate deal wouldnt work in any series.
Engine claim rules are in need to return to every race track, but must be based on a number that is real, and comparitive to the cost of replacement.
In short, if you run a Blueprint Engine and it has a street value of $4500.00 then that should be the claim rule, which allows the guy who lost it, the chance to replace it without spending more then whats in his wallet.
In every series that runs a crate rule or a build rule, teams will spend the extra to have it modified in HP and Torque, which kills the rule to start with. Now put in a Engine Claim Rule and you have a whole new approach to dealing with cheater motors, but still remains real in the cost to replace them.
The only other step to controlling the cost of race motors is allowing the series you run in, to own them, and disburse and rotate them bi-weekly. I know you dont want that to happen.
Last but not least- if you have a couple of guys in your series that win because of illegal motors and you dont have the money to post a engine claim.... just wreck the guy !!.
Motors mean nothing when it's stuffed in the wall.