Nascar329 what's wrong with you ?Radios save cars and teams money,you must not be a racer.

I don't like radios either, but with full containment seats, HANS and full face helmuts, they are necessary.

As long as the spotter doesn't drive the car I see no problem with them. And since we're on the KD board I have an opinion. If you run there and have a spotter, put him on the roof of the grandstand. That's where I spot from and I can't see why anyone would want to spot from the grandstands. I've heard the argument that small teams need the spotter in the pit area in case something goes wrong. Let's face it, in a 25 lap race if something goes wrong and you have to go pitside, you more than likely aren't going back out anyway. If it's a minor problem you may get out but minor things can be fixed by 1 or 2 crewmen. Besides if the spotter was on the roof he may save the car from getting into the problem in the first place. We got put up into the wall by McGrath in the semi and if Merc didn't back off when he did 5 or 6 cars would have been wrecked. I'm sure McGrath thought he had us cleared but his spotter was in the grandstand and couldn't see a thing. He was on the roof for the feature though. One more instance. One of the LM's that has a reputation, right or wrong, for hitting a few things has always had his spotter in the stands. Last week I convinced him to go on the roof so he could give the driver alot more feedback as to where the cars were around him. Remember, you can't see that great out of these things. The driver thought the added info helped him. They ran their best race of the season, clean and finished a very respectable 6th. Not saying the spotting was everything, but it didn't hurt. Besides helping the driver in avoiding contact we also help the program move a bit better by getting the driver in order during caution and keeping him informed of any trouble he or another driver is having. If a radio saves one crash it's worth it. Many crashes cost about $2500 to fix, the exact cost of a decent set of radios.

Racechaser, why don't you like radios ?

Because they are expensive. $2500 isn't a good set - try $6000.
They are expensive to maintain - new batteries every couple a years, lost or broken parts, theft, etc.
Most spotters that I know should be driving the car - they never shut up.
But like I said before, they are a necessary evil.