B.S. Inspection and documentation...is it worth it to put together? (Page 1 of 2)

the quick answer is "maybe".....it all depends on the overall crappiness of the car you bring...if you bring a 2005 Mini cooper....pretty much all the paperwork you bring is worthless...even if a bill of sale from the POPE is in there.....

But say you race a BMW or mercedes that has lots of unneeded parts you can sell to offset costs...then I would bring them..... 

Documentation is always good to have.....I always brought it.....just in case the judges ask for it

If you have it, bring it. We had all the paperwork for our supercharged GTP at Summit Point, but we were forced to do BS right after tech so we didn't have it with us or our costumes on. We were looking at 70 laps despite having a totally stock OEM setup but managed to get it down to 10 laps after some quick talking. At CMP will not make that mistake again.

The most important thing is not having a cheaty car or a racey car. Miatas and e30's always get more scrutiny because there is an entire universe of Spec racing parts out there that just bolt on.

After that, legitimate documentation and theme seem to go hand in hand. A Craigslist printout is obviously less valuable than a PayPal receipt. Theme helps here; if you have a well executed theme, there's more entertainment value provided to everyone.

Baksheesh comes last, and it's mostly to reduce the penalty laps you already deserve. More cheaty requires more outlandish bribery. Too cheaty and there's no level of bribery that can get around the laps. Probably.

I think that there's a different level of scrutiny applied to cars depending on how long they've been around (for better or worse). A car that's in its first event seems to get a little more scrutiny than one that's been through the mill a few times, been blowed up, etc. Of course, a car that has been found to be cheaty in the past probably gets even more scrutiny the next time through, so it all evens out.

I'd say the effectiveness of any supporting documentation goes down exponentially in relation to the persistence of a team trying to convince a judge to believe it. If you've got a perceived cheaty car, it wouldn't hurt to have some receipts. But I'd wait till they ask for it and then just let them look it over without trying to defend it. The more eager you seem, the more suspicious they'll be.

A good theme will definitely take the heat off from both the judges and the curse voting mob. The exception to this rule is when a team does very nice looking bodywork/paint. Which is pretty stupid considering it has ZERO performance advantage, yet will make other teams think an otherwise meh-performing car is somehow a super cheater. Probably just based on extending that level of prep to the rest of the car.

So to answer your question, the only surefire way to reduce your penalty laps and avoid a curse is to have at least a dozen of these around the car at all times...

Bring everything. Also put together a simple expenses/credits list as a summary, so we can see all your lies in one place.

If you're driving a Renault Fuego Turbo, you don't need any documentation at all.

If you are driving ANY Renault discharge papers should be presented.

When we had our 99 LeSabre, they just looked at us for a second, laughed and said "A Buick!? HAHHAHAHA, get the hell out of here!"

Went through first BS inspection at the Arse Sweat a Palooza. Brought in a legitimately $125 paid for Crown Vic from a friends Salvage yard. Jay looked at me and said that iot was total BS that I only paid 125, they both agreed it was worth at least 175 to 200 bucks, gave us 5 laps for that, then asked me for the documentationa which had the rims and tires listed as sold items for 100, docked us 10 laps for the sale of the wheels. 15 laps given, they barely looked at paperwork but asked for it. But with a little bribe they took off 5 laps. We were given 10 BS laps, but we got that Sweet ass "Bribed" stenciled on the hood of our car. My advice is to have it in case they ask in the most organized fashion.

I have to disagree on the comment that nice paint etc will get you in trouble.  If it completes your theme, I think it definitely helps.  We just sailed through BS at Arse Sweat with a well done, clean theme.  We had all our paperwork but they didn't even ask how much we paid for the car much less to see any receipts.  The amount of smush and wobble that occurred when they shoved on the (140K mile, bone stock, trashed by wannabe drifter previous owner) front suspension didn't hurt either.

I was told there'd be no math.

Make your documentation succinct.  We found a guy liquidating his late father-in-law's extensive parts collection - a bunch of which we snagged for our 924.  We spent some $300 on assorted wheels, spares, etc..  and used only some of them on the vehicle (and some were exempt like the wheels, etc..)  We showed up with a folder, scraps of paper - and an excel spreadsheet with some calculations for that parts were used and what % of the overall trove that value would equate to.
The judges took one look at a sheet of formulas and gave us penalty laps.

Also - we bribe no matter what.  We bribed last time with 0 penalty laps.  Most of the hooch goes to the workers, so they'll look the other way when our driver wings a crescent wrench at your radiator as you pass us on the straights.

i think I've said too much...

From what I got from everyone, they assessed more than normal at Thunderhill this last weekend and it varies from race to race-just be prepared and if you have no bribe you are missing out on one of the parts of the whole Lemons "experience". I was so impressed with how everyone there was so apt to dive in and help one another for the sake of getting everyone out on the track. You will have a great time-hopefully you do not have to work on your car the whole weekend, but if so do not be afraid to ask anyone for parts or tools, the majority are willing to jump in and give you a hand-totally opposite from what I expected.