• Registered: 2009-05-04
  • Posts: 311

Re: B.S. Inspection and documentation...is it worth it to put together?

For our first race, I didn't bring my documentation to the BS inspection.  I WANTED penalty laps for that first race, enough of them to keep my guys in check and let them get a race under their belts before they thought they were Mario Andretti.  We were given 20, which one of my driver's bribed down to 9 with some t-shirts and hats.

9 was enough for us...we knew that unless God himself smiled on us, we weren't winning and it set the attitude that we were there to have fun and get some seat time.   

Now that we've got 4 races under our belts, the guys are getting a little antsy for a podium.  Fortunately, we have the residual value as all the documentation we need (although we were told that they were getting sick of seeing the car with no theme...).

Mod Squad Racing
http://twosrus.com
  • From: 5,280 ft.
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 1,298

Re: B.S. Inspection and documentation...is it worth it to put together?

ifb_mole wrote:

I talked with a fellow driver that has participated in 16 Lemons races and he cant figure out BS laps either.

There's really nothing to figure out.  It's un-figure-out-able.

mike - Schumacher Taxi Service
12+-time loser
"Winner" - We Got Screwed, NJMP '11

Buzz Killington's Website

  • From: Land Of Subarus, Colorado
  • Registered: 2009-04-30
  • Posts: 9,416

Re: B.S. Inspection and documentation...is it worth it to put together?

You guys want a foot-thick rule book? Plenty of other race series will oblige... yet everything always comes down to someone's very subjective judgment.

The deal is pretty simple: if you're bringing the kind of car that could be turned into a winner via the application of a fat wallet, you need to bring ob-freakin'-sessive documentation proving how you got all those great parts and how you managed to sell the power-window motors for $900. If you're bringing a Chrysler Cordoba and you look and talk just like Ricardo Montalban, we'll believe your story regardless of documentation or lack thereof.

For an example of how much more unpleasant things get when you bring a contending car with totally sketchy documentation, just ask the guys in the brown BP-themed BMW E28 that finished 5th at the Arse Sweat. We sweated them without reason or mercy for a long, long time during the BS inspection (their build involved a seemingly implausible quantity of dumb kids selling parts cars loaded with sweet aftermarket suspension parts and zero documentation of any part of their story), then told them we'd sweat them some more on Sunday morning if it turned out they were contending for the win on laps. That's exactly what happened, and it culminated in a dyno test (they passed) and getting generally raked over the coals with accusations of cheatery from me and Jay; as it turned out, we (reluctantly) came to believe that these dudes were doing so well mostly due to their mad drivin skilz (zero penalties, clockwork-like laps in the low 2:20s) and not so much due to their cheaty-smelling 5 Series, and we didn't slap them with any more laps.

Murilee Martin aka Judge Phil on Facebook
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  • Mulry
  • Mulry
  • Ayatollah of Rock-n-Rollah
  • Offline
  • From: Dallas, TX
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 4,607

Re: B.S. Inspection and documentation...is it worth it to put together?

Judge Phil wrote:

You guys want a foot-thick rule book?

No, I don't. I deal with yards thick rule books every day and Phil's totally right, it still is completely subjective at the end of the day when someone has to make a judgment about whatever.

Has there ever been a mid-race application of BS laps? I've never heard of it before but it does have a certain ring to it...

Pat Mulry, TARP Racing #67

Mandatory disclaimer: all opinions expressed are mine alone & not those of 24HOL, its mgmt, sponsors, etc.
  • Registered: 2009-12-30
  • Posts: 76

Re: B.S. Inspection and documentation...is it worth it to put together?

Judge Phil wrote:

You guys want a foot-thick rule book? Plenty of other race series will oblige... yet everything always comes down to someone's very subjective judgment.

The deal is pretty simple: if you're bringing the kind of car that could be turned into a winner via the application of a fat wallet, you need to bring ob-freakin'-sessive documentation proving how you got all those great parts and how you managed to sell the power-window motors for $900. If you're bringing a Chrysler Cordoba and you look and talk just like Ricardo Montalban, we'll believe your story regardless of documentation or lack thereof.

For an example of how much more unpleasant things get when you bring a contending car with totally sketchy documentation, just ask the guys in the brown BP-themed BMW E28 that finished 5th at the Arse Sweat. We sweated them without reason or mercy for a long, long time during the BS inspection (their build involved a seemingly implausible quantity of dumb kids selling parts cars loaded with sweet aftermarket suspension parts and zero documentation of any part of their story), then told them we'd sweat them some more on Sunday morning if it turned out they were contending for the win on laps. That's exactly what happened, and it culminated in a dyno test (they passed) and getting generally raked over the coals with accusations of cheatery from me and Jay; as it turned out, we (reluctantly) came to believe that these dudes were doing so well mostly due to their mad drivin skilz (zero penalties, clockwork-like laps in the low 2:20s) and not so much due to their cheaty-smelling 5 Series, and we didn't slap them with any more laps.

I still find it tough to believe that a 5-series with Bilsteins on all 4 corners was had for $500.  They did drive well though.

#117 - The Fat And The Furious Big Boy Miata & Big Boy Metro-Gnome
  • From: Land Of Subarus, Colorado
  • Registered: 2009-04-30
  • Posts: 9,416

Re: B.S. Inspection and documentation...is it worth it to put together?

Mulry wrote:

Has there ever been a mid-race application of BS laps? I've never heard of it before but it does have a certain ring to it...

Yes, it has happened a few times.

Murilee Martin aka Judge Phil on Facebook
Murilee Martin on Twitter
Judge Phil's Lemons posts on Car and Driver
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32 Reply by Jer (edited by Jer 2010-08-13 01:16 PM)

  • Jer
  • Jer
  • Lemons Staff Stalker
  • Offline
  • From: West Chester, PA
  • Registered: 2009-05-04
  • Posts: 1,316

Re: B.S. Inspection and documentation...is it worth it to put together?

I have never had my documentation looked at.  But then again we generally bring the coROLLa and the Craptation and they just laugh and write zero.  I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. 

On a serious note, we're bringing the Miata to Miami for New Year's Eve.  We have a reval from Jay from Nelson Ledges and the receipt on the stinking throwout bearing that ruined our Nelson Ledges experience.  Together they are under $500.  I guess we'll bring that to Miami along with some sort of bribe and hope our pokey Miata get a zero on penalty laps.  Check our relative lap times (bottom half) at Nelson Ledges.  sad

Jer / Schumacher Taxi Service
2010 Spring CMP I.O.E. winner
2010 Sebring overall winner
1996 Miata, 1991 BMW E30, 1987 coROLLa (retired), 1984 Citation (retired), 1993 Miata (retired)

Jer's Website