A Note From Bobby G.-Each month supermodified driver Bob Bogwicz will be contributing a column dealing with the technical aspects of the supermodified division. He is also a monthly guest on Wailing with Wing Side Up and you will be able to hear it before you read it. Please feel free to comment or ask Bob further questions either here or when you Hit the Wailbag. If there’s anything in particular that you would like to hear him talk about on the show, we encourage you to let us know.
Wing Side Up Tech Talk with The Bogwan 2/15/2010
by Bob Bogwicz
The last time I was on Bobby G’s Wailing With The Wing Side Up the show was called “Gimpfest” as Bobby’s guests were supermodified drivers who suffered serious injuries behind the wheel of a supermodified. Thus, one of the main topic of discussion was how to make supers safer.
Growing up, I was a big fan of Nolan Swift mainly because his cars all looked cool (especially the ’72 version) and he built a new, cool one every year. Swifts most famous quote was “the race is won in the garage”. These words ring true, not only for winning but for safety as well.
With all the devastating injuries to my fellow drivers, I felt I needed to step up my safety program. That program starts right in my shop in the middle of a western NY winter.
One of my philosophies to wrecks and injuries is to not cause a wreck in the first place through mechanical failure. To that end, I was in the shop this morning before the Daytona 500 stripping the car down to the frame. As I removed all the nuts and bolts, do you know what I did with them? I threw every one of them OUT! That way, I am forced to buy new nuts and bolts that have not been under the stress of a racing season. It really is cheap insurance because quality nuts and bolt are inexpensive.
I also remove and dispose of rod ends (or “Heims”) that are under high stress like the ones that connect the torsion bars to the axle, the rod ends that are on the torque arm or the rod ends on the panhard bars. Now, new rod ends are not cheap, but this is one area where I will not complain about money.
The additions to the 2010 Oswego Speedway rule book must also be taken into account. An aluminum panel on the right side of the car must be in place to prevent a piece of another car from intruding into the cockpit area. There are also modified right side nerf bar rules to assist in preventing a cockpit intrusion injury.
Finally, I will examine my throttle. We’ve had several stuck throttles in the past few seasons resulting in a lot of wrecked equipment and our local heroes learning how to get around in wheelchairs.
While poking around the pits the past season, I’ve saw A LOT of injection linkage that looks like it belongs on the main engines of space shuttle. It seemed unnecessarily complex. Complexity could lead to trouble.
I have a cable actuated throttle that came with the car when I bought it and I really like it. It is simple and easy to maintain, but I do need to replace the cable because it has become worn and I don’t want to run it another season. So, when I remove it from the car, I’m going to cut it up and throw away the pieces. Again, a new throttle cable is cheap insurance because they are not expensive and I can be confident in my new set up.
In closing, I’d like to remind everyone of the obvious: racing is a dangerous sport. People get hurt. People die. And these things can happen, even with the best preparation. But we, as owners and drivers can increase the odds significantly by heeding the track rules and maintain our cars to high standards. These high standards of safety are not expensive but it takes diligence to carry them out. I hope everyone involved in racing keeps this in mind when rebuilding your cars this off season because there is nothing better that racing wheel to wheel on the track and reliving it over a beer in the pits afterwards.
It’s only February and I’m going into methanol withdrawal! Be sure to listen to “Wing Side Up” on March 1st as I will (hopefully) be with Bobby G. at Lighthouse Lanes in Oswego. Join us live or online!
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