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krisrix · 4 years

Note

Omggggg you met your husband in art gallery? 😭😍 That's so romantic? And like? Super cute and sweet? Especially when you're an artist? I need to know mooore (if you're comfortable with that of course❤️)

It’s a very ridiculous story, so yes, let’s do it.

Here’s how I met my husband:

As I mentioned, this was an art gallery website that was catered to yaoi art. Specifically, all of the art (and I think maybe there was writing, too? I can’t recall) had to feature men prominently. This meant that, yeah sure, sometimes you had content that was G-rated, but the site was mostly smut or smut-adjacent 80% of the time. Because of that, you needed to be 18+ to have an account—and an account was required to even view the site.

Guess what? I was not 18+ 🤦‍♂️ But this didn’t stop me. (I am not condoning this.)

My gallery was a mix of smutty and not smutty, mostly the latter. I was only just turning 16 (yes, I know, stop judging me) and didn’t have a whole lot of privacy. (My mom is infamous for entering rooms without knocking, even when you’re pooping, and she’d rifle through a lot of my stuff. I didn’t want her finding a whole boatload of porny anime boys, so I didn’t draw that content nearly as much as I drew SFW stuff.) (However, despite these efforts, she did indeed find my stash of smut drawings one day, and that was a hell of a conversation.)

Anyway, all of that to say: my gallery was fairly tame, especially given the usual fare on that site. There was this one drawing of Eiri from Gravitation (if anyone even remembers that show). He’s a writer, and a trainwreck, so I drew him half-asleep, trying to write with his cigarette, with his pen hanging from his lips—it was cute! I really liked the drawing. He was in his PJs, and there was bright sunlight coming in through the blinds on his window. He looked haggard as fuck. I was very proud.

One day, I get a comment on that drawing. I don’t remember it word-for-word. I don’t even remember what else was said, all I remember is that the commenter gave me constructive criticism on the hands. And outwardly I was like “cool thanks 😎” while internally I was like “BITCH DID I ASK?”

So I’m fuming. Because I’m 16 and failing out of my AP art class because my portfolio is coming out like shit. And what was the concentration of my portfolio? HANDS. This comment was like a personal attack on my very soul. (My AP art saga is a whole story for another time.)

I am livid. I am wounded. I have never been so affronted by a stranger on the internet in my life. This man is now my sworn enemy.

But... I don’t have time for a sworn enemy. Especially not for some chucklefuck stranger on the internet. I decide to wipe him from my mind—it was a big website, and most people were there for smut—odds were good we would never cross paths again.

A few weeks later, I get this friendly comment on the main page of my account. Not on any specific drawing, just in this sort of general comment thread every account had. The commenter and I start chatting about our mutual love of Gravitation. Then we decide to move the convo to AIM (really showing my age here). And then we’re basically chatting all the time. Staying up until 3 AM, drawing things for each other, RPing, the whole nerdy thing. His name is Simon (yes, really), he’s in Montreal, I’m in NY—same timezone, not too far away... Everything’s great!

Except he has a girlfriend. But that’s fine! We’re friends! Everything’s fine!

A few months in, he sends me a cute selfie, and I think, “I’m gonna kiss that mouth one day”. And that was that, my fate was sealed.

I redoubled my efforts. His relationship was on the rocks already—we’d had several conversations about it. I was comfortable being the tipping point for him to finally break up with her. (I know, I know, let me live.)

Eventually, they did break up because he realized how difficult things were with her and how easy things were with me. *hair flip*

We officialized our long-distance dating status.

A few weeks later, I’m replying to a new comment on that drawing of Eiri I mentioned earlier... and I see that old comment from the dude who dared critique the hands... and I look at the user name...

Oh my god, it’s my boyfriend!!!! We narrowly brushed “enemies to lovers” territory!!!!!!! How could I have been so foolish as to not really bask in it?!! Where was my slowburn??????!!!!!!!

Apparently, Simon had no idea that I didn’t realize I was talking to the same person the whole time. We had a very good laugh about it.

And... then I got banned from the art gallery website. Simon asks me why, and I say, “well, they found out I’m not 18″, and he says “...........what”

Oops!!!!!

Now, thankfully, I was already 17 by this point, and he is even more ace than I am, so there was nothing sexual going on between us anyway. But yeah, wow, big oops on my part.

So we’re 400+ miles apart, unknowing enemies-to-lovers, I’m a deliberate home-wrecker, and he’s an accidental cradle-robber. Really checking all the boxes for “what the fuck are you two doing?!”

But thankfully, it all worked out. We’ve been married now for 8 and a half years, 🖤 He’s my world.

#ama #Anonymous #krisrix replies

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valuentumbrian · 4 years

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Fed Cuts 50 Basis Points, Expect More Market Volatility Ahead

Image Source: FOMC

The emergency 50-basis point Fed rate cut announced March 3 was largely expected by the marketplace in light of growing economic concerns due to COVID-19, but it does nothing to immunize against COVID-19 and little to stabilize the situation. We continue to monitor the situation closely, and we expect ongoing volatility in the coming days and months as the situation with COVID-19 remains fluid. Having moved to defensive positions in both the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio in January and having capitalized on the “crash protection” put, we are preparing for our next move. For now, we’re watching and waiting, and we encourage readers that have not yet picked up their copy of Value Trap to do so.

By Brian Nelson, CFA

Let’s first recap some current events. On Thursday, February 27, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) dropped the most in its history, falling 1,191 points. Just a few days later, on March 2, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose the most in its history, increasing 1,294 points. According to my good friends at Morningstar, “Last week's showing was indeed rare. The final week of February 2020 rates as the third- worst Monday-through-Friday by performance by the S&P 500 since 1976. There haven't been many weeks that placed close to it, either.”

Headlines across the media have been marking stock market history, “The S&P 500 suffers its quickest correction since the Great Depression.” Never before has the stock market gone from a record high to a “correction” (a decline of 10%+) in such a short amount of time. Black Monday in October 1987 was a cataclysmic one-day event, but the market had peaked a couple months before that. In the case of these past couple weeks, we’ve gone from euphoric and irrational highs to fall more than 10%, a harrowing, whipsawing episode.

Though we maintain that the COVID-19 outbreak remains a serious situation with material global economic implications, it has only served to expose the shakiness of market structure. For example, the market closed up 1,294 points March 2, but prior to the open that day, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures had been indicated down about 300 points, making the trading session one of the biggest ranges on record. Through most of last week, moves in the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 400-500 points or more in a matter of minutes during trading sessions have somehow become “normal.”

Expect More Market Volatility Ahead

The book Value Trap: Theory of Universal Valuation is much more than a theory that ties together quantitative multi-factor models to the expected return function of enterprise valuation, showing that risk factors must be forward-looking in nature (a huge shift in quantitative thinking). The book is much more than a documented thesis in the value-timing dynamics of overlaying technical/momentum indicators with tried-and-true enterprise valuation. In showing how all valuation multiples are but shortcuts and ambiguous, as in the failures of the traditional quant B/M value factor, the text is more than warning about the demise of traditional quant value analysis, which is off to one of its worst start in 2020 in decades.

The book Value Trap is more than a telling of the story of a team of analysts that identified a mispricing across a major sector, went against the crowd with their unpopular views, and despite all odds, was proven correct in time. On a price basis, through March 2, the S&P 500 (SPY) has advanced 46%, while the Alerian MLP ETF (AMLP) has declined nearly 58%, a huge source of alpha. According to data from CBRE Clarion through September 2019, there have now been 111 distribution/dividend cuts. Many more have occurred since then, too.

Value Trap offers much more than this. It also warns about the current market structure, and how the markets have become in some ways, a risky place for even the most risk-tolerant retirees to park their hard-earned savings. Volatility has always been part of the stock market, but swings of the magnitude of last week and on Monday, March 2, are simply not “normal.” Quite simply, if we have to point to the Great Depression and Black Monday of 1987 as analogs for what is becoming normal trading activity these days, we’re stretching to rationalize current market behavior, like a frog in boiling water.

Why We Closed “Crash Protection” For Now…

During the trading session March 2, we released the following note (edited lightly for clarity):

I wanted to thank each of you so much for the kind words expressed this week about our service and how once again we were ahead of the herd with respect to "crash protection." …we are now removing that "crash protection," and closing the put option position in both the Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio for a solid double ($6.50).

As we have announced previously, beginning April 2020, we'll be starting to release via email options-related ideas (two per month) and commentary, as well as educational information, to those that have subscribed to this feature. We will denote options commentary with the word 'OPTIONS' at the start of any email title for those adding this feature.

Depending on market opportunities, ongoing ideas could include commentary associated with writing covered calls for income, identifying mispriced securities over distinct time horizons and identifying mispriced volatility, as well as other considerations. The additional options commentary will only be released to members that subscribe to this feature. It will not be published on any website, or produced in any newsletter.

Please consider subscribing to this new options-commentary feature here ($500/year). We continue to expect heightened volatility accentuated by price agnostic trading, and we'll be looking to add more protection in the future as the COVID-19 news remains fluid. Our March 1 piece on COVID-19 can be found here. Thank you!

We received a number of questions on this move (e.g. Is the worst over?), and we wanted to further expand on our rationale for why we made that move March 2. When we wrote our piece February 22, “Is A Stock Market Crash Coming…,” we thought the market had been mispricing the COVID-19 risk on the broader economy and forward estimated earnings, and we also noted the vast overpricing of equities in light of the current situation at that time.

One week later, the magnitude of declines in the market were fierce, prompting the Fed to start talking about cutting rates (in fact, the Fed just cut rates 50 basis points while we were writing this). On the basis of the magnitude of declines since we added “crash protection,” one might have only expected some retracement Monday (which happened) before additional news regarding community spread in the United States might send the markets lower again.

Hence, it made sense to take the put option off the table…for now. We exercise prudence and care with respect to our idea generation and the significant success of this put-option idea was worth locking in, from our perspective at that time (options have eroding time value). The situation with respect to COVID-19 remains fluid, and we could see additional downside, which may warrant “protection” again.

A number of weeks before last week’s crash, we had moved the simulated newsletter portfolios to more defensive positions. This latest put idea is just another example of how are able to add significant value to those that manage portfolios. We may add “crash protection” again in the near-future as we assess time duration and volatility pricing.

On the Emergency Federal Reserve Rate Cut

The Fed’s emergency 50 basis-point rate cut may bring some relief to the market selling, but whether it will act as sustainable support for more selling to come is questionable. Lower rates may help some businesses impacted by COVID-19 to access capital to stave off a cash crunch, but by and large, the emergency 50-basis point rate cut is largely inconsequential. Lower borrowing costs do nothing to immunize the United States from COVID-19.

From our perspective, the move is psychological and may end up backfiring if investors see through the Fed’s intentions to prop up the equity markets with monetary policy. In some ways, for the Fed to act in such a manner, it may only contribute to the fear that is already wreaking havoc across the global economy and local communities impacted by COVID-19.

Moody’s believes that “Fed Rate Cuts May Fall Short of Stablizing Markets,” and the credit rating agency notes that a “A pandemic will result in global and U.S. recessions during the first half of this year. The economy was already fragile before the outbreak and vulnerable to anything that did not stick to script. COVID-19 is way off script.” We’ve been outlining a similar thesis since January, “Coronavirus May Trigger Long-Anticipated Global Recession,” and if the latest February data from China is indicative of what to expect in other infected countries, markets still have a ways to fall.

In our February 22 note, “Is A Stock Market Crash Coming…,” we detailed a scenario where valuations could reset the S&P 500 to levels 20%-30% lower. At that time, we also indicated that investors should expect moves in the 1,000-2,000 point range in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. These types of unbelievable moves on the Dow Jones Industrial Average have materialized.

In our latest COVID-19 note, released March 1, we have now more officially established a short-term target range for the S&P 500 of 2,350-2,750 (significantly below current levels). We expect things to get much worse, before they get better. The fluff has yet to leave market valuations, in our view, as many appear all-to-eager to put new capital to work as the complacency of the past decade and a buy-the-dip-at-any-price mentality remains present. We maintain our view that the “buying opportunity” is not yet here.

Concluding Thoughts

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Valuentum members have access to our 16-page stock reports, Valuentum Buying Index ratings, Dividend Cushion ratios, fair value estimates and ranges, dividend reports and more. Not a member? Subscribe today. The first 14 days are free.

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The High Yield Dividend Newsletter, Best Ideas Newsletter, Dividend Growth Newsletter, Nelson Exclusive publication, and any reports and content found on this website are for information purposes only and should not be considered a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Valuentum is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for results obtained from the use of its newsletters, reports, commentary, or publications and accepts no liability for how readers may choose to utilize the content. Valuentum is not a money manager, is not a registered investment advisor, and does not offer brokerage or investment banking services. The sources of the data used on this website and reports are believed by Valuentum to be reliable, but the data’s accuracy, completeness or interpretation cannot be guaranteed. Valuentum, its employees, independent contractors and affiliates may have long, short or derivative positions in the securities mentioned on this website. The High Yield Dividend Newsletter portfolio, Best Ideas Newsletter portfolio and Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio are not real money portfolios. Performance, including that in the Nelson Exclusive publication, is hypothetical and does not represent actual trading. Actual results may differ from simulated information, results, or performance being presented. For more information about Valuentum and the products and services it offers, please contact us at [email protected].

#federalreserve #covidー19 #covid19 #coronavirus

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theconservativebrief · 6 years

Link

Sir James Dyson and his eponymous company, best known for its vacuums, have in recent years made waves in the beauty world with the futuristic-looking Dyson hair dryer. While both products are pricey, colorful, hyper-engineered, and interesting to look at, neither is inherently a glamorous item. This week, though, the company one-upped its own showmanship and announced that it will release a Dyson Supersonic hair dryer that’s literally gilded with 23.75-karat gold leaf, which will sell for $499.99.

While the news has not been reported widely yet, people have been receiving word from the company via their inboxes. And they have thoughts. Twitter user @FannyLawren wrote: “Who needs a gold hair dryer? No one. But the Celebrities and Crazy Rich Asians may want it. Good gimmick! @Dyson #MarketingStrategy #luxurylifestyle.” User @kylethepeck was a bit less diplomatic.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my Dyson products, but nothing says “I’m a rich asshole who doesn’t know how to spend my money” like a real gold plated hair dryer. pic.twitter.com/SYkTUBqFtA

— Kyle Peck (@kylethepeck) August 27, 2018

$500 seems an eye-popping sum for a hair tool until you understand that the company’s regular, non-golden hair dryer, which launched in the fall of 2016, costs $399.99. And there’s a version engineered for professional hairstylists that is $449.99.

So how did the market for a luxury-priced golden hair dryer come about? It has to do with savvy marketing, the power of celebrity, and a certain viral photo of a chicken.

An artisan applying gold leaf to a Dyson hair dryer. Dyson

Dyson, which is worth $5.3 billion, is well known in design circles and makes a splash any time it launches a new product because the company is great at dramatic rollouts. But the Dyson hair dryer made a huge impression because the hot hair tool space is a pretty insular market that doesn’t often see new brands. (T3, Conair, GHD, Hot Tools, Chi, Babyliss, and a handful of others dominate.) And because it upended traditional hair dryer design in a way the stalwarts hadn’t.

Instead of the motor being encased on top right near the nozzle, which contributes to the top-heaviness of traditional dryers, Dyson put a small motor in the handle. The nozzle is doughnut-shaped, complete with a hole in the middle, and has a squat, sawed-off feel. This makes the Supersonic dryer lighter, quieter, and more ergonomic — plus it looks like something you’d find in a Star Trek movie.

While the design is new, tricking out the tool in a metallic finish is not. Since there’s very little that can be done to fundamentally change a blow dryer design-wise, companies have long driven sales by changing colors and finishes instead to match whatever is trending in fashion. Metallic finishes have been popular for a few years, especially rose gold — though Dyson might be the first to literally cover the thing in a precious metal.

According to a press release, accompanied by an admittedly fascinating video, Dyson enlisted the help of a traditional guilder, a craft that dates back 4,000 years, to hand-apply 23.75-karat gold leaf — a very specific karat weight chosen by James himself — onto the nozzle. A bright red primer is applied first and then the gold leaf brushed on top, so that when it wears down, the red shows through. The carrying case matches the red primer, and the rest of the dryer is non-gilded royal blue. The whole thing is emblematic of Dyson’s typical messaging: We are extra in everything we do.

Dyson is not the first company to offer ultra-expensive hair dryers, but it is the first that cracked the mainstream in a meaningful way, thanks to the brand’s impression of mystique and its skill in getting its products into the right hands. For several years, Babyliss has offered a hair dryer that boasts a Ferrari motor. In 2010, it cost $400 (versus the more typical $35 to $150 for a regular dryer); now it’s less than $200. But that has always been niche.

Dyson’s biggest pricey competitor since it’s launched has arguably been the Harry Josh dryer. Josh is a well-respected celebrity and fashion hair stylist who’s worked with Vogue and tons of celebrities, including Jennifer Garner and Gwyneth Paltrow. He released his signature mint green dryer in 2013 for $300. At the time, it was lighter and faster than anything on the market, and beloved by pros and beauty editors alike. The original now goes for $249. The brand then released an even lighter version, after the original Dyson launched, that costs $349.

The Harry Josh dryer is still in limited retail distribution, but the Dyson is available more broadly at Sephora, Ulta, Nordstrom, Best Buy, and Bed Bath & Beyond and has spread beyond a small, loyal audience.

Dyson understands the aspirational nature of the beauty industry and has been strategic about getting its tools into the right hands (and heads). Early on, it partnered with hairstylist Jen Atkin, who is the founder of the uber-popular Ouai line of hair care products.

Atkin has 2.5 million Instagram followers, a number she amassed partly because of her famous and social media-savvy clients like Chrissy Teigen and various Kardashian-Jenner and Hadid sisters. She shares pictures of both her clients and the hair dryer frequently. With all the sharing and regramming, as well as the Dyson’s inherent Instagram-friendliness, the dryer soon became well known.

Dyson also partnered with (read: paid) other hairstylists to use the tool on their A-list celebrity clients at high wattage events like the Met Gala and the Golden Globes. This has been a common practice with makeup and hair care brands for years. The brands work with artists, then send the beauty press detailed breakdowns of red-carpet looks, complete with specific product information, which end up in stories like this one and, brands hope, will convince consumers to buy the lipstick that Janelle Monae wore that one time.

It’s less common for tool companies to do this because while you can swipe a lipstick on yourself pretty easily to “get the look,” a red-carpet hairdo requires the expertise of a stylist — the tool isn’t the only consideration. But Dyson did it anyway.

For this year’s Met Gala in May, hairstylists used Dyson dryers on Kim Kardashian West, Rihanna, Cardi B, Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Evan Rachel Wood, and Solange Knowles. At the Golden Globes in January, they were used on Emma Stone, Claire Foy, and Gal Gadot.

Press releases were dutifully sent around after the events. The dryer made it into an Instagram Lady Gaga posted of herself before her performance at the 2017 Super Bowl, though that seems to have been an organic and inadvertent shoutout to the dryer. The brand doesn’t share its sales data, but this surely raised awareness.

The weirdest and most delightful part of the brand’s journey to stardom came in May. Helen Rosner, the New Yorker’s food correspondent, tweeted a picture of herself pointing her Dyson dryer at a raw chicken.

The caption read “Happy snow day, I am using an astonishingly expensive hair dryer to remove all moisture from a chicken to maximize skin crispiness when I roast it.” The image went viral, prompting Rosner to write a full post on the practice to clarify that she was not, in fact, using the dryer to cook the chicken.

As the Verge meticulously documented, a full news cycle ensued. The popular press, food press, and beauty press all covered the story. And Dyson loved the attention:

Engineered to not overheat your hair… or your chicken

— Dyson (@Dyson) March 21, 2018

This is the question everyone asks. In my experience, it really is better, and more comfortable to hold, than every other hair dryer I’ve tried — and I’ve tried a lot because for several years it was my job as a beauty editor to try them. (Disclosure: The brand sent me one for free when it launched two years ago.)

If mine broke, I would absolutely pay full price for another one, and, indeed, I’ve considered buying the white version because I like it better than the fuchsia one I have. But as with any purchase, worth and value are subjective, as Rosner notes.

“The Dyson does what I want it to do — it’s faster and quieter than any other dryer I’ve used, which is important to me, because I worry about hearing loss — and while it wasn’t exactly an impulse purchase, its price didn’t put me in a position of hardship. So for me, it was worth it,” she tells me via email. “But for someone who might have a different relationship with their bank account, it might not be. There are very few things in life that are worth going into debt for, and a hair dryer — even a great one — absolutely isn’t one of them.”

People inherently pass judgment on things used by a traditionally female cohort, especially when it’s perceived to be something for vanity. Lizzie Plaugic pointed this out in her Verge article, and Rosner expounds on it.

“I find it indescribably frustrating that it’s considered frivolous for a person to spend a few hundred dollars to have the best possible version of something that she uses every single day. How many people have a $500 handbag that they’ve only carried half a dozen times, or an $800 camera that only comes out once a year for vacations?” she says. “Even the Dyson vacuum itself is considered an aspirational product — something people covet! They get excited about it! And it’s even more expensive than the hair dryer! It’s an inconsistency that speaks to the fundamental way we discredit and devalue women’s aesthetic care.”

Dyson himself is absolutely unapologetic about the price point. He once told me in an interview, “I don’t design down to a price. I design what I think is a good product that will last. Of course, that’s not a very commercial attitude because it costs rather a lot to make.”

Covering the dryer in gold doesn’t affect how it works; it’s merely gilding the lily (or the hair tool, in this case). Still, for a product whose rise has relied so heavily on social media, that extra certainly can’t hurt.

Original Source -> Dyson’s new $500 golden hair dryer, explained

via The Conservative Brief

#IFTTT #The Conservative Brief

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itsworn · 7 years

Text

Matching Sealed Motors

S.E.A.L. Makes Rules Changes For GM 604

In last month’s QA commentary, I discussed Balance of Performance and ways sanctions try to equal out the power influence of different engines. I say power influence because the value of a particular engine depends somewhat on what track it is running on and how that power is regulated.

I outlined how adding a small amount of weight to a higher horsepower motor car does little to equal the competition. Adding sufficient weight is more effective in providing equal acceleration down the straights. But what about differences in performance in the corners? The penalized car now has to try to get through the corners with a lot more weight that wants to go to the wall.

If we consider that penalty, then we add less weight to make up for the turns and the higher HP car runs down the lower HP car on the straights. They then each have advantages at separate parts of the track. Maybe that is good and maybe not.

Now we see where S.E.A.L. has changed its rules to allow an improved performance cam for the GM 604 crate motor. S.E.A.L. stands for the Sealed Engine Alliance Leaders and is comprised of a group of promoters and tech officials. Their purpose is to regulate and certify sealed short track engines.

Tech official Ricky Brooks told me that he was the driving force behind this move and that he personally spoke with Bill Martens who oversees the GM crate motor program and urged him to approve the change. It is not clear if GM will make changes to their production motors to include this replacement cam. Here is some history.

It has been suspected and pointed out by numerous engine builders who have dyno’d both the GM 604 motor and the Ford equivalent motor over the years that the Ford had more HP. It has been said too that the Ford was easier to cheat up, not my words, just repeating what I heard. So, for some time, and at an accelerated rate lately, many teams who had been running the GM motors are switching to the Ford motors. Two of the top Pro Late Model teams at New Smyrna did indeed switch to Ford for the 2016 season.

The change allowing the new cam, GM part number 24502586, is said to be a response to Fords recent upgrade in their ring/piston package. As reported in a January 4th, 2017 S.E.A.L. press release, there were evidently a series of dyno testing runs made with both engines that resulted in the decision.

As a concession to teams not able to make the change to the new cam immediately, a 25 lb. weight break has been approved. The rules change goes into effect for this year and we’ll see how many teams take advantage of it.

For reference, the going price for this cam is around $256 at most racing retailers and the cost to install it at your approved sealed crate motor shop is around $400-$500. Of course, the builder will need to be installing this cam in a motor they previously sealed, or we’re talking about a complete rebuild/refresh which goes for a lot more money.

And, if GM does not make changes to the production crate 604, then plan on adding about $700 to the cost of a new motor for installation of the cam if you plan on being competitive. But, I did a rough check on pricing and it seems that the Ford motor lists for about $1,500 more than the GM 604. So, with the cam upgrade to the 604 motor, your still ahead $800 on cost by going with the GM motor.

Getting back to last month’s column, we see where again the engine issue gets more complicated. At least tech people like Ricky Brooks understand the problem and are trying to make things better and more equal in the engine department.

Early on, and many years ago, when GM introduced the sealed crate motor program, it was a good plan with no complications, and no competition. Then Ford got involved and it makes sense that it would be hard to end up with two identically powered motors, especially when these two companies are historically so competitive.

Since the motors have been dyno’d at several facilities and found to be very close to equal in power output, maybe now we can get back to what we do and that is go racing. We’re going to try to get one of these 604 motors with the new cam onto a dyno in the near future. When we do, we’ll provide you with the results.

If you have comments or questions about this or anything racing related, send them to my email address: [email protected] or mail can be sent to Circle Track, Senior Tech Editor, 1733 Alton Parkway, Suite 100, Irvine, CA.

Comment On “Engine Control Needed”

Bob,

I have been doing this for years. Many Super Late Model classes up here in the Upper Midwest use the Midwest Tour rules. In fact if you look at TUNDRA’s rules package they are 90 percent rules I wrote over the years.

It is very important to people who have Super Late Models that the rules are very close. It is not like it was at one time when you had people who traveled weekly to many events. The days of Trickle, Reffner, Sauter and others have come to an end. We at one time raced five nights a week. We could very simply add or deduct weight and change the set up to go. Now it is a much bigger deal for the teams to do that. But again if we all stay close it is best for all.

But with your story you also forgot a very important part. At least up here in the great white northland, Tire Wear. Most tracks up here have a tire banking system for weekly shows. Also I believe TUNDRA has a tire system where you have to use tires more than one race.

So to me the tire wear on a weekly car and even in a TUNDRA Series car would be much better when your car is 250 pounds lighter than another car. That also helps the lighter weight car in the next event, and most of the time it’s a crate car.

So to me that amount of weight is pretty hard to swallow plus it may get to be cutting things away that are in place for the safety and integrity of the chassis. All and all crates engine cars can race with Super Lates but the laps of the race also then becomes a factor. Each tracks size, type, and banking is also not the same as far as weights for crate and Super Late cars to make them compete together.

I guess I am saying that it is a lot harder to run them together than most people think, with the lighter weight of the crate cars rolling in the center. But to me a crate engine car should not be used as a weight advantage. It should be used by a smaller team trying to compete. A crate in the right place is great, but should not be used as a tool for an advantage.

Thanx, Mike (Lumpy) Lemke

Mike,

Thanks so much for your comments. This is a complicated issue that many who mandate the rules struggle with and you make some very valid points. There is no perfect solution, only good attempts. What usually tells the story is how the season progresses for those running different motor combinations at the same track as well as in touring series.

If a more even combination of success for built/spec verse crate motors occurs and wins are split between the two, then you probably have a good set of rules. On the other hand, if one or the other dominates, then you have to take a good look at the rules and make changes where necessary to make everything more equal. That only makes sense.

What those who write the rules shouldn’t do is penalize one or the other for the sake of their personal beliefs as to what is best for the sport. Leave it up to the race teams to decide which they want and produce a set of rules that will allow more equal competition. There are two sides to this issue and then there is fairness and equality.

Consequences Comment

Bob:

I’ve been racing on local dirt short tracks in Colorado since the age of 14 and grew up idolizing drivers like Kelly Boen, Keith Roush, my father Don Schweitzer, and a number of other clean drivers. Among lack of decent parenting, I believe most of the problem lies with the fact that a lot of younger drivers never even touch a bolt on their machine which results in careless decisions behind the wheel.

It might be too late to save some of the drivers in the activity but the best thing you can do for your kid is to form a bond between he/she and their equipment. Respect the equipment, drivers and the future of the sport.

Josh Schweitzer, IMCA Stock Car One17s

Josh,

I completely agree. Many of the “fast track” drivers who have big money families and/or famous racing fathers, have not spent sufficient time behind a wrench. I’m not talking about all of them. I’m sure some of these drivers had to turn wrenches plenty when they were starting out.

The lesson would be, bend it or break it and you fix it, if it’s your fault. Then there would be a measure of appreciation for what it takes to build and repair these cars. I bet the next time a decision comes along whether to chance wrecking the car they would be much more inclined to wait for a better and less troublesome time to try to pass.

As an example, not to toot our own horn because we had nothing to do with it, is Dalton Zehr, our past test driver on many CT projects. He, working alongside his dad Marty, has played a big part in building his cars for as long as I can remember. Marty instilled in him the basic work ethic and they worked together building every car he drove for the family. That is where he learned that.

Right now, as I write this, he is building his new short track car from a bare frame/chassis in the shop in Menominee. If you’ve ever seen him race, he rarely ever gets caught up in a fracas or bends any “sheet metal”. One big reason for that is that he has to fix it come Monday.

Traction Control

Bob Bolles,

I enjoyed your article about Traction Control which I read through my Hot Rod Network email. I have not reached a conclusion on the subject which is as settled as yours (“don’t use it”). However, and you’ve heard this rap, technology is very difficult to keep out of things. In the interest of brevity, I’ll put some thoughts down in a list:

Keeping technology out of racing may have prohibited even synchromesh transmissions or rev limiters. Isn’t part of racing the development of new technologies?

Traction control did exist in Formula One, got banned, then unbanned and finally banned again (in 2008) when they went to a standard ECU. Standard anything is difficult, expensive and enforceable only in the most organized and policed series.

Traction control for drag racing is the best. I never could master getting a set of MTs heated up and then hooked for a great start but that didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy being a klutz. However, when I got a car with AWD and traction control, a 1.7 sixty foot time was relatively easy (yes, the reaction time isn’t exactly zero).

Has traction control increased the enjoyment of my vehicle? Absolutely. The summary of my wandering here is: let some classes or racing groups or whatever’s, use traction control if it makes for more enjoyable racing for the competitors.

The problem is the extension of this thinking: we may soon have self driving race cars, where the driver merely monitors vehicle voltage. Would that work, maybe? In any event, “Just say no”, or somehow being completely negative on a technology may not be the answer in all cases.

Very truly yours, Joe Bagel, Chicago, IL

Joe,

If you have followed short track racing for any length of time you would have seen a great deal of innovation and invention along the way. The technology in many areas of performance is allowed within the rules and is ever changing for the better. All tracks and sanctions have rules and what you are arguing is for the rules makers to change the rules. This is not at all what I was talking about.

My two points were, one that the use of TC is against the rules. Secondly, the use of TC does not help a driver learn to control wheel spin through throttle control, which in Cup racing where TC is strictly outlawed, is essential to doing well. You of all people should know that.

You stated that when you were able to use TC in your drag car, your times improved quite a bit. You didn’t say you learned how to manage tire spin, you leaned on a crutch called TC. What that does is hurt all of the drivers who have talent and can control tire spin on their own. Let’s give out participation trophies next and see how that works out. Like you pointed out, before you know it, we’ll only need for the drivers to steer the car, and on a drag strip, that isn’t too awful hard.

Traction Control From Across The Pond

Bob,

From a European (English ) point of view, this subject takes me back several years. Most of our road cars and competition cars have TC as OEM fit. Virtually all the aftermarket ECU’s have TC on their menu. It does reduce the driver skill in driving, but interestingly, in the loose surface disciplines I follow (Rally and dirt track), it has not caught on.

Particularly in Grass Track , where the cars are 250kg missiles powered by 1300cc Hayabusa motors, the top drivers have tried TC in testing (it is banned) and say that, with track conditions so variable, it is impossible to set up correctly. So, long live the right foot! Mind you, in our hill climbs (one mile or so), the ex. F1 (stock car, not Formula One) engines and turbo ‘busas don’t half need it the wet!

Arthur Heaton, Yorkshire, and proud of it.

Arthur,

Thanks for chiming in. The sport of circle track racing in Europe is extremely varied and exciting. It seems to me like you guys have tried to find any and all ways to compete going in a “circle”, and I find it very interesting to watch in YouTube videos.

Many racers here have learned the same thing, it’s sometimes hard to tune. Maybe they would be better served to forget TC and get on with learning how to drive. That is how it always was long before TC ever came along. It worked then and it works now.

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