SSI Motorsports crew chief Anthony Burroughs looks on as the “Droop” is checked on the car of Ricky Thornton Jr.
During the 2021-22 off-season, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series entered into an agreement that would help to streamline the rules used to govern the sport of Dirt Late Model racing among the various series in an effort to make it easier for competitors to participate seamlessly from one tour to another. One of those streamlined rules was the so-called “Droop Rule” which was initially intended to reduce the amount of travel at the left rear of the car between the body and the axle.
The Ray Cook-promoted family of Schaeffer’s Oil-sponsored series were the first to employ the rule with the stated purpose of helping to reduce the number of rollover crashes among Dirt Late Models. Later, the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series and other tours that fall under the sanction of the DIRTcar Racing Series adopted the regulation not only to reduce the vertical travel of the left rear but also to aid in the tech process.
Brandon Overton’s fast time in Group A qualifying was disallowed after his car failed inspection
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series put the measure into effect on Thursday night for the running of their season-opening Super Clean Super Bowl of Racing presented by eBay Motors at the Golden Isles Speedway near Brunswick, Georgia. And immediately, the rule played a role in the action.
Brandon Overton was initially clocked with the fastest lap in Group A time-trials. However, his effort was disallowed after he brought his Longhorn Chassis No. 76 to the attention of LOLMDS tech director Steve Francis. The car measured outside of the allowable tolerances.
A similar situation occurred in Group B qualifying when four-time Lucas Oil champion Earl Pearson Jr. had the third-place time registered by his Longhorn Chassis No. 46 thrown out after his car did not meet Droop Rule specifications.
Earl Pearson Jr. had his third fastest time from Group B eliminated
Both Overton and Pearson had to start heat races from the tail. Overton would miss the feature entirely after failing to transfer out of his heat race and coming up one spot short in his B-main. Pearson was also unable to transfer out of his heat race and B-main but made the main event via a provisional due to his being a full-time competitor with the series. ‘The Hurricane’ drove to a 13th place finish.
The top qualifying cars were checked on a concrete pad located at the back of the LOLMDS truck in the Golden Isles pit area immediately after coming off the track following their qualifying runs. Francis jacked each car up until the left rear tire was longer touching the ground. He then uses a device with a long handle attached to a flat piece of thin metal(it looks like something a pizza cook at a brick fire oven restaurant would use to slide the pizzas in and out) under the left rear tire to confirm that the tire is off the ground. At that point, he measures from the rear deck of the car to the ground.
In the drivers meeting held prior to the race, series director Rick Schwallie explained that the rule states that the measurement from the rear deck to the ground is to be 50 inches. However, a one-inch tolerance is allowed to account for unlevel ground or any other factor that might interfere with the measurement.
Francis confirmed later that the cars of both Overton and Pearson were found to be outside of that allowed tolerance which ultimately resulted in the disallowance of those times.
The Super Bowl of Racing continues tonight from the Golden Isles Speedway streamed live for those who cannot attend by MavTV Plus.
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