Purple in Sector 1

Last week SCCA announced the rebirth of the Trans-Am series after being “on hiatus” for the last two seasons. Many had thought previous management had managed (or mismanaged as the case was) to put the nails in the coffin but the SCCA is hopeful the reborn series and platform (GT-1 tube based chassis) will mark the new dawn of the series inspite of tough financial times.

Story at http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/scca-trans-am-series-returns-in-2009/

Story from the Death Star……err, I mean SCCA Pro Racing HQ

http://www.scca.com/newsarticle.aspx?hub=4&news=3541

I wonder if  TK will rebuild the Chicken Car and take a whack at it…  Let’s see if I can dig up some shots I have of TK and the Chicken Car at PIR during some CART testing earlier in the decade.

On Wednesday Dec 10 HANS Performance Products filed a patent infringement suit against Innovative  Safety Technologies in the District Court, Southern District of California.  The suit coincides with the announcement of the defNder G70 head and neck restraint system at the Performance Racing Industry show this week in Orlando.  HANS has long had a lock on the head and neck restraint business, with only Hutchens and LFT Tech the only competition.  Awarded the fifth patent on the device in September, HANS has been able to maintain a near stranglehold in that sector of the safety market for a while, commanding a premium price though recently introducing a budget version.  Still, even at a premium it works and it’s a lot cheaper than a basilar skull fracture.

I’ll update the post with links to the patent HANS alleges was violated and a copy of the complaint from Pacer.  Interestingly, I can’t find a patent application for the defNder though they say there is a patent pending on the the site.

UPDATE 1:  Jayski has pulled the blurb off his site but here is the PR Newswire copy of the release from HANS http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-10-2008/0004940184&EDATE=  My PACER account was locked because I haven’t used it in about a year and the card I was using on it expired.  The gov needs to manually turn my account back on.  I can sell engines on the other side of the country for a couple grand,  update banking and bill pay info in real time, buy race parts or welders at the click of a mouse but to access a public records database they need to have some gov IT guy do it by hand?  You’ve got to be fucking shitting me…  This is stuff that I was doing in 1997.

In the meantime, here is a link to Hubbard’s patent that is claimed to be violated.  I’ll post the other Hubbard/HANS patents as I dig them up.  The URLs at USPTO are real ball busters (not that the PR Newswire URLS are any better), thankfully we have Tiny URL  http://tinyurl.com/5u7ruc  .  The patent is a good read.

UPDATE 2: I guess they weren’t shitting me but I did get PACER access restored this morning.   Here is a link to the file hosted here at PI1.  It’s pretty standard, general and bland document that loosely claims that because Innovative manufactures a shoulder worn head and neck restraint that transfers the load to the vehicle’s restraint system they have caused harm to HANS and violated the patent.  As Lumbergh might say (the VP at Initech Lumbergh, not the Lumbergh Joanna slept with)  ”uuuuhhmmm, yeah”.  The complaint reads pretty much like a rank and file TPS report.  It will be interesting to see the Innovative response.

hans-v-innovative-complaint

Buried in the news of the Supernationals and Rotax World Finals is the news that a religious sect run by RC Samanta Roy, owner of the USA International Raceway in Shawano, WI is the subject of a federal investigation alleging threats against as many as 60 Shawano area residents, including public and elected officials.  Roy is no stranger to controversy which includes long-standing disputes with some in the area and local authorities.  According to the AP Roy also goes by the names Rama Behera and Avraham Cohen.  Roy operates the religious sect Samanta Roy Institute for Science and Technology, at one time known as The Disciples of the Lord Jesus and has been involved in instigating several lawsuits against the city in recent years.  The investigation centers around a tip from a former associate that as many as 60 people were listed “to be taken care of” was confirmed by Shawano Police Chief Ed Whealon.  The registered agent for the sect, and related businesses including the kart track, Naomi Isaacson was recently arrested on an unrelated federal bench warrant on contempt of court charges.  One sect member is considered a “person of interest” in the case and responsible for the majority of the list, but Whealon would not identify that person or his or her status within the organization because the investigation is ongoing.

Compiled from various local and national press reports.

Now that the rough and tumble of the Supernats is behind me, it’s time to focus toward next season. Specifically, should I do a Spec Miata (my personal fav), a drag car (Ambi has a soft spot due to her father’s rides in the desert in a 67 Charger at full tilt) or some sort of circle track car?  I’m going to race, I just haven’t decided what I’ll race.  (actually, it’s going to be a Spec Miata…if she’d let me, I’d do a drag car and a road race car) I know that racing karts I won’t be competitive, I’m just too big.  I just sold the Rotax, a great deal at US$1650 for a full kit.  I’m likely to turn it into a Spec Miata.  Drags are cool, circle track is OK but I’d rather road race.  On Weds I may buy a 97 Miata that the guy has been trying to sell for about 6 months.  I’m still keeping the shifter kart for practice and plan in the next couple of weeks to hit Grange for some testing.  Two days after SNATs I got back on my workout program.

In two weeks we close on the house.  Since I started driving the kart down here I’ve had a single car garage and for the last year I’ve had a full blown shop in a two car garage.  When we get the house I’ll get the workshop space sorted.  Already have an Ingersoll Rand 3HP, 60 gal single stage compressor on order. 15 CFM @ 90 PSI. I’m going to plumb the shop for at least four air lines.  I’ve had a 180 amp Lincoln MIG welder for a while now and will wire the shop for that plus a few other outlets.  Thanks to help from Dave Robinson at EKN our floor guys are contracted to do a three layer urethane coating on the shop floor.  And I’m about to pull the trigger on a Hypertherm PowerMax 30 so I can get down to some serious cutting.  In a year or two I’ll lease a shop space but for now I need to do it in the garage. Just like I have for the last few years.

The next series of posts will chronicle how I convert a two car garage in the suburbs into a race shop.   It will be enough to build a club racing sports car and keep a shifter karting program going for practice.  After the floor (and a new insulated garage door with a Liftmaster 1/2 HP belt drive opener mechanism), the first purchase is the compressor.  An Ingersoll Rand SS3L3 plumbed for the workspace.  I’ve got most everything else.