I've had a couple of experiences with seeing people out think themselves by copying the guy in the next pit. One example was when I was racing oval track cars. Many of the guys would eliminate their charging systems because the alternator "robber power". Many of these same guys would often forget to charge their batteries and have a hard time starting the cars, and then try to run the electronic ignition on too low a voltage(makes a very BAD miss). Any savings they got whit their "trick" was more than offset by the problems they made. Have you guys seen some similar things,on or off the track?
I saw a guy that adapted the clutch pulley from a A/C compressor to his crank so that he could disable ALL his accessories with the flip of a switch. he had more problems with the clutch flying off, it not engaging, whatever that He finally figured out that that MAYBE 2 or 3 lost HP wasn't worth the hassle...
Racing go karts I would write random numbers on my tires so other racers might think they were the tire pressure I was running. I would use chalk and put a 7 on one front tire and 12 on the other . Stupid stuff like that.
The Jalopy Journal
