Choquette Dq

[JackTripper]

Thanks for clearing that up.

All of us in this post pretty much agree your boyfriend is the man and hope he can crack the big leagues. I, for one, certainly miss seeing him tearing it up on our tracks.

[carolwicks]

the message boards.

sometimes information gets all misconstrued and i am so glad you did come on and get it straightened out. Jeff is one of the best racers we ever had in florida... i miss him alot and wish him the best. hope you are all well and happy .... also hope you like the cold cuz its comin! roflllllllll take care. why dont you post Jeffs races so we can keep up...he has a huge fan base. give him a big hug for me and Bobby.
thanks
carolwicks aka OZZIE

[Osmosis Jones]

um...okay.

"On the other hand, he absolutely was DQ'ed at the ASA Southeast race in Hickory, NC. For anyone that knows about these motors ~ it is a 604 Chevy Crate motor. The heads, cam, and pistons were all legal. The block was cut 0.015 of an inch (roughly as thick as a piece of paper) beyond the parameters of the rules. This was hardly an infraction and absolutely not the reason he won the race, admitted from the ASA officials."

For anyone who knows about these motors? What about the concept behind their use? Isn't it to ensure that all competitors have the same powerplant as the next guy thus negating any advantage that cubic dollars provide? We have all seen how well this industry saving idea has played out. When Progressive or McGunigill or any engine shop is allowed to break open and alter a GM crate motor IN ANY WAY, then reassemble it and try to pass it off as legal....why even have an engine rule in the first place?
You would have everyone believe that Team 70 paid thousands of dollars just to have 0.015" shaved off of a block deck? Wow. Now that's the benefit of unlimited resources defined to a T.
And if this was not even a fractional improvement to his engines performance, why risk it not being right to begin with? With his superior driving ability, why the need to go beyond one of those "out of the box" 604's like the rules intended. Let me rephrase that. What the rules SHOULD have intended. Obviously the motor was found (BY ASA) to be outside the parameters of the rules which unfortunately equates to "an unfair advantage". In other words....cheating. Which is why they, THE ASA, took away his win. OBVIOUSLY they felt strongly enough that it provided him with an unfair advantage over the rest of the field thus the DQ.
Plain and simple.

Why is it that when someone gets caught cheating, the first words out of their mouths is "It didn't do anything to help anyways." and the obligatory, "We didn't know it was even there".
Can't anyone just for once say "Damn, they finally caught us."



"Either way, Jeff Choquette will bounce back from this set back!"

No doubt. Getting caught cheating no longer carries the stigmatism that it used to and in today's racing environment it's become an all too accepted practice. With sanctioning bodies that don't stick to their own rules and spend way too much time looking the other way, racers will continue to break the rules and get away with a slap on the wrist. No, I'm sure this won't affect Team 70 in any way shape or form. Nothing a little more $$ won't cure anyhow.

"We usually do not post on this message board but I wanted everyone to be clear of the facts."

But you do read it, I see. That's all that really counts, actually.
And unless we were all there at Hickory, sitting inside the tech shed watching what was taking place.......there aren't any "clear" facts.

Congrats on the win at Mobile.

OJ

[andre]

"We didn't know it was even there".


If they are (the racers) all as honest and unaware as they claim they are, how come nobody ever sue the engine builder for destroying the racer's reputation, cutting his chances of making it in big league, loss of sponsors, looking bad on every sense of the word and so on..... So how come nobody does it.......

Just a thought......

André

[bubba]

Look, they open them up because they are allowed to. If they weren't they wouldn't. Plain and simple.

They got the money and time to have somebody try to get a little more out of the motor, in this case whatever they were intending to do clearly was outside the rules and they own up to that.

Intent is the issue i am taking with OJ's post. Were they clearly trying to get something more out of the engine? Yes. Were they clearly trying to violate the rules? No. Did they in the process? Yes and they admit to that.

They were trying to play every angle they could and stepped over the line. Not enough reason in my book to label him the way you are. Now, if this type of thing keeps happening, then, I will change my mind.

[fred23]

OJ, the crate motors are allowed to be rebuilt by approved builders. Progressive being one of them. I know there are ALOT of motors in that series and the other ASA series that are cheated up. That is just the nature of the beast. If they just made the rules one carb, 362 cu in and a cast iron block it would make it much simpler.

[Osmosis Jones]

Fred scores another.....

Preachin' to the choir, dude....

Yeah, I knew they allowed these "approved" engine re-builders to open up and tamper with the "crate" engines. And that's right about the point in the ASA rule book where most of the marginally funded LM teams decide that if they want to race against someone's pocketbook, they might as well be doing it closer to home. Can't say I would blame them.

How can someone tout a series as the "ASA Crate Late Models" but allow them to be altered from the original GM or Ford specs? What is the point? How does that say "we're saving the average Joe racer money" when he still has to have his crate motor reworked by one of the big doggies just to keep up with the Richie Rich's who have two or three of those "special" crates sittin' in the shop. It's crazy.

"Crate" Late models....gimme a break.


It's the nature of the beast all right, Fred.
Cheatin' up race cars is as old as racing itself. But on the other hand, so is getting caught. Someone mentioned earlier something about stepping over the line(bubba). The lines have always been there and the thing about it is this...once you're across it, well, you're across it, man. It's a lot like being just a little pregnant. I don't know about ya'll but when I was growing up and broke the rules "just a little bit"...I didn't get a pro-rated whuppin' for those minor infractions. I got the whole package. Now along the same lines if tracks and promoters would locate and pay to retain a decent and fair tech crew that they would let do their jobs and stand behind their decisions, short track racing would be in much better shape than it is now.
I can't stand this politically correct, dancing around the issues, not wanting to hurt some wallet-racer's feelings kind of attitude that a lot of tracks and most of these series seem to have adopted.



Fred's rules......I like how you think, brother.



OJ on the box

[flraceguy]

hmmm

Let's see.. Approved buider... sealed crate motor.... DQ'd for illegal engine work.... hmmmm

honestly though thank you very much for coming on and clearing the air...

understand that my comment above is not meant to upset anyone.... BUT!!!!!!!!!!!

[Edm]

I give a big thumbs up to the ASA for actually checking these motors in post race inspections.

[naranja]

Choquette DQ'd

Once again Carol Wicks continues in her blind praise and defense of one of her favorites. The young man was caught cheating. The post by his girlfriend , didn't clear anything up.
Anyone who has watched him , from his days at Okeechobee and Clewiston to the present have all seen what money can buy. He is an exceptional driver, but what was under the hood in all those rides? Has his equipment always been legal? Has it always been illegal?
I firmly believe everyone on the track cheats in some way, and once you are caught the "cheater" rumor will always be in peoples minds.

[DeMan951]

Nobody has the right to tell someone who to root for. I have no issues with Jeff even when he kicked our tails last year in ASA. He is a great driver and if what his fiancee Christie typed was true then it isn't a big deal to me. You are coming off as jealous with your post. Yes he has always had top notch equipment but that isn't his fault, and the guy can actually drive with it.
I assume you are an ASA fan and a Brian Blum fan since your post about him. He is a great kid who has a lot of talent and I talk to every time I see him so with that said I am curious to what do you think about Jon Wes Townley?Who ran against us last year in ASA but rarely was a factor for the win while Jeff was almost always a major player in the finish. I don't think Jon has 1/4 of the talent that Jeff does and yet he is running ARCA/CTS/ and some Nationwide races.

[carolwicks]

oh boy...

i just said the same thing you did. jeff is an exceptional racer... and guess what...i bet if every SLM car was stripped down there would not be many that are 100% legal...i hate this new racing. was so much better when guys built their own and had their heads under the hoods making the best car possible. there arent many racers today that even know whats under the hood.

i couldnt pick a favorite driver if my life depended on it... how do you pick between jeff, travis, scofield, drawdy, middleton, walters, pletcher, BJ, williams, pratt, macey, bigley, rogers, russell, dempsey, winchell, franklin, powell, durden, cope, chastain, Buzzie, and hundreds of others..(im scared because i cant list them all and dont want to leave anyone out...). i love them all and that wasnt a nice thing for you to say to me. no matter how much i care about someone, i would not like knowing they cheated... IF jeff (crew) cheated, then his punishment was warranted. IF ! that does not change the fact that he can race the wheels off a car.
there is alot of hypocrasy in racing...people get on here and talk about fights, cheating, crashes, etc like they hate it but in reality, thats what excites most of them. i have carefully watched when a fight breaks out... the stands empty in about 2 seconds and a mob gathers with saliva dripping... roflllllllll then they come on here and want to lynch someone...
and what a nerve talking about their money...as if you all know how much money these guys have or are able to spend on a race car. this is AMERICA...some people can afford things and some cant... if ya cant take the heat get out of the kitchen!
EVERYONE CHEATS AT SOMETHING... its the nature of the beast... doesnt make it right. just makes it true. so stop judging before you know all the facts. and if its FACTS you want...dont come to a message board... lol
GO JEFF!!!!! I miss you and your family!
carolwicks aka OZZIE

[Frasson118]

Why hasn't anyone been bitching about Progressive? As an "approved" engine builder, they stand to make a lot of money on rebuilds coming through their shop. Since they are apparently sending cheated up engines back out the door, why would they still be "approved"?

I say, any engine shop getting caught with illegal stuff being sent out, gets taken off the "approved engine builders" list. Hit 'em in the pocket, and you'll see this shit stop.

I would think they have a lot more to lose with this arrangement, than they could possibly gain from Choquettes program. And if I remember correctly, McGunegill was taken off the "approved" list a few years ago for the same reasons... sending illegal motors out of their shop, when they were supposed to be the trusted authority on determining LEGAL motors.

[Rick Williamson]

I give a big thumbs up to the ASA for actually checking these motors in post race inspections.

That's what I didn't like about the SSS teching. If you had a crate you got a free pass in tech. Way to go ASA.

[mr south 59]

Frasson,

You can go to almost any engine builder, approved or not, and get what ever you want done to your crate motor and then have it resealed with after market GM seals. For the right price.

With that being said. When an approved engine builder reseals an engine for a series such as ASA and certifies that it is legal. It get a different kind seal that has a serial number assigned to that engine builder saying that the engine builder certifies that the motor is legal.

I would be willing to bet that the engine in question does not have approved engine builders seals on it. That would be like cutting your own throat for an engine builder.

So before we start bitching about Progressive it would be helpful to have some facts. It is still an asumsion that it is a Progressive engine. Does it have approved seals? Or was it built for other reasons.

That is why I keep saying that if a motor has GM seal in an approved engine builder series like ASA than it should have to be resealed by an approved builder.