ROAR NATS: Ryan Lutz disqualified from the second round of Truck qualifying

0 June 20, 2015, 11:04 a.m.

By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Tekno RC's Ryan Lutz was disqualified from the second round of Truck qualifying on Friday evening after his NT48 failed to pass post-race tech inspection. The decision from ROAR's Race Management team means that Lutz will need another solid finish today in order to secure a starting position in the A-Main on Sunday. Here is what both Lutz as well as the ROAR tech official had to say about the incident.

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Lutz’s truck was found to be in violation of ROAR rule 9.3.11, which states the allowable dimensions for engine size, wheelbase, weight, fuel tank capacity, and wheel and tire size in addition wing dimensions. Each vehicle must pass a post-race tech inspection that checks for violations of that rule and others, using a series of go/no-go gauges built specifically for the purpose of quickly identifying parts found to be out of compliance.

Steve McLaughlin, the Tech Inspector on ROAR's Race Management Team, was the one who made the call to disqualify Lutz's run after determining that the side dam of the rear wing was too large. The rule allows for a maximum of 92.07 mm, though wings offered by many manufacturers - including the Tekno RC item on Lutz's truck - are larger than legal and must be trimmed to fit the rule.

The side dams of the wing on Lutz's truck were reportedly about 4mm too long.

"They held my car back in tech after the race," said Lutz, "so that they could show me the gauge they used, how they held it, and how the wing didn't fit." He had used a wing that had previously passed tech inspection as a template to trim the wing in question, but never checked the new piece to see if he had modified it correctly. "I figured it was fine," he said.

Losing the result, which would've guaranteed him a spot in the Truck class final, didn't seem to affect Lutz's enthusiasm heading into the second day of qualifying. "Eh, it's all right," he said, "I've got two more runs today."

Lutz trimmed up the same wing and checked it to make sure he was ready to go.