Bad Luck At The Drag Races

This weekend we had a double header drag race. There was a race from Thursday to friday and then saturday to sunday. We left for the races on Wednesday to make some test hit. We were about 15 minutes from Heartland Park Raceway and a Highway Patrolman is riding our butt and turns his lights on. We have a 53 foot aluminumn gooseneck and gmc 3500 is our towing setup. He gets to the window and says "Have you ever done a DOT inspection?" Then he starts asking us questions like how much is the entry fee and do we win a cash prize if we win. We tell him yes and that we right all of that off on our taxes. Then he tells us that the combined weight of our tow rig is supposed to be 26000lbs and we are at 39000lbs and that we are supposed to have a DOT because we are going across state lines to compete for a cash prize which means that we are commercial. Then he says that the person driving is supposed to have a Class A CDL. He tells us that if we want to be able to go to the drag strip we would have to be escorted by him. So we get on our way to the race track with a private escort from the patrolman. He then follows us into the racetrack at which point he sees that noone at the racetrack has a DOT on there truck and there are much bigger rigs than ours at the races. The only people he saw with a DOT on the truck and trailer was Goodyear Tires and Sunoco Racing Fuels. He tells us that if we want the truck to leave the racetrack that he cautions us that the person who drives it home has a CDL because if we get pulled over again than we would be in big trouble. That was the end of that but he just let us off with a warning and we thought that was gonna be the worst of our weekend of racing. Boy were we wrong. That was just the start of our bad luck. We made 2 test hits with our car and spun like crazy and we only went high 8s at less than 160 in the 1/8th mile which is very slow for our car. We threw on a different brand of tires and it hooked like crazy but we were still alot slower than we would like to be. We messed with jetting and everything but the car wasnt going down the track very fast. Qualifing goes ok with both cars. My dad goes around 8.75 which is slow for his car and my grandpa goes around 8.70 with his a little slow for his car but not to slow. My dads car starts having issues with when he is in a wheelie the car loses power and it loses power on the big end so we do all we can and at the very end of the wekend we realize it is probably because we had some ignition issues. We decide to swap tranys in my dads car to see if it goes faster on the launch which was before we figured out the real issue with the car was in the ignition. We put a different transmission in it with a different 1st gear and we get it all put in and start the car up and the transmission starts leaking like crazy out the front. SO we took it all out again and put a new front main seal in the transmission and it stops the leak after we put it in. Then we mess with my grandpsa car which is a stick car and we find out a clutch lever broke so we have some clutch levers overnighted from las vegas to get it fixxed. We go into first round friday morning and both cars go out in the first round. The cars are both good but they went very slow so we get ready for the next day of racing where we start qualifing for the next race. We do our first qualifing session for both cars and it is good but both cars are still way slower than they should be and my dads transmission started leaking very slowly so we take it out and put the other one back in it and we dont have enough time to get it put back togethor for the 2nd qualifying session but we decide to not rush stuff and skip the 2nd session of qualifing with my dads car and just take my grandpas car out. My grandpas car didnt get down the track very good and it spun the tires and we wernt sitting in the groove very well so he gets out of the throttle. We go into 1st round and both cars are good to go. My grandpa redlights and my dad gets out of the throttle becase the dragster went right around him and he wasnt gonna catch up. We go to the hotel and get up Sunday and get to the track to take the awning down off the trailer and then a thunderstorm happens and it starts lightining and so my dad said he wasnt gonna get up on the trailer in a storm so we wait 2 and a half hours for the storm to pass and then we take the awning down and get ready to head home. We leave the track this time with a family member driving who has a CDL to avoid getting in toruble and we get onto the road to leave the track and it is very bumpy and somewhere on that road the tailgate must of been unlatched but the all the bumps or something because when we try and turn a corner all of a sudden the trailer just starts pushing the truck towards the curb and just hear this loud noise and the tailgate had jammed into the front of the trailer anf finialy broke off the truck and the truck started turning so here we are in the middle of the road trying to putt he tailgate in the bed of my grandpas truck since he was following us home. We get home safe last night but I can just say we had the worst luck for the races. I didnt mean to make this story so long but here it is.
 
This weekend we had a double header drag race. There was a race from Thursday to friday and then saturday to sunday. We left for the races on Wednesday to make some test hit. We were about 15 minutes from Heartland Park Raceway and a Highway Patrolman is riding our butt and turns his lights on. We have a 53 foot aluminumn gooseneck and gmc 3500 is our towing setup. He gets to the window and says "Have you ever done a DOT inspection?" Then he starts asking us questions like how much is the entry fee and do we win a cash prize if we win. We tell him yes and that we right all of that off on our taxes. Then he tells us that the combined weight of our tow rig is supposed to be 26000lbs and we are at 39000lbs and that we are supposed to have a DOT because we are going across state lines to compete for a cash prize which means that we are commercial. Then he says that the person driving is supposed to have a Class A CDL. He tells us that if we want to be able to go to the drag strip we would have to be escorted by him. So we get on our way to the race track with a private escort from the patrolman. He then follows us into the racetrack at which point he sees that noone at the racetrack has a DOT on there truck and there are much bigger rigs than ours at the races. The only people he saw with a DOT on the truck and trailer was Goodyear Tires and Sunoco Racing Fuels. He tells us that if we want the truck to leave the racetrack that he cautions us that the person who drives it home has a CDL because if we get pulled over again than we would be in big trouble. That was the end of that but he just let us off with a warning and we thought that was gonna be the worst of our weekend of racing. Boy were we wrong. That was just the start of our bad luck. We made 2 test hits with our car and spun like crazy and we only went high 8s at less than 160 in the 1/8th mile which is very slow for our car. We threw on a different brand of tires and it hooked like crazy but we were still alot slower than we would like to be. We messed with jetting and everything but the car wasnt going down the track very fast. Qualifing goes ok with both cars. My dad goes around 8.75 which is slow for his car and my grandpa goes around 8.70 with his a little slow for his car but not to slow. My dads car starts having issues with when he is in a wheelie the car loses power and it loses power on the big end so we do all we can and at the very end of the wekend we realize it is probably because we had some ignition issues. We decide to swap tranys in my dads car to see if it goes faster on the launch which was before we figured out the real issue with the car was in the ignition. We put a different transmission in it with a different 1st gear and we get it all put in and start the car up and the transmission starts leaking like crazy out the front. SO we took it all out again and put a new front main seal in the transmission and it stops the leak after we put it in. Then we mess with my grandpsa car which is a stick car and we find out a clutch lever broke so we have some clutch levers overnighted from las vegas to get it fixxed. We go into first round friday morning and both cars go out in the first round. The cars are both good but they went very slow so we get ready for the next day of racing where we start qualifing for the next race. We do our first qualifing session for both cars and it is good but both cars are still way slower than they should be and my dads transmission started leaking very slowly so we take it out and put the other one back in it and we dont have enough time to get it put back togethor for the 2nd qualifying session but we decide to not rush stuff and skip the 2nd session of qualifing with my dads car and just take my grandpas car out. My grandpas car didnt get down the track very good and it spun the tires and we wernt sitting in the groove very well so he gets out of the throttle. We go into 1st round and both cars are good to go. My grandpa redlights and my dad gets out of the throttle becase the dragster went right around him and he wasnt gonna catch up. We go to the hotel and get up Sunday and get to the track to take the awning down off the trailer and then a thunderstorm happens and it starts lightining and so my dad said he wasnt gonna get up on the trailer in a storm so we wait 2 and a half hours for the storm to pass and then we take the awning down and get ready to head home. We leave the track this time with a family member driving who has a CDL to avoid getting in toruble and we get onto the road to leave the track and it is very bumpy and somewhere on that road the tailgate must of been unlatched but the all the bumps or something because when we try and turn a corner all of a sudden the trailer just starts pushing the truck towards the curb and just hear this loud noise and the tailgate had jammed into the front of the trailer anf finialy broke off the truck and the truck started turning so here we are in the middle of the road trying to putt he tailgate in the bed of my grandpas truck since he was following us home. We get home safe last night but I can just say we had the worst luck for the races. I didnt mean to make this story so long but here it is.
Movie coming fall 2021
 
I forgot to add that the plus to the weekend was we got best engineered car there out of 400-500+ cars. We have the cleanest wiring of everyone and the car is very clean and was built very nice. The car has the best compnents on there and it will be a fast car when we get it to get down the track and get all the small issues fixed.
 
Yes ; thats a years worth of trouble .
Two things you don't say .
No ; I have no idea how fast i was going !
I am getting paid .
We got the same thing in Missouri comin from Iowa .
 
Thats what I told my dad. We got pulled over in kansas so I think the patrolman was just bored with his day and saw out of state plates with a decent size trailer and dually and wanted to mess with us. He was also a jerk when he came up to the truck and we even continued to be respectful.
 
We used to drive a freightliner semi with a big motorhome thing on the back and a stacker trailer with a combined length of 80ft and we never got messed with but with our small truck and trailer compared to the motorhome and stacker we start getting messed with by highway patrol. It makes no since.
 
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With a combination similar to this we were 80+ft long and never got messed and we used this to tow to 40+ races with but our 5th or 6th race with a 53ft trailer with dually we get messed with.
 
Thing is the patrolman was right . y'all said for money and tax write off , which means for pay , which means , commercial use .
Whole different rule set .

Least you weren't speeding ...;).....were you ?
 
We were going 72 in a 75. We asked around to some different people and they said even under the curcumstanses we are in and stuff that we shouldnt need a CDL and DOT. It is a real grey area I think.
 
My interpretation may be wrong but even after looking at Missouri's cdl requirements if you are not doing it for a commercial application then you don't need one AKA making money by transportation. I see race winnings akin to gambling winnings or casino winnings. But then again my interpretation of it may not be the same as an LEO. Also you aren't using air brakes so that's another reason you shouldn't need one.

Next time it happens you guys know not what to do. Be respectful but they do not need to know what your going to do or what is in your trailer.
 
The bigger problem is that DOT rules vary from state to state. Keeping track of it all is impossible for a "hobby" racer who is NOT doing this professionally as his full time income. Even within a state, it can be enforced differently by individual officers. Some are just fine with racers (and others) pulling 24' trailers with their pick-up trucks. Others get all excited like Roscoe P. Coltraine and want to pull over every truck and trailer they see to prove their manhood I guess.
Indiana changed their requirements 2 years ago so that anything over 10,000 GVWR is subject to DOT regs. This includes, but not limited to, gooseneck, 5th wheel, tag trailers and any combos in excess of 10,000. Doesn't matter if you're racing for pay or not.
The way I understand this came about, is due to the lack of ability to prove income, etc gained from events...for example show cattle. A farmer with a 1 ton dually pulls his 24 foot cattle trailer to a show. Now, neither the animals or the driver are getting paid at the event, but it has been shown (in a court of law) that an animal's value can be increased even if it only got a ribbon or honorable mention at the show. Therefor, trailering said animal is commercial. Same with 4H kids taking animals to the state fair. :(
One exception is that the farmers in Indiana have a 75 radius from their home base to use farm plates (which can be used on race trailers and truck & tractor pull trailers, etc.) Ok, but they can't travel out of state or go to a big event further than 75 miles from home.
It's gotten totally ridiculous.
We have a race rig similar (although certainly not as new and pretty) to the one MO predator racer posted.
Having "Motorhome/RV & Not for Hire" does nothing to appease DOT cops. It did at one time...now, it actually irritates them because it shows them that you are trying to circumvent, or be above the law.
We requested (and received) a letter from the head of INDOT several years ago faxed to us saying that our rig does not require CDL, DOT tags, etc, that we carry with us every time we travel. The current law supposedly supercedes that letter (ie no grandfather clause.)

The DOT officer in your case (MO predator racer) was VERY lenient with you. He may have been a real jerk, but he could have made things a WHOLE lot worse for you. Being placed out of service, unbelievable fines, etc.

I have tried to work with our state legislators to find some common ground on this issue and even the feds to get all the states in line with the same regulations....all to no avail. Individual states are using this as a money grab to fund other projects within the DOT. I've even reached out to the manufacturers (most of which are in our state!) and no one seems interested - they just give you a blank stare like they never heard of this issue and suggest to continue licensing the conversion rigs as motorhomes/rvs, and ignore DOT when you're pulling a trailer...or they give the "we're not liable answer" that the owner needs to follow the laws of their individual state.
One thing for sure...the owner is 100% liable. It's in your best interest to find out the laws in your state (and other states you'll be traveling through) yourself. Don't rely on what I, or anyone else - (including DOT officers) tell you.
Interpretation and enforcement vary so much it will make your head spin!
Good luck to all and be safe.

Blessings,
Brian Carlson
 
Sorry for your experience, we all have had something similar when traveling. But this is a great example of:
“ The Loosing Story is Always The Longest”
Better luck next time.

Best, WP
 
This weekend we had a double header drag race. There was a race from Thursday to friday and then saturday to sunday. We left for the races on Wednesday to make some test hit. We were about 15 minutes from Heartland Park Raceway and a Highway Patrolman is riding our butt and turns his lights on. We have a 53 foot aluminumn gooseneck and gmc 3500 is our towing setup. He gets to the window and says "Have you ever done a DOT inspection?" Then he starts asking us questions like how much is the entry fee and do we win a cash prize if we win. We tell him yes and that we right all of that off on our taxes. Then he tells us that the combined weight of our tow rig is supposed to be 26000lbs and we are at 39000lbs and that we are supposed to have a DOT because we are going across state lines to compete for a cash prize which means that we are commercial. Then he says that the person driving is supposed to have a Class A CDL. He tells us that if we want to be able to go to the drag strip we would have to be escorted by him. So we get on our way to the race track with a private escort from the patrolman. He then follows us into the racetrack at which point he sees that noone at the racetrack has a DOT on there truck and there are much bigger rigs than ours at the races. The only people he saw with a DOT on the truck and trailer was Goodyear Tires and Sunoco Racing Fuels. He tells us that if we want the truck to leave the racetrack that he cautions us that the person who drives it home has a CDL because if we get pulled over again than we would be in big trouble. That was the end of that but he just let us off with a warning and we thought that was gonna be the worst of our weekend of racing. Boy were we wrong. That was just the start of our bad luck. We made 2 test hits with our car and spun like crazy and we only went high 8s at less than 160 in the 1/8th mile which is very slow for our car. We threw on a different brand of tires and it hooked like crazy but we were still alot slower than we would like to be. We messed with jetting and everything but the car wasnt going down the track very fast. Qualifing goes ok with both cars. My dad goes around 8.75 which is slow for his car and my grandpa goes around 8.70 with his a little slow for his car but not to slow. My dads car starts having issues with when he is in a wheelie the car loses power and it loses power on the big end so we do all we can and at the very end of the wekend we realize it is probably because we had some ignition issues. We decide to swap tranys in my dads car to see if it goes faster on the launch which was before we figured out the real issue with the car was in the ignition. We put a different transmission in it with a different 1st gear and we get it all put in and start the car up and the transmission starts leaking like crazy out the front. SO we took it all out again and put a new front main seal in the transmission and it stops the leak after we put it in. Then we mess with my grandpsa car which is a stick car and we find out a clutch lever broke so we have some clutch levers overnighted from las vegas to get it fixxed. We go into first round friday morning and both cars go out in the first round. The cars are both good but they went very slow so we get ready for the next day of racing where we start qualifing for the next race. We do our first qualifing session for both cars and it is good but both cars are still way slower than they should be and my dads transmission started leaking very slowly so we take it out and put the other one back in it and we dont have enough time to get it put back togethor for the 2nd qualifying session but we decide to not rush stuff and skip the 2nd session of qualifing with my dads car and just take my grandpas car out. My grandpas car didnt get down the track very good and it spun the tires and we wernt sitting in the groove very well so he gets out of the throttle. We go into 1st round and both cars are good to go. My grandpa redlights and my dad gets out of the throttle becase the dragster went right around him and he wasnt gonna catch up. We go to the hotel and get up Sunday and get to the track to take the awning down off the trailer and then a thunderstorm happens and it starts lightining and so my dad said he wasnt gonna get up on the trailer in a storm so we wait 2 and a half hours for the storm to pass and then we take the awning down and get ready to head home. We leave the track this time with a family member driving who has a CDL to avoid getting in toruble and we get onto the road to leave the track and it is very bumpy and somewhere on that road the tailgate must of been unlatched but the all the bumps or something because when we try and turn a corner all of a sudden the trailer just starts pushing the truck towards the curb and just hear this loud noise and the tailgate had jammed into the front of the trailer anf finialy broke off the truck and the truck started turning so here we are in the middle of the road trying to putt he tailgate in the bed of my grandpas truck since he was following us home. We get home safe last night but I can just say we had the worst luck for the races. I didnt mean to make this story so long but here it is.
Thanks for sharing though!
We've all had days like this at the track. (And if someone thinks they haven't - their time is coming.) :)
Too bad you had a rotten weekend, but you can look forward to better days at the track.
It's been said that a bad day at the race track is still better than the best day at work. :)
 
In Iowa (many others) I believe anything with a GVWR of more than 26,000 requires a CDL. Regardless of if commercial or not. I think there are some exemptions for RV's, Farmers, Firefighters, and Military vehicles.
 
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