"You could build a [ETC] piece that would be one-and-a-quarter inch long, three-quarters of an inch wide, and an eighth of an inch thick using surface-mount circuit board technology," one manufacturer of ETC explained to me. "You could have a custom IC (integrated circuit) made for $50,000 that would be a one-quarter inch cube and could activate with a single, hair-sized wire. It's getting awful hard to find this stuff."

Right now, you can spend about $8,000 for ETC that might be found if both car and racer were given a post-race exam that would do a proctologist proud, or if the team was slack in its installation. To be successful in uncovering ETC at work, the inspection crew might have to involve X-rays, a pat-down search of a driver getting out of his car, a power metal saw, a cutting torch, and about eight hours of inspection-and I'm probably exaggerating just a little.

So, the cost of policing to this extent is so high (both politically and financially), and the odds of discovering certain current versions of ETC are so low that I don't think it's worth the effort. In my view, circle racing sanctioning bodies should just consider legalizing ETC and choose other, less formidable tech battles to fight.

ETC DEFINED
Basically, electronic traction control involves the electronic management of engine power to the driving wheels in order to achieve optimum grip from the tires. In this article we're only going to consider publicly available ETC for carbureted, rear-drive race cars without electronic engine management controls because the majority of race cars fit that description. This is not to say that ETC isn't available for race cars with electronic management of ignition and fuel-it is, and it's actually easier to implement and harder to detect-but the market caters to the greatest number of potential customers.

This is a used ETC system that uses ground speed measured via the round cylinder radar (at left) for tire slip calculation. The cylinder is mounted with a line-of-sight to the track surface. The 9-volt battery (center) shows the scale of the components-a challenge to mount secretly, but certainly not impossible.

Some slip of the driving wheels' tires is desirable for maximum traction-typically between eight and 12 percent, depending on track conditions and tires. Racers learn over time to manage the application of engine power to get the best grip via a calibrated right foot. He or she learns to sense and absorb inputs from the car and conditions, process those inputs, and then adjust the throttle for best grip. With ETC, electronics approximate the same actions, and in many cases the sensitivity and adjustability of the electronics is superior to the racer's seat-of-the-pants feel, so lap times improve, or at least stay exceptionally consistent.

ETC detects tire slip and then uses different methods to manage it, although all methods rely on reducing engine power to the driving tires. What separates the current ETC units on the open market is: 1) how they detect and discern excessive tire slip, and once doing so; 2) how they control the engine output to reduce it; and 3) their packaging of the sensor and control circuitry.

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