Art,
Like you, I was very pleased with the latest issue of JJ, especially the great coverage of Slalom! Also, like you, I was rather alarmed to see he pic of a driver with his arm out the window. As the photo caption admonishes, "Don't try this at home" -- or anywhere else, for that matter!
This brings up a rules issue which has been bothering me for some time, namely the driver's side window halfway up. Most racing requires just the opposite: windows down, so that in the event of a real emergency the driver can be easily extricated from the car. Even though we have been very fortunate in the JCNA Slalom to have no incidents of that kind, I still find the rule contrary to what I feel is good practice. Furthermore, it seems positively ludicrous in a sport which has no corrolary rule for open cars, and which doesn't require roll bars.
I also recall discussion somewhere about windows being all the way down because of the risk of serious cuts about the neck from the unprotected edge of the glassin a radical incident. It is my opinion that this rule should be deleted, and that all cars should run with the front windows all the way down, all the time.
Best wishes for a New Year that always keeps the shiny side up!
Warren Hansen