Contempo,

No such thing as a dumb question....Every gas engine we use in our models has a pump in it and the only time gas is allowed through the carb is when the pump is moving which happens only when the crankshft is moving be it by turning it over by hand or the engine is actually running. Now if the pump is bad then fuel can flow into the carb and engine but that is not that common but can happen when/if the pump diaphram wears out or cracks from being dry after sitting a very long time and if it gets to that point you will most likely never get the engine to start and if it does it will not run well or long at all