Oh boy, look what I have to look forward to! LOL
I've been thinking about the "soft start" glow drivers lately. It's a good idea unless the engine is flooded. Then it's a really BAD idea. We used to start circle track engines this way: hit the starter, get the engine turning, then turn on the ignition. Works great. The idea here was to the flywheel to store energy - this helped the starter a lot. A high compression race engine puts a severe load on the starter. We ran those things with a lot of advance too so if you didn't start this way sometimes you'd make the starter VERY unhappy when the engine kicked back. Sounds like that's what happens when you start a YS. The last thing you want to do is force a flooded engine to turn and then light the fire. I can see this as a cause for piston failure over time. I agree that you should make absolutely sure that the engine isn't flooded no matter what type of starter / glow igniter you're using. A little rich is OK - slobbering with fuel is not.

John Pavlick
Team Black Magic, Tech-Aero Designs