rickou812

iTrader: (10)

Give it time...

98catfish

iTrader: (13)

Hmmm....Got math? 1320 - 1000 = 200.....not!

Whats the fukin problem? you guys saying just fix the track, make the shut down longer.It takes real estate and money, And most tracks dont have the extra real estate.

For those of you who are saying dont watch till they go back to 1/4m, well when you stop watching the sponsors will quit backing these cars and when that happens there wont be enough cars to field an event. Then we lose more fans ,sponsors, and cars.

The 1000' race will be about .3 quicker and 30-50 mph slower and less blown apart motors, less oil downs(which means less down time).

I say quit bitching and enjoy the greatest sport in the world.

Btw 90% of the drivers are for this change. So I'd say it'll be this way for a while. Better get used to it or

Doug

JL ws-6

iTrader: (50)

I would rather see them run the 1/8th and that's it until they can come up with a real solution to the problem.

The catch cable like the navy uses was a topic of conversation the other day, I dunno if that will work for cars going 300+ or not, but it may.

safety first, they need to do something, I don't think this is the right decision, but it's something.

FASTFATBOY

iTrader: (23)

NOTHING would have saved Kalittas life that day on that track PERIOD!

The human body CANNOT stand that kind of deceleration, he hit that pole/wall at 200+ mph and came to an instant stop(almost)

Organs turn to jelly in that kind of hit.


The EASY answer is fire retardent chutes that deploy in case of fire or explosion. How many times have you seen chutes burn off behind a fire? About a million times? And this has not been addressed since the late 70's WTF??


This is a knee jerk reaction by the NHRA, racing is INHERENTLY dangerous, he knew the risks. As do all the others.


David

GIZMO

iTrader: (8)

A friend of mine had his brakes fail in a Stock Eliminator car at Gainesville this year. I will try to post a picture of what was left. That extra 320 ft isn't going to mean much to a 300 mph car without fixing the sand trap, net, etc. The Pros have been asking for this change for a while. Quite a few racers have been killed by top end failures in the last few years. This is a good move by the NHRA.

1QuickT-A

iTrader: (12)

I think its a good thing for the most part.. It might not be perminent, but they had to at least TRY something.. There was no way to see how it would work without actually doing it. I would be fine with them racing 1/8th mile myself.. I watched the IHRA Dragsters run at Huntsville a few years ago and it was awesome (low 3 sec E.T. @ 260+mph). All of the thrill and excitement comes in the first half of the track anyways. Not many people are gonna notice a 320ft difference at the end of the run either. The starting line is where its at!!

omcar

iTrader: (10)

Get rid of the Funny car class.. Keep top Fuel..Funny car has the motor in front with a lid over the whole car..What a set-up for a problem like wheb the engine explodes it's in your face!

JL ws-6

iTrader: (50)

Get rid of funny car.... yeah right. That, is one thing that I know will NEVER happen

bballr4567

iTrader: (5)

Giving them an extra 320 feet will do exactly what? How many cars in the past 4 years actually gone into the sand trap? It just doesnt happen that often.

They need to find a way to SLOW down and STOP the cars. Be it a aircraft carrier system or something completely innovative it needs to be done. Making them go 1000' feet doesnt change the fact they are still traveling at 280+ MPH and they still have to stop.

Personally Im all for slowing down the cars but make the track 1/4. Make the engines smaller or even the blower. That might take a while though and costs will be outrageous.

Oh well at least the NHRA is doing something but I still dont think its the right thing.

rickou812

iTrader: (10)

If you are for slowing the cars down, just don't waste your money going to a nationals event and go on any Saturday and watch us locals run....

I have been going to the Gator Nationals for over 12 years straight and have to drive from N. Florida to do it. If NHRA wants to loose my money that is what they should do, slow 'em down.

There is plenty that can be done to improve safety.
1.) As mentioned above Flame proof chutes!!
2.) Front brakes on all the cars. The Top fuel classes do not run front brakes and this is the number 1 reason why they can not stop. Don't believe me, try to stop your motorcycle from 55mph using only the rear brakes in a hurry.. :lol
3.)Follow nascar's lead on improving catch areas. Use peas stones, styrofoam, and as last resort a tire barrier. But for the sake of life!! REMOVE anything that will cause an abrupt stop like concrete poles..
4. etc.....

The last thing NHRA needs to do is cut it's nose of to spite it's face and loose what loyal fans they do have!! People watch this because it is dangerous and unbelievable. If you take that away, no one will care to watch it anymore. This is proven over and over every weekend at any dragstrip.
On regular bracket race night, they are lucky to get 50 to 100 spectators, but add the awesome ProMods that look as if they are going to crash every pass, the place is packed and has standing room only.

And if NHRA goes in the direction of slowing the cars down, there will be plenty of other organizations that will be glad to step in and provide this outlet. And a line of people that would love to risk it all to drive them!!
JMO

DADDY&GIRL93TA

Very good point there.

RAGENZ28

iTrader: (5)

Track designs and safety measures are outdated. Shutting down at 300 mph is still going to travel 500 extra feet in no time. They need to do testing and figure out how to drag down a run away vehicle at 300 mph.

The man died because they did not plan for a car to coast from full speed into the wall at the end of their track. Brakes fail, drivers get hurt and cutting 300 ft off a pass isn't going to do anything. Without brakes or a driver to stop his/her own car it won't matter if the pass is 300 feet less or the track is 800 feet longer, you hit a wall at 200mph+ at the end of a track and you're fucked.

They need to get some engineers to redesign tracks that need it and implement a system to shut a run away car down whether it is netting, pits or a combination of things something needs to happen, it's pretty sad when any one dies doing something they love or not because proper safety wasn't engineered into a sport.

I personally think shut downs should be longer, uphill and have a very long pit with a combination of netting and some type of substance that will absorb the velocity of a fast moving object.

I am a crash survivor myself and with 3 feet of scars and 3 metal plates and 17 screws in my body I am all about safety. Hopefully we can all encourage others to run more safety gear and come up with ideas of better ways to make the sport we all love safer for everyone.

1,000 ft is a start, not a solution, hopefully a lot of minds with the best interest in the sport can figure it out before anyone else it hurt.

Blessings to his family and friends as well, we'll all miss him

Duffster

iTrader: (103)

Just a crazy idea here, but what about those plastic barracades w/sand in them. . .use water instead and add about 600 or so feet to the end where the sand already is. . .have them coning in or narrowing the gap between them. yes, the plastic & water will **** up the body of the car, but if it gets there, it should slow it down. . .say like10 feet wide at the mouth and then tapering down to like 3 feet at the end?

98catfish

iTrader: (13)

where were all you guys who are bitching about this when IHRA made this change last year?

As far as Scott Kallita I firmly believe he was dead or at the very least unconscience before the chutes were even released. That car was still accellerating till it hit that pole.
if that pole hadn't stopped his car ,where would it have ended up? I agree something needs to be done to slow these cars down (not in the 1/4 or 1/8 or 1000'). I mean the shut down. Most of the tracks will not be able to afford to do the modifications some of you are suggesting. These tracks dont really make that much money unless it is a national event.


Can't we all just get along

Doug

blackfang

iTrader: (2)

I think many of you are not fully understanding why they have done this.

It has been said by many racers that the most engine damage occurs after 1,000 ft. Scott's engine exploded at the finish line and was probably unconscious when it exploded. Could he be alive today if they shut down at 1,000? Who knows, it makes you think. I do not know, I didn't walk down there to check, but when I saw it go in front of me, I knew something was wrong as the fire bottles never came on and the car made no attemtp to slow down.

The reason they are doing this is a temporary fix until they can find out why the engine let go the way it did. With that and the racers giving them input about when engine damage occurs is probably why they came up with this temporary fix.

RAGENZ28

iTrader: (5)

The chutes were not released scott was obviously knocked out or dead and the chute happened to come out after the explosion, the guy didn't pull anything it was blown open. Whether it was 1,000 ft or 1,320 the guy coasted into a wall head on over 200 mph, no one survives that.

It really doesn't matter if they limited the pass to 1,000 ft, they guy would have been going 300 mph anyways and still would have died.

brandoz28

iTrader: (3)

NHRA funny cars have a safety that deploys the chutes when the body pops off of the chassis, scott's chutes started to deploy, but they were already engulfed in flame

G&HRacing

At 300 MPH you are moving 440 Feet per Second, does 320 feet make a big difference? Maybe it will, I'm just asking. The fuse will just be shorter and they'll probably turn the wick up and run faster to 1000 ft than they are now. Will they be blowing up at 800ft now, instead of just past 1000ft?

I can't see that it would have helped Scott, he was most likely knocked out and would have probably had the same out come, due to the way the end of that track is constructed. Seems to me what would have helped Scott would have been chutes that work and do not burn up.

I'm not complaining, NHRA had to do something, even if it's just temporary till they figure things out. Personally I'm fine with every track going to 1000 foot or even 1/8 mile. I don't see NHRA ever going to 1/8 though, who's going to pay to set in all those seats out to 1320.

mrdragster1970

.

Just read this morning that Connie stated to friends Scott was alive & on the brakes, after the engine let go.
The problem was they were soaked in oil.

I assume this info came from video, people standing near the shut down, the data recorder or the ford box.
It did not go into anything else.

Me personally, I don't care it still sucks, losing people is not part of racing. Something has to be figured out.
I still say I would rather try 20 stupid ideas, than do nothing.

.

98catfish

iTrader: (13)

I agree I was simply stating I like the new rules! If that run was to the 1k the motor would not have blown hence no oil on the brakes or the track.
Hell I think 1/8m might be even better.

Doug