Another drag racer death

[mikea96]

Another top driver killed this time in my neck of the woods at Pacific raceways in Kent WA during eliminations for the NHRA northwest nationals.
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/98211104.html

[fastang]

Yep, NHRA is having some big problems right now. I predict the alky classes will be running 1000 feet before the next race. I went to Joliet this year and an alky funny car lost its chutes and got destroyed in the sand trap/net. Driver was very lucky to not be hurt bad.

[m2fit4u2]

Instead of them just shortening the length of which they race, I would rather them just lengthen the shutdown area. Yes, yes I know that would cost more but all of the NHRA races I have been to have always been packed; don't tell me that NHRA isnt making money. I stopped going to NHRA events as soon as they changed the length for Top Fuel.

[Eau Rouge]

I stopped going to NHRA events as soon as they changed the length for Top Fuel.

The racing didn't change one bit when they made the adjustment to 1000 feet. In fact, it's as good or better, because they aren't blowing everything up on EVERY pass. It's kinda silly to say that you never went back to another race because they removed 320 feet from the end of the track that you can't see from the grandstands anyway (a whole .7 of a second for the fuel cars). Nothing changed in the racing. They are still running 320+ mph, on top of it.

The shut down lengths of many tracks on the schedule cannot be lengthened, due to property restrictions. Englishtown is a good example. There isn't room to make it any longer because of a street behind the track. There are houses and farms behind other tracks that won't allow longer shut down area, either. The thing is, they can keep a rogue airplane from shooting off of the end of an aircraft carrier moving MUCH faster, they should be able to figure out how to slow down and stop drag cars from 300mph. I think the NHRA is dragging their feet on this, and they need to be held accountable for it. They need to look at other options, like inclines, or tail hooks or not running tracks without mandatory long shut down areas.



In this case, I don't know if the death was caused by anything other than a chassis that folded in the wrong places and penetrated the driver's compartment. The car was slowed to a reasonable speed when it hit the sand trap, and should not have buckled the way it did. Many other cars have hit sand traps going a LOT faster than that car was, and have raced again in the next round of eliminations.

[m2fit4u2]

I agree with you that the NHRA have been dragging their feet and that there are possibly many other alternatives to slowing the cars down. I like the incline idea, I do not know why they did not build all dragstipes that ended going up a hill, let gravity provide the free resistance.

I may be one of the few who actually will walk down to top end to watch them make a few passes, but they have always raced 1320 and 1320 is were I think they should stay; I do not see that happening in the foreseeable future

[Eau Rouge]

Meh, that's like saying that you have used corded rotary dial phone your whole life and that's all you will ever use. Everything changes, everything evolves. If you don't change with it, you get left behind. 1320 is just a number, there is nothing to cling to there other than historic reverence and nostalgia. If we all held on to all of those historical sports watermarks, there would be no helmets in football, they'd only play baseball only in the daytime and we'd all still be using persimmon wood golf clubs.





The NHRA could do a LOT by restricting rear tire size and construction to limit speeds, but they (like baseball did in the steroid era), like living on the edge because it brings in the spectators.

[m2fit4u2]

They do not need to do more restricting, or shorten the track and baseball players still do steroids. The NHRA just does not want to front the money to apply the more "modern" advances of slowing down 8500hp fuel cars. It was just a cheap and easy quick fix for them. This type of racing modernization is not what I like to see in terms of racing evolution.

[MelvinsArmy]

no helmets in football.

Now that is a football game I would watch!

[m2fit4u2]

[Der Kommissar]

I was always a stickler for 1/4 mile too until many of the tracks changed to 1/8 mile for drag radial and Outlaw 10.5. I think the 1/8 mile stuff is more exciting to watch now. Getting some crazy numbers out there from the turbo cars and it's saving on equipment too.

[Lowgear]

Meh, that's like saying that you have used corded rotary dial phone your whole life and that's all you will ever use. Everything changes, everything evolves. If you don't change with it, you get left behind. 1320 is just a number, there is nothing to cling to there other than historic reverence and nostalgia. If we all held on to all of those historical sports watermarks, there would be no helmets in football, they'd only play baseball only in the daytime and we'd all still be using persimmon wood golf clubs.

...or be playing with vintage R/C's.