Ron
I'm using your post as an example only...
In TAD we do the burnout in high gear, 3rd... If we were to do it in low and shift, there would be a whole bunch of paper weight's before you pushed the button... "I Think"
As far as conflicting facts... There are always many many witnesses to a plane crash, that later turn out to not jive with most of the other accounts or the black box recordings... "I Think".... Along with UFO sightings "Probably"

And Thanks Vaughn, as if my morning needed that...
I think I'm going away now...

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theDARKSIDE- TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER*

Ray,

I appreciate your concern, and your opinion, I would be a hypocrite if I didn't.

What ticked me off was that just after Eric's death you got on here and told everyone not to speculate, not to point fingers, what not to say until the official findings were released, a fair chunk of your nearly 3000 posts consisted of this.

Yet, on this topic you spin off on people involved in this incident without an official report or findings being published stating exactly what contributed to this.

I agree that there were some very poor decisions made, but we don't yet know all contributing factors, until we do we shouldn't hang anyone.

Cheers,

Paul

Paul
Can you pin point to the many people making stupid decisions in the video who contributed to this tragedy besides I think the driver??

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theDARKSIDE- TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER*

Paul
I would have to say that nearly 2,300 plus of my posts are from doing race results... I will go back and re-read my posts about what I was saying about the EM deal... But now you are doing the same thing that you are slamming me for back then... Let's wait and see, or is it because you think I have drawn a conclusion and am throwing Troy under his vette?? What really gives man?? I think I get it now... We had no video or accounts from eye witnesses in the EM case... That is a huge difference in this case...

Sorry for getting on your nerves really...
I really try to be funny much more than confrontational...

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theDARKSIDE- TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER*

Paul
I promise to go away after this...

I knew things about Eric from people dealing with the situation, that I could not reveal nor would I... Which is why I asked people to wait before jumping the gun...

Do you remember all the posts about the wall, and we should do something about a safer barrier before another senseless death occurs because of those hard concrete walls... Was that what caused us to lose Eric??

And what ever happened to those concerns and everyone that was calling for that issue to be addressed??

Now that you know, that I knew much more than I could say here then, or now... Maybe this will help you understand that I do not just talk out of my butt...

As far as Selmer... Yes we should wait for an official finding, however, we are LOOKING at video, hearing eyewitness accounts, etc. So it is very hard not to make assumsions or get a pretty good idea of what went wrong... And if anyone involved with the investigation was involved with giving the go ahead to perform this "stunt" which I hate that word BTW... Things are going to never be released and cover ups will be as bad as the finger pointing... You think that paper shreader isn't smoking still??

Sorry for my rant again Paul...
I'll go back to sanding my 74 Datsun Kingcab...

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theDARKSIDE- TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER*

It's a sad thing that occured, but what is quoted above is indeed a fact. The promotor is standing between the guardrails in this shot, for what ever reason, hung throttle, ego, ??? he just blew right on passed him. NO DOUBT that it was an accident, a terrible, terrible accident.

I think it took serious balls to go on tv and comment on the tragedy.

The media will report what they want regardless of the facts.
People will think what they want and point fingers as they see fit.

All I know is that as a non NHRA/IHRA event both sanctioning bodies would be silent when there is a need for a true sanctioning body to speak up. I somehow believe the NFL would speak up if someone got beaned by a football thrown by a professional quarterback and died. I somehow think MLB would speak up if a major league slugger hit a baseball and someone was killed.

In this case our sanctioning bodies, most likely under heavy legal advice, elected to be silent. My expectation would be that by today, Tuesday, some sort of statement would be issued to protect the integrity of our sport and use this tragic occurance to allow NHRA/IHRA to assume the role of a sanctioning body and implement a plan to reassure people of the professionalism of the industry overall and the goal of safety first.

It may be a painful lump to swallow, but implementing a positive policy to improve the safety of all automotive events, not just NHRA/IHRA sanctioned, absolutely needs to be the focus of a true sanctioning body.

I am not ualified to speak of the details of the occurance as I was not there and even if I was I am not an expert in the details of racing on that performance level. However I do have over 4500 passes in my bracket car under my belt and I do agree that a road crown can easily cause the type of situation that occured (10 years in highway/bridge construction).

I also know that most people would not know the full extent of handling issues associated with road crowns unless they worked in construction/engineering.

If nothing else, this raises the spectre of all the online videos I have seen where people do street race with spectators lining the streets and NHRA/IHRA should (in my opinion) re-double their efforts and combine resources in a revived "Take it to the track" program.

Since NHRA is left with direct control of the sportsman categories their management dovetails neatly with the IHRA demographic.

Safety first needs to be embedded into the minds of everyone who get behind the wheel of a car be it a Prius of a Top Fuel Dragster.

I may get slammed for this but it is the job of NHRA/IHRA, after appropriate legal consultation, to implement a set of "best practices" and standards for events that involve members promoting the sport of drag racing.

I believe the television interview was a good thing for our sport, regardless of any perceived affiliations, gains or losses, that may or may not have initiated it. Someone needed to speak up, marketing and bas aside, and minimize mis-information. Regardless of personal opinions and what "people in the know" may think, it was a good interview for the general public to hear.

Nothing that anyone says will deflect the trainloads of lawyers who are undoubtedly educating themselves trainloads with partial information with which to use to achieve their goals. This interview was done intelligently and with forethought and will serve as a backdrop for whatever unfolds next. People can argue all day about the speaker and content but interms of the general public this was a good thing to happen and so far the only good thing that has come out of this horrific accident.

Well said Ted!!

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Josh

www.jbracecraft.com

you are 100% correct, they'd get flamed regardless of what they said and with todays sue happy society they need to keep their distance

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Tact is for those not witty enough for sarcasm

The media and lawyers will draw them in regardless of whether they make a statement or not. Regardless, a sanctioning body has a responsibility to the sport as a whole and they are capable of making a staement about how they they are burning the midnight oil to assist their competitor base with developing a set of standards and procedures to reduce the risk of this type of tragedy occuring again. They do not need to throw anyone under a bus to place themselves in position to "take the high road" as this horror did not occur under their roof.

If nothing else, and as self serving as it may sound, a demonstration of being pro-active will professionalize NHRA/IHRA in the mind of the public. I know it sounds awful but if there is any way some good can come out of this accident ultimately lives may be saved.

First of all, it would be soooo nice if some of you would grow up and quit your endless bickering. It's so worn out already!

Second of all, I don't see why everyone thinks this is going to hurt our sport so much. Yes, it was a terrible accident, and it's only the beginning of what will no doubt be a very long road for Troy, his team and the families of those who were killed or hurt. I can't imagine what they're going through. But I don't see how it would negatively affect our sport as a whole. I think it will have a huge affect on how "exhibition" or "special event" type things, for lack of a better phrase, will be conducted, if at all. No doubt about that. But I don't see a major negative impact on NHRA or drag racing as a whole. Only time will tell.

What does NHRA have to do with any of this is my question... It was not an NHRA event and had nothing to do in any way that involves NHRA, other than he participated in events held by them in the past... So I'm assuming that I am missing the point... Why get involved in something that you are, and have been totally against from day one?? Just to say, see I told you so... They would be on TV every single day in just about every city USA

If something would have happened at an NHRA or IHRA track, then of course they would have to make a statement... But your football and baseball analogy Ted only works if what you are implying, is that if something happened in a stadium setting loaded with fans, and not at something like a family picnic...

The last I knew, NHRA does not run events on public roads...

And I honestly appreciate your knowledge of road surfaces and crowns, but at what point does the bulb go off and common sense kicks in telling someone that this is not safe, legal or a very good idea... We all know what happens when a track is not prepped properly... Look at Bristol as an example or any other track this year... What was that roadway prepped with?? Now read the sidewall on a drag slick and it says, not for highway use...


And if it is true about Burk having ties with PM or AMS, I would rather have seen him wear a shirt that did not say DRAG RACING on it, with online in script very small, so don't even go there... Looked like he was the spokesman for all of DR, which is not even close... And his website being put on the screen was over the top to me...

Just wondering outloud to a few questions... Sorry in advance...

I know we are never going to all see this the same way...

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theDARKSIDE- TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER*

I am not a lawyer and this is beyond my knowledge. You are probably correct. However I was not going tdown the "party line" or a track scenario. I was looking at if from the perspective of a best practices or standards for professional racers to follow as a matter of course.

In the IT industry which is also full of specific situations with differeing opinions and different rules and a changing playing field we do this through vender neutral certifications. There is no warranty on the certification except for a basic competency. I'm simply thinking along the lines of very basic stuff.

However I am probably just full of "wishful thinking tonight"... Ahh well.

The list of who was at fault is very long. It is obvious from the video the burn out was longer than 50 feet....as I assume it has been every year they have had the event. I've seen ProMods at the track to 660' burn outs. It dosent take much to get out of shape and bad things happen. When I do a crowd pleaser....I'll go as long as I can.

Who ever set up the event, allowed the spectators that close with NO barricades all share in the responsiblity, in my opinion, more than the driver. After all, the driver had an accident.

Well, this explains it... Where's the shaking head smilie??

::: Drag Racing Online ::: Burks Blast - My ten seconds of fame or what I learned about the elite media - 6/18/2007

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theDARKSIDE- TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER*