Automatic deployment equipment (1 Viewer)

[flapjack]

Please tell me if I am off base here, but...

Isn't it time for the NHRA to mandate some sort of automatic deployment
system for chutes, engine cut off, and braking for the alcohol classes, and
have that same deployment system remotely triggered if the driver has not
done so within so many feet of the finish line?

 

[.]

Please tell me if I am off base here, but...

Isn't it time for the NHRA to mandate some sort of automatic deployment
system for chutes, engine cut off, and braking for the alcohol classes, and
have that same deployment system remotely triggered if the driver has not
done so within so many feet of the finish line?

The chutes were out on Mark's car..... but they somehow broke off the car.

 

[NYNitro86]

The chutes were out on Mark's car..... but they somehow broke off the car.

it was like what happened to Alexis DeJoria's car a year ago @ ETown.

 

[flapjack]

The chutes were out on Mark's car..... but they somehow broke off the car.

I knew I would be off base...

 

[Super Mod]

it was like what happened to Alexis DeJoria's car a year ago @ ETown.

Exactly................. This track is also sub-standard & not worthy of a national event

 

[Silly Savage]

Exactly................. This track is also sub-standard & not worthy of a national event

For curiousity sake, what is substandard about this track?

 

[Wayne]

For curiousity sake, what is substandard about this track?

Me too! This is my home track and there lots & lots of things wrong with the facility & the owners but I've NEVER heard a complaint with the length & quality of the shut down area.

Please Jack, explain.

 

[clwill]

Nothing's wrong with the track itself, it's actually quite good now that the bumps have been fixed. We run a hardtail car, which shows every little bump in the racepak data, and with a national event prep our car runs clean and clear the whole 1320 to 173mph.

But, holy cow, the facility is a hole. The bleachers couldn't be any more rickety or tight. Hell, if I was as close to the person in front of me in any other public situation, they'd call the cops on me...

Problem is, this is the only national event in division 6, and there's no place else to go...

 

[Wayne]

100% again Chris.
I am/was assuming that Jack was talking about the racing surface & the shut-down area.

In fact, had a guy almost go thru a section of wooden bleacher just a few spaces away from me today!!! Rotted wood.

 

[Speed1288]

reminds me of my home track, Atco. Total S-hole but you wont find a faster, longer, smoother track on the east coast.

 

[The Counterfeiter]

Isn't it time for the NHRA to mandate some sort of automatic deployment system for chutes, engine cut off, and braking for the alcohol classes, and have that same deployment system remotely triggered if the driver has notdone so within so many feet of the finish line?

We've discussed this before and there are a number of issues. First, there were problems with the auto shutoff systems for fuel cars and i don't know if that has been solved. Second, if alcohol classes were to implement this and continue to run to 1320', it would require a second transmitter at a different location than the fuel cars' - there are already problems switching timing system back and forth from 1000' to 1320. Do we need a safety system that needs to be switched? And . . . experienced racers are finally speaking out on the fact that the nets are not the answer to stopping any class of dragster, even at lower speeds.
Suggestions? (not that you want to hear this) - 1. All Pro and Alcohol classes run to 1000'. No more track prep issues. 320' more stopping distance for TAFC and TAD, (both of which have far less drag than their fuel counterparts). No more switching timing system. And, IF an auto shutoff system can be made to work 100% of the time, one transmitter.
2. Start researching an alternative to the nets and/or an Indycar style carbon fiber tub to protect drivers. Expensive? - yes. What is one life worth?
Let 'er rip!

 

[Randy]

We already have the same safety system that the nitro cars have on our cars. It activates in the event of an engine explosion or when the fire bottles are set off. It hits the chutes, shuts the fuel shut off and kills the ignition. The activation control box has a plug in port for the receiver should NHRA decide we need one for activating the system at a point on the track. I suppose there could be two transmitters. One frequency to activate TF and FC at 1,000 feet and a second frequency for TAD/TAFC at 1/4 mile.

In terms of shut off area Seattle is about 700 feet longer than Pomona and is one of the longest on the tour so more room may not be the answer. In 2008 John Lombardo, Jr., drove my TAFC into the catch net in Seattle at just 70 miles per hour and we ended up cutting the car at the rear motorplate and replacing the whole thing. Catch nets are brutal.

In the Competionplus.com article someone said they need a different containment device besides nets, something like the run off areas like other forms of motorsports use. The only problem is, other forms of motorsports don't typically have cars going upwards of 200 miles per hour into the end of the property.

This needs to stop. Mark was a great guy and we are all going to miss him.

 

[Jim]

reminds me of my home track, Atco. Total S-hole but you wont find a faster, longer, smoother track on the east coast.

That's not a fair comment. Joe Sway has put a lot of money into Atco over the past few years and has made a lot of improvement. Over the past seven or eight years, in addition to keeping a good track surface, he has:

• Replaced the old Jersey barriers with concrete
• Paved more of the pit area
• Replaced the old tower with a new tower and suite
• Replaced the old, wooden bleachers on the tower side with new aluminum bleachers

.

Sure, there's still more to be done but Joe has been steadily improving Atco, and it is not fair to ignore what he has done.

Jim

 

[clwill]

We already have the same safety system that the nitro cars have on our cars. It activates in the event of an engine explosion or when the fire bottles are set off. It hits the chutes, shuts the fuel shut off and kills the ignition. The activation control box has a plug in port for the receiver should NHRA decide we need one for activating the system at a point on the track. I suppose there could be two transmitters. One frequency to activate TF and FC at 1,000 feet and a second frequency for TAD/TAFC at 1/4 mile.

In terms of shut off area Seattle is about 700 feet longer than Pomona and is one of the longest on the tour so more room may not be the answer. In 2008 John Lombardo, Jr., drove my TAFC into the catch net in Seattle at just 70 miles per hour and we ended up cutting the car at the rear motorplate and replacing the whole thing. Catch nets are brutal.

In the Competionplus.com article someone said they need a different containment device besides nets, something like the run off areas like other forms of motorsports use. The only problem is, other forms of motorsports don't typically have cars going upwards of 200 miles per hour into the end of the property.

This needs to stop. Mark was a great guy and we are all going to miss him.

Randy, you're very right on many points, except one. Indycar has SAFER barriers that people regularly hit at 200+ and walk away. It's clear that some kind of technology could be developed to make incidents like Mark's survivable.

 

[Ugly one]

I've got it Chris, an F16 drop hook.

 

[Randy]

Randy, you're very right on many points, except one. Indycar has SAFER barriers that people regularly hit at 200+ and walk away. It's clear that some kind of technology could be developed to make incidents like Mark's survivable.

You have to agree Indy Cars rarely hit the safer barriers absolutely dead head on. They are usually struck in the corners. Drivers with any kind of impact risk losing their legs in those things. And the Indy safety record isn't much better.

If you have an idea for "some kind of technology" I would forward it to the NHRA. Dragsters have their own set of issues (steering columns being shoved into the driver, no engine in front to protect the drivers ala funny car and door cars, etc.).

 

[Rajunz]

In the Competionplus.com article someone said they need a different containment device besides nets, something like the run off areas like other forms of motorsports use. The only problem is, other forms of motorsports don't typically have cars going upwards of 200 miles per hour into the end of the property.

This needs to stop. Mark was a great guy and we are all going to miss him.

My idea for safer shutdown areas is to build a tapered section at the end of the tracks that is built out of safer barriers that NASCAR has designed. Taper it down enough to scrub off the speeds. Am I way off base in this thinking???

 

[handsome]

again with these ideas people. . please refrain from all your ideas and rants of how to fix this sport. your ideas won't bring back Mark. while your intentions are very noble ,some are grieving at the loss of a loved one.

 

[clwill]

You have to agree Indy Cars rarely hit the safer barriers absolutely dead head on. They are usually struck in the corners. Drivers with any kind of impact risk losing their legs in those things. And the Indy safety record isn't much better.

Agreed. But I've seen several Indy car crashes where it was virtually head on, and the driver had maybe a broken leg. The point is, there is technology that has vastly improved their safety. IndyCar used to be much worse, any accident was immediately assumed to be a death.

It seems to me it's a result of NASCAR, IndyCar, F1, etc. spending money to get experts in, designing a system (both car and track), and implementing it. NHRA seems to be just making passing efforts at solving it.

There needs to be a system that can more safely stop a car of any design that is independent of things working on the car. With no room for human error, or unconscious driver, or magic things working on the car. Is that some combination of foam barriers, elevation changes, increasingly rigid nets/barriers or ??? I don't know, I'm not an expert. But it should be completely aside from an attempt to shut off the engine and deploy the chutes remotely -- which is a good idea, but shouldn't be relied on.

 

[flash]

That's not a fair comment. Joe Sway has put a lot of money into Atco over the past few years and has made a lot of improvement. Over the past seven or eight years, in addition to keeping a good track surface, he has:

• Replaced the old Jersey barriers with concrete
• Paved more of the pit area
• Replaced the old tower with a new tower and suite
• Replaced the old, wooden bleachers on the tower side with new aluminum bleachers

.

Sure, there's still more to be done but Joe has been steadily improving Atco, and it is not fair to ignore what he has done.

Jim

Jim, you're absolutely correct. The difference in Atco now vs. several years ago is night and day. Kudos to Joe Sway for all his effort and improvements.