As far as the track prep is concerned it's a tough issue to resolve. One of the big problems the fuel cars have is the tires chunking. When huge chunks of rubber get pulled out of the tire it inevitably leads to more tire failures which causes real bad things to happen. The more 'bite' the track has the more chunking occurs. How do you combat this if you're the NHRA? You don't make the last part of the track as sticky as the first. With the amount of down force the fuel car's big wings are creating this only puts more and more stress on the tires as the car travels down the strip.
Conversely the non-nitro cars need the track to be consistently sticky all the way down. Because of this NHRA is in a tough situation. Make the track really 'tight' all the way down and risk the fuel tires failing more often but keeping all the other cars safer, or make the track safer for the fuel cars and put the rest of racers in a little more danger. I think this is where WJ gets his gripe. He looks at it from a pure numbers standpoint. Make the track perfect for the 1-2% (Nitro) or make the track perfect for the other 98-99%? It's definitely a tough balancing act especially since the 1-2% are the real crowd favorites and the money makers.
As for the shutdowns, if the tracks are not able to extend their shutdown area why not build up? Bring in tons of dirt or whatever and make the shutdown uphill like Bandimere. I don't have any mathematical numbers to back me up but I have to believe if tracks like Pomona and E-Town had an uphill shutdown area it could only help.
Here is a more radical idea I had after looking at some of my uncle’s old drag racing pictures. In the old days they actually had rolling structures built into the ground behind the burnout boxes to help start the cars so you didn’t have to push start them. Why can’t something like that be built in the shutdown area? Some sort of rubber tires or treadmill type surface spinning in the opposite direction so when the vehicle tires come in contact with it, it helps slow the vehicle down.
Conversely the non-nitro cars need the track to be consistently sticky all the way down. Because of this NHRA is in a tough situation. Make the track really 'tight' all the way down and risk the fuel tires failing more often but keeping all the other cars safer, or make the track safer for the fuel cars and put the rest of racers in a little more danger. I think this is where WJ gets his gripe. He looks at it from a pure numbers standpoint. Make the track perfect for the 1-2% (Nitro) or make the track perfect for the other 98-99%? It's definitely a tough balancing act especially since the 1-2% are the real crowd favorites and the money makers.
As for the shutdowns, if the tracks are not able to extend their shutdown area why not build up? Bring in tons of dirt or whatever and make the shutdown uphill like Bandimere. I don't have any mathematical numbers to back me up but I have to believe if tracks like Pomona and E-Town had an uphill shutdown area it could only help.
Here is a more radical idea I had after looking at some of my uncle’s old drag racing pictures. In the old days they actually had rolling structures built into the ground behind the burnout boxes to help start the cars so you didn’t have to push start them. Why can’t something like that be built in the shutdown area? Some sort of rubber tires or treadmill type surface spinning in the opposite direction so when the vehicle tires come in contact with it, it helps slow the vehicle down.
