Most of those changes came after John Force's car came apart. And the big push for safety came from Team Force and Ford. Ford supplied the blue boxes to all the Nitro cars. Ford paid for the analysis of the existing chassis, and figured out how to make them safer.
Again Im not placing blame on anyone but it seems to me like a series of catch nets at the end of the track would be a huge improvement over what they had there. If we can stop fighter jets on a carrier ,somebody should be able to figure this out
I saw the complaints about the NHRA yesterday and I wondered why the blame. I didn't get to see the crash until just a little bit ago. It does seem to me that planning was lacking here. But even with all the planning in the world, accidents will happen. The above is a good point though. One would have thought that the flaw in this track could have been cheaply fixed. (relevantly cheap) It's hard to try and pass any blame though as I'm sure they believed it was safe.
It was reported that Scott was dead from suffocation from the fire before he hit the wall. Regardless of the cause he was much to young to suffer such a fate. Drag racing is a sport that has become a profession. Risks are understood and known by each and every driver. Many of these accidents are freakest and therefore preventing them would be extremely difficult if not impossible. Protecting the driver has been and will continue to be a top priority of the NHRA and other racing organizations, as well as by the individual teams. If you want safe drag racing, then give up the cars, give up the tracks and get into the simulators. For the most part professional racing of any kind is safe as long as you play by the rules. Many more peopld die in horrific car crashes every day on the interstate. Some just as bad or worse than Scott's.
Nope, I haven't been that close and Nope, I'm not one of those people. My brother runs 6.80s in his Mustang and I've seen what it takes to slow that 3200 pound car down. I'm an engineer and everything design I do has to take into account a DFMEA and PFMEA. Design or Process Failure Modes Effects Analysis. I contend this wasn't calculated or that track would not be certified. If it was and there was a mistake, I'd hate to be that engineer. Were I'm putting the blame is the aspects of the track. I love watching these guys run. I've seen my brother start with 13s and the thousands he's spent to get on his quest for 7s. Once he gets to 7s, I suspect there will be a big discussion about anything faster as he's got a wife and two young sons. Scott and his family had this decision to make and he made it. While his crew made the car as safe as you can driving a grenade, the sanctioning body needs to make sure the track is as safe as it can be. Thanks for the personal attack, though, it's comments like those the derail a conversation and get a thread closed. Besides, I don't think you should cross the road. You might run into someone with a differing opinion.
Danimal, It wasnt ment to be a personal attack, I come off to rough sometimes . I'm just getting tired of passing the blame in motorsports when tracks and orginizations are being shutdown more and more. It was a accident.
You could blame the track owner/management for construcing a shutdown area that would guarantee a catastrophe if a runaway car headed down the track. You could blame the NHRA for not mandating a more safe shutdown area before hosting a national event with 300mph drag cars. You could blame the drivers that could clearly see the concrete retaining wall at the end of the track, yet raced anyway. There is no need for BLAME here. I'm sure there will be some changes to this and other tracks on the NHRA circuit. It still won't guarantee a 100% safe event. I think they've had a good safety record overall. These guys are accelerating to well over 300mph in well under five seconds with a somewhat-controlled nitromethane explosion on board, hell YES it's dangerous.
So tell us how an extra 320 feet of shut down would have helped Scott? A true shame, peace to his family. God Speed Scott
I dont think NHRA made all those improvements to the cars,it was John Forces organization.And did you hear the ex driver of the Tuttle car say the owners waned to remove the padding and titanium shield to save weight?That stuff oughta be manditory,as well as parachutes hooked to the chassis somehow,looked like both his left when the body blew apart.NHRA,like NASCAR are reactive instead of proactive when it comes to spending money on safety.Ironically Scotts chutes opened when he left the line the previous session.
Here is a a shot of the shut off at Etown ... Been that way for 30 plus years. Englishtown has been the drag racing jewel in the state because it was the only property with all the proper components NHRA requires for National events. It has done wonders for the growth of drag racing in the northeast since 1965. With that said, and after checking a Google satellite map of the track, it it clear why there is a Jersey Barrier across the back side of the sand pit. The end of the track is bordered by Pension Road. This is a small, but important, secondary county road which will never be eliminated. There are no trees to be cut down to allow the sand pit to be extended
It's a shame! RIP Scott. You better believe the NHRA is fixin' to make some changes. There is no doubt that the short track made the wreck fatal, but I think (and read something to the effect) that Scott was out before he hit the sand and wall/pole. Whether he was just knocked out or dead - who knows, but it doesn't look like that car was trying to stop. I wonder if they could put a cable and hook system in place on the end of the track like on an aircraft carrier to catch the cars. Just a thought.
How long can the average person hold their breath ? From the first fire ball when the motor let go, to impact with the wall,was less than 10 seconds. HOPEFULLY,there will be some useful information released about this incident,and steps made so it doesn't happen again.
With all due respect- baloney. The NHRA elite will do nothing, because they have gotten away with doing nothing. NHRA has knowingly allowed the use of less than adequate tubing, even after it has been pointed out ad naseum. If they're going to let substandard tube be used, why would they think about requiring tracks be equipped to mitigate the risks that have increased by an order of magnitude? http://www.competitionplus.com/index.php?Itemid=24&id=4358&option=com_content&task=view
A great loss to be sure. My thoughts and prayers to the Kalitta family. Not sure if it's a short track fault, the shutdown at Pomona is 200' shorter than Englishtown. There has to be a better way than a concrete wall. As I recall Maple Grove ends with a chain link fence and a small cross street.
Many of these tracks were built when the cars were 100 plus,MPH slower! Seems like the tracks would be improved to account for the increase in speed and the stopping distance necessary. Or just build a new track!
Personally I don't think you can protect anyone in a 300 mph crash . The laws of physics are against you at that velocity . You could die with no visible injury just from your brain and organs decelerating so quickly . That level of racing is kinda like combat , you're OK til the shit hits the fan then it's pretty much out your hands .
At the speed that the car hit the sand, I'm not sure 3200 extra feet would have helped. Very unfortinate set of circumstances aligned to take a great competitor. So, should NHRA assume that a sand trap / emergency shutdown area safely stop a car entering at 300 plus mph?? .....that would be an interesting and worthwhile engineering task.
Interview with Don Long,chassis builder: http://www.competitionplus.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5233&Itemid=24
Ford's Blue Boxes: http://www.competitionplus.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3772&Itemid=24
10-4, Mike! Safety components like the head padding and titanium shield should be MANDATORY after they implemented because (I thought!) guys were getting hurt without them. I always wondered why the NHRA did not look at the "collars" built within the IRL cars. Regardless, this won't bring Scotty back nor do I presume or assume this would have helped him. RIP, Scotty, and our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
10-4, Mike! Safety components like the head padding and titanium shield should be MANDATORY after they implemented because (I thought!) guys were getting hurt without them. I always wondered why the NHRA did not look at the "collars" built within the IRL cars. Regardless, this won't bring Scotty back nor do I presume or assume this would have helped him. RIP, Scotty, and our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
I'm sure the idea of the sand trap didn't have a car going 300+ MPH in mind to use it. More of just a car that was decellrating but ran out of track. I've only seen two other cars go into to a sand trap at almost full speed. The concrete wall and the pole had alot to do with it also...
no matter what, if you look at that aerial view in a previous post there sure isnt much of a sand pit for a 300mph car! im watching the finals now and 2 of the drivers say the same thing.l r.i.p. scott
NHRA used to be leaders and innovators. Now they are passive,when it comes to anything but promotion. http://www.competitionplus.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5004&Itemid=24
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