NHRA shortens track to 1000 ft for fuel cars

Starting next week in Denver, and will continue until the investigation is completed. I am a little surprised they did it so soon, due to the Colorado altitude, reduced speeds and up hill run off they have there. Either way, the loss of Scott Kalitta looms heavy over NHRA. He was laid to rest yesterday in Floriday. RIP Scott. Thanks for flying the Church sticker on your flopper.

 

wow, unprecedented.

 

Hopefully this will be a short term change until they can slow the cars down.
If not, then all records will be meaningless when compared the previous marks.
Its 1320 ft. and nothing else will do.
Slow 'em down somehow, some way that is fair and that can be done within a few short weeks.
They've done it at Indy succesfully.
Again, its 1320...

http://www.nhra.com/content/news/30355.htm

 

I agree with Mazooma. Slower speeds, same lengths.

 

The end of an era. This sets the current records in stone. Another lame idea from the Gods of Glendora.

 

Records will be "locked in" whether you slow cars down on a 1320 length track, or run full bore at 1000 ft, either way, don't like it.......racing is trying to beat the other guy by going FASTER than him.......

 

To me, drag racing will always be a quarter mile as well. I guess good for them (so long as it is temporary), but deep down I'm a little bummed. I hate to say it, but something tells me Scott would not have survived at probably any track with the speed he was carrying going into the sand. Has there been any conclusion as to whether or not he was even conscious? Un-deployed shoots (fire or dislodged body), little if any braking, not scrubbing speed against the guardrail etc. He was WAY too good for that. Del Worsham is lucky to be here as well, with his trip into....and flip over the sand in Pomona a year or two back.

 

Wow!

 

1000 feet? At Denver? I could see it at Pamona...

...but Denver?

Lame. We are witnessing the Pusification of the NHRA. I guess I 'll have to start watching Golf...

 

I see a need for the kind of catch nets that are on aircraft carriers. It saves the pilots life and even leaves the aircraft repairable. Stopping the advance of records of how quickly 1320 feet may be covered is a dumb way to advance safety. The are at about 280mph at 600 feet these days. How long would it take Alan Johnson or the brain trust at Force Racing to run 320? Not long. This is a stupid idea and I pray the NHRA decision doesn't effect nostalgia nitro racing.

 

Haven NHRA been going this way for a while? I may be miss guided here but wouldn't it be better to improve the run off instead?

 

SLOWER SPEEDS??? Your not drag racing fans!!! What needs to be done is a longer safer shutdown area. And if the tracks can't comply then the fast cars don't run there PERIOD!!!

 

Yes, it would. If the track can't do it, they shouldn't have the event there. Plenty of other tracks are out there that would comply in order to have a National event...

 

BULLSHIT! Slow down!? Make the track shorter!? WTF! Let's just coat the track in foam, while they're at it! Since the dawn of man, there have been contests of speed. From the days of who could run faster, to chariot racing, horse racing and then auto racing, to name but a few. In all contests where man pushes the limits, there are risk. Contestants have known it and it is a given. As time progresses, and the speeds increase, safety measures are put in place to protect the contestants. Those measures are understood and should be excepted by all individuals concerned. Look back at the pics from the early days of auto racing. Those guys were racing around tracks in jeans and a damn t-shirt, but as accidents began to increase, with the increase of speed, changes were made. Fire suits and rollcages, etc. They didn't shorten the damn tracks or try to slow the cars down!

Scott's accident is tragic and he will be missed, but changing the game because of it, is over reacting. Have they even finished the full investigation of what REALLY happened? At 1,000' or 1,320' a car using NITRO-METHANE, going 200MPH or 300MPH is dangerous. That is a fact. Hell, a car going 35MPH can kill under the right conditions.

Make the cars safer and make the tracks safer. How about adding a longer sand trap and taking out the damn conctrete wall like the one Scott ran into? If the damn wall is there to keep cars away from public roads, then move the damn track!!

I get so tired of reading about an accident and then reading about the over reation from governing bodies. SPEED, gentlemen! It's about the damn SPEED! Hell, I want to see a car do 400MPH in the 1/4 mile, as long as the driver and viewing public is safe. It can be done. The tech is there. Did NASA stop the space race because of the death of astronauts? NO! They made the damn things safer and guess what? It still dangerous and the men involved know it and accept that!

This is a bunch of crap and if that's the way they want to roll, I guess I'll watch iceskating on Sundays. Bunch a damn bullshit, this is.

Oh, did I mention this kinda pisses me off?

 

Let's face it, NHRA pro competition is about as cookie-cutter as NASCAR. It's almost like in Nero's ancient Rome, where gladiators were trotted out to amuse the masses. If you want to see innovation and sportsmanship, support the largely un-sponsored SCTA/BNI or various Nostalgia Drag racing events where folks run for the fun of it, not corporate Dollars.

 

Am I the only one here that thinks Modern Professional Dragracing is just boring?

I've been to one National Event once...

Endless cleaning of the Track, lenthy pauses with staging, backing up, etc.

A couple of seconds of Mayhem, and then back to a whole lot of nothing....

 

that should have been a no brainer from the NHRA years ago, when speeds got so hi!
1000 ft is a really lame idea~!
slowing down the cars? even lamer yet!
pick safer tracks and lets go racing! if they cant comply with the new guidelines, then off to another track!

 

I think this is stop-gap.

The crews can't change their cars to what is needed, so I think the 2009 rules will read with these changes:

1 magneto
maximum displacement
maximum fuel pump rate
tail hook

Then it's back to 1320, and 6 seconds.

 

Jim Head has been studying the BAK-12/MA1A in an attempt to build a better high horsepower mousetrap. The BAK-12/MA1A systems are designed to catch runaway jets running much faster and weighing considerably more than drag racing vehicles.

The BAK-12 is designed to stop vehicles with the assistance of a hook attached to the vehicle and the MA1A is simply a large net. Both systems are devices Jim is familiar with.

 

Not so. Last drags I went to was the Gasser reunion at Thompson. Great show.

It isn't the top speed that is impressive. Sitting on the sidelines you can't notice alot of difference between 260 and 290.

Drag racing is being able to beat the guy next to you within the framework of the rules no matter the speed.

If there were rules set that brought the top cars down to say 270, before long the teams would find a way within those rules to be back up to 300. Many of the tracks were never safely designed for 300+.

 

maybe that won't be a bad thing....
MAYBE it'll get a few more cars trying to qualify for 16 spots rather than maybe HAVING 16 cars show up.
just trying to look at a positive spin on this....
what the hell do i know?

 

Yes it is. Largely because of the generic boundries set by the top speeds. All the cars basically look the same. It's made NASCAR largely a bore to me also. I would prefer to see "stock cars" running 150 than generic cookie cutters running 185.

I realize I'm in the minority of fans though so I stick with the local track scenes.

 

I second what tfeverfred say up above ..................
1320 is what is should stay ..........
my two pennys'

 

Yea, but the "racers" will have to wear thumb guards. MAN, this is a bunch of crap!

 

Well there is an idea... a TAIL HOOK.

if it can stop a fight jet it can surely stop a drag car.

 

Just had a thought. Isn't a great part of the appeal of racing, the thrill AND the DANGER?

 

So what do we do? Slow the cars down? Shorten the tracks? Take the older tracks that aren't equipped for the speeds off the roster?

I don't know... I don't know.

You have people not wanting to slow down the cars for the sake of the game... its all about going as fast as you can.

You have people not wanting to shorten the track for sake of tradition.... the records...

You have people not wanting to exclude the older tracks from the circuit to preserve the history. The US Nationals Should only be held in Indy. Its state law, look it up!

I hope someone smart comes up with an answer... and soon. My take is to make all tracks be able to accomodate 350+ mph and let the big dogs run.

 

I agree........and that makes the "HAMB drags" that much better and guys running 20's with stock flatheads......but, there is the "corn field" at the end of the track.

 

if the finish line at e-town was 320 feet shorter, wouldnt the same thing have happened? i dont know what the final decision is going to be on scotts crash but the way it looks to me was that the initial explosion knocked him unconscious, unabling him to use the brake, part of the body got stuck on the throttle, keeping the car at speed, the fact that the chutes never deployed is just an unfortunate addition to this disaster. how about a kill switch attached to the body, and in a situation where the body blows off, it will kill the motor immediately.as far as racing to the thousand foot mark, SHITTY IDEA!!!!!

 

safer shut off area...........period! its not rocket science to figure that out.