Nhra shortens t/f and f/c race to 1000 ft.

[SSTRACER323]

Look what was just put on NHRA.com WOW!!!!!!!!

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

[rkaras]

wow

[Rich Biebel]

Thumbs up to NHRA for taking an action quickly on this. T/F's and F/C's are TOO FAST and making too much power. 3 F/C crashes in 15 months and 2 tragic deaths. Dragsters have broken in half.....tires exploding and we should not forget the death of Darrel Russell. I am a huge Nascar fan and have been for many years....some of my favorite people were killed.....and sadly my biggest idol in all of motorsport Dale Earnhardt.Nascar said we have to stop this and they did....NHRA has to stop this as best as they can and NOW not later.....1000' racing will cut speeds and hopefully will cut engine explosions and tire issues as well.......Fans will still come to see them.....It will just take a little getting used to the numbers.....

[Nitro Joe Jackson]

"Do it in style on a 5th of a mile"

make Funny cars look like funny cars again, not bat mobiles
take the big *** wing away from both so they both have to de tune to get them from A-B

[wsmracing]

Hats off to n.h.r.a........................................its a big start in the right direction............

[H.A.A.C. Racing]

Originally Posted by rich biebel

thumbs up to nhra for taking an action quickly on this. T/f's and f/c's are too fast and making too much power. 3 f/c crashes in 15 months and 2 tragic deaths. Dragsters have broken in half.....tires exploding and we should not forget the death of darrel russell. I am a huge nascar fan and have been for many years....some of my favorite people were killed.....and sadly my biggest idol in all of motorsport dale earnhardt.nascar said we have to stop this and they did....nhra has to stop this as best as they can and now not later.....1000' racing will cut speeds and hopefully will cut engine explosions and tire issues as well.......fans will still come to see them.....it will just take a little getting used to the numbers.....

ditto!!!

[SSTRACER323]

I think this is a great thing.... it will now make the driver and not the tuner win races. You better be on the tree cause you just lost 320ft. of track to catch up.
They will have to add a speed trap at 1000 ft.now too.
I know there are a lot of people not happy with this, but i know this is a step in the right direction.

[Adger Smith]

Originally Posted by SSTRACER323

I think this is a great thing.... it will now make the driver and not the tuner win races. You better be on the tree cause you just lost 320ft. of track to catch up.
They will have to add a speed trap at 1000 ft.now too.
I know there are a lot of people not happy with this, but i know this is a step in the right direction.

Lee, I don't understand why ANYONE would not be happy with NHRA's decision. The Pro Racers endorced it 100%. I would seem to me that any spectator that doesn't like it doesn't really understand all the benefits. Like less loss of life & it should make the races more exciting by tightening them up. I applaude what NHRA has done & done quickly. Hats off to them for stepping up & doing what has to be done.

[Jeff Beckman]

All racers know that if you shorten the track to 1000 feet, then I need to get to 1000 feet ASAP! So I'll make the engine run to 990 feet or so, same ending. Not gonna change Jack Squat. But less than 2 weeks after Scott K dies, Von Smith darn near hit a tree in the shut down at Norwalk. (They cut it down after). 1. Clear the shut downs of all obstructions. 2. Make all cars carry a device that can be controled by someone outside the car that a. deploys the chuts, b. turn on the fire bottles, c. shuts off the fuel. NHRA could have a person at 1000 or 660 to set this RF signal off in the event of a massive explosion. The people are already there. This combined with CLEAR AMPLE SHUT DOWNS is the answer, we already have fans bewildered by all the classes. Lets not toss in a distance change to boot.

[BobOrme]

Originally Posted by Jeff Beckman

All racers know that if you shorten the track to 1000 feet, then I need to get to 1000 feet ASAP! So I'll make the engine run to 990 feet or so, same ending. Not gonna change Jack Squat. But less than 2 weeks after Scott K dies, Von Smith darn near hit a tree in the shut down at Norwalk. (They cut it down after). 1. Clear the shut downs of all obstructions. 2. Make all cars carry a device that can be controled by someone outside the car that a. deploys the chuts, b. turn on the fire bottles, c. shuts off the fuel. NHRA could have a person at 1000 or 660 to set this RF signal off in the event of a massive explosion. The people are already there. This combined with CLEAR AMPLE SHUT DOWNS is the answer, we already have fans bewildered by all the classes. Lets not toss in a distance change to boot.

Anyone who thinks the nitro tuners haven't already been throwing everything they have at the track to get to the 1000' mark is mistaken. They've had to due to the rev limiter that kicks in on the top end. Also, how can they can magically achieve more traction on the same racing surface by turning up the wick just because the finish line is closer? They can't.

This is a change that may or may not be temporary. It will be in place for the rest of this season. It was the one thing that they could do that wouldn't have immediate significant financial impacts on both the teams and the tracks.

Remote shut off of some systems and activation of others is definitely worth looking into. Measures to slow the cars down is too, but they shouldn't be measures that will cause even more engine carnage than there is now, or reduce the likelihood of side-by-side racing because the changes render the cars more prone to getting out of shape and/or losing traction.

The end of the racing surface most certainly needs to be addressed at many tracks. How it is addressed differs from track to track due to the availability or unavailability of real estate to expand it. None of them should serve as launch pads producing airborne race cars. They should all have real sand traps. There should be nothing to run into other than catch nets, and there should be multiple catch nets at every national event track.

While there are no absolute guarantees that any of these changes will prevent another driver from dying in a racing accident, they could well go a long way toward reducing the number of funerals the sport has experienced in the last few years.

Some folks don't watch or care about some classes of drag racing, and that's fine. I watch and care about them all. When too many people die doing something, the companies that insure the activity stop doing so - see rocket cars in the USA and class B rally cars world wide. I think it is far better to do this (move the finish line) now, and spend some time looking at other remedies to prevent potential catastrophes than to lose more lives and the ability to contest the sport at all.