Another Racer Killed at E-Town

Alan Roehrich · 06-13-2010, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hemidup

Take 2 of the lanes from Z Max and add them on to the back of E-Town. Problem solved. Pro Stocker's walked away from bad track conditions in Arizona, Pro's should walk away from E-Town. Forget the show and save an injury or death. Maybe then the track owner of E-Town will cough up the $$$ to make the track safe.

You tell me, because I do not know. How much room is there behind the starting line at E-town, already owned by the track?

X-TECH MAN · 06-13-2010, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

You tell me, because I do not know. How much room is there behind the starting line at E-town, already owned by the track?

Eliminate the screw blowers and limit blower size and overdrive. Make a rule change for a 400 inch max. engine size in Alcohol AND Nitro. Cut the nitro percentage (50% is a start), blower size, Overdrive, and number of fuel pumps in Top Fool and Nitro Ha Ha cars would be a start. In other words.....slow the damn things down with rule changes! I dont think Englishtown (and others) has the room to make the track longer. Remember when WJ ended out on the main road with his Pro Stocker several years ago and he sure wasnt as fast as the nitro and alcohol cars. 1000 ft sucks and 1/8 mile racing would suck to for a national event.

hemidup · 06-13-2010, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by X-TECH MAN

Eliminate the screw blowers and limit blower size and overdrive. Make a rule change for a 400 inch max. engine size in Alcohol AND Nitro. Cut the nitro percentage (50% is a start), blower size, Overdrive, and number of fuel pumps in Top Fool and Nitro Ha Ha cars would be a start. In other words.....slow the damn things down with rule changes! I dont think Englishtown (and others) has the room to make the track longer. Remember when WJ ended out on the main road with his Pro Stocker several years ago and he sure wasnt as fast as the nitro and alcohol cars. 1000 ft sucks and 1/8 mile racing would suck to for a national event.

I say they should eliminate E-Town from the circut and get back to racing 1320'. With the dangerous E-Town track in the mix, pretty soon the Pro's at all tracks will have to run to the 660'. Than to the 330', than to the 60', than nothing.

Alan Roehrich · 06-13-2010, 03:05 PM

E-town is not the only track with a short shutdown area. It just happens they've had a few incidents recently.

Be careful what you wish for with regards to eliminating race tracks. They get eliminated quickly enough as it is.

hemidup · 06-13-2010, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

E-town is not the only track with a short shutdown area. It just happens they've had a few incidents recently.

Be careful what you wish for with regards to eliminating race tracks. They get eliminated quickly enough as it is.

E-Town has had a few deaths recently. Whats wrong with that picture?.... I hear you Alan about tracks that are eliminated from the circut, plus the many tracks accross the country that have just plane shut down and have closed. Today the closest tracks I have are 2 hours away. The best ones are 4 hours away. I grew up and raced between 2 tracks that were within 10 minutes of the house. Minnesota Dragways was located next to a RR track. The train still runs, the drag strip is long gone.

FINESPLINE · 06-13-2010, 03:47 PM

Well, if all else fails for Englishtown, there is 1/8 mile racing. I have a friend from the tri state area here and he owns a track in the Carolinas and he tried to push more for the 1/4 mile racing but after talking with the racers themselves -- they love the 1/8 mile racing. They claim the racing is just as competitive and is easier on the engines. And they do run some fast machinery . I just believe it would be a hard sell up here as people do not take easy to change. Just throwing it out there if it is a matter of survival both for the track and the racers.

njk53 · 06-13-2010, 06:39 PM

At 250 mph and the chutes don't deploy how much more shut down area will be needed? Maybe the NHRA needs to asess the tracks with short shut down areas and go 1000 feet like TF and FC. I don't know if Englishtown has the room to extend their shut down area. I think that road on the high end prevents them from doing so.

Rusty2211 · 06-13-2010, 06:50 PM

Skydivers have backup chutes. How much trouble would it be to outfit these cars with additional, backup chutes? I also do not think it'd be hard to build more fire protection around the chute container either. I think some of the accidents that have happened may be caused by unconcious drivers. How about a system that automatically deploys past a certain point? I know the gentlemen that passed away at Commerce 2 years ago never lifted and even though the blower poped at the stripe, he still hit the trees hard enough to be thrown from the car.

I noticed several TAFC teams at Chicago letting kids pack the chutes on the cars. That just seems crazy. If I was driving one of these cars, I'd have to pack and inspect my own chutes.

Rusty

Jim B · 06-13-2010, 02:41 PM

Alan has pretty much summarized the variance in stopping the different vehicles and speeds that come into play. The bottom line on a 200+ mph pass is if the chutes don't deploy, blossom and stay attached to the car, you're going off the end hard. A brake failure in a 125 - 160 mph vehicle has a much different requirement to stop when leaving the pavement at the end. I remember going off the end at the old Pocono Drag Lodge in Pennsylvania and coming to a stop safely. The end of the shutdown area ran up the side of a mountain and was very effective for all types of vehicles. Granted the trap speeds were sub 250 mph but that was the most effective system I've seen. Unfortunately, it's not practical to retrofit an uphill runoff road to most existing facilities. The bottom line requirement lies with the sanctioning bodies. The only solution I could think of offhand would be a tailhook (aircraft carrier type) stopping reel at the very end for the faster cars. That's not as easy or simple as it sounds because the catch hook device would have to be standarized in the chassis construction and the cable reel device would require active operation by a track end crew. Car weight, speed, etc. would have to be taken into consideration to set the takeup reel drag. Existing runoffs would be maintained and used for slower vehicles (maybe 150mph and down) and the cable catch system activated for passes by the faster cars. Or unfortunately, a few deaths per year in a dangerous sport will be considered collateral damage. Time will tell. Heartfelt condolences to the family....

06-13-2010, 03:05 PM	#4
Alan Roehrich Veteran Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Murfreesboro TN Posts: 5,113 Likes: 1,571 Liked 1,826 Times in 414 Posts	Re: Another Racer Killed at E-Town E-town is not the only track with a short shutdown area. It just happens they've had a few incidents recently. Be careful what you wish for with regards to eliminating race tracks. They get eliminated quickly enough as it is. __________________ Alan Roehrich 212A G/S

06-13-2010, 03:47 PM	#6
FINESPLINE Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Island of high taxes, N.Y. Posts: 541 Likes: 0 Liked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Another Racer Killed at E-Town Well, if all else fails for Englishtown, there is 1/8 mile racing. I have a friend from the tri state area here and he owns a track in the Carolinas and he tried to push more for the 1/4 mile racing but after talking with the racers themselves -- they love the 1/8 mile racing. They claim the racing is just as competitive and is easier on the engines. And they do run some fast machinery . I just believe it would be a hard sell up here as people do not take easy to change. Just throwing it out there if it is a matter of survival both for the track and the racers.

06-13-2010, 06:39 PM	#7
njk53 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: East China, MI Posts: 504 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Another Racer Killed at E-Town At 250 mph and the chutes don't deploy how much more shut down area will be needed? Maybe the NHRA needs to asess the tracks with short shut down areas and go 1000 feet like TF and FC. I don't know if Englishtown has the room to extend their shut down area. I think that road on the high end prevents them from doing so. __________________ Nelson Kowal Stock 345

06-13-2010, 06:50 PM	#8
Rusty2211 Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Georgia Posts: 118 Likes: 1 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Another Racer Killed at E-Town Skydivers have backup chutes. How much trouble would it be to outfit these cars with additional, backup chutes? I also do not think it'd be hard to build more fire protection around the chute container either. I think some of the accidents that have happened may be caused by unconcious drivers. How about a system that automatically deploys past a certain point? I know the gentlemen that passed away at Commerce 2 years ago never lifted and even though the blower poped at the stripe, he still hit the trees hard enough to be thrown from the car. I noticed several TAFC teams at Chicago letting kids pack the chutes on the cars. That just seems crazy. If I was driving one of these cars, I'd have to pack and inspect my own chutes. Rusty

06-13-2010, 02:41 PM	#9
Jim B Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 100 Likes: 0 Liked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Another Racer Killed at E-Town Alan has pretty much summarized the variance in stopping the different vehicles and speeds that come into play. The bottom line on a 200+ mph pass is if the chutes don't deploy, blossom and stay attached to the car, you're going off the end hard. A brake failure in a 125 - 160 mph vehicle has a much different requirement to stop when leaving the pavement at the end. I remember going off the end at the old Pocono Drag Lodge in Pennsylvania and coming to a stop safely. The end of the shutdown area ran up the side of a mountain and was very effective for all types of vehicles. Granted the trap speeds were sub 250 mph but that was the most effective system I've seen. Unfortunately, it's not practical to retrofit an uphill runoff road to most existing facilities. The bottom line requirement lies with the sanctioning bodies. The only solution I could think of offhand would be a tailhook (aircraft carrier type) stopping reel at the very end for the faster cars. That's not as easy or simple as it sounds because the catch hook device would have to be standarized in the chassis construction and the cable reel device would require active operation by a track end crew. Car weight, speed, etc. would have to be taken into consideration to set the takeup reel drag. Existing runoffs would be maintained and used for slower vehicles (maybe 150mph and down) and the cable catch system activated for passes by the faster cars. Or unfortunately, a few deaths per year in a dangerous sport will be considered collateral damage. Time will tell. Heartfelt condolences to the family....