Funny Car Cage...Safe or not?

Wade Mahaffey · 08-21-2014, 11:08 AM

I have been preaching to folks for years. The Dragster/Funny Car cage is probably responsible for more head injuries and/or deaths than any other part of the race car. The reason is that it's proximity to the drivers head is just a few inches, and being strapped into that tight location keeps your head in between 6 bars to bounce off of! In NASCAR, there are no bars anywhere close to the drivers head. They contain the drivers head as part of the seat construction (which is heavily padded and will give or flex if impacted by the driver. Look at it like this...your head hitting that bar, is like someone with that bar hitting you in the head...NOT GOOD either way.

In my opinion, a horizontal 3-4 inch wide padded band should go from the front bar around behind the drivers head and back out to the front bar on the other side. Kinda like what you see in a NASCAR seat. It could be mounted as such to allow the drivers line of vision just over the top of the pad

Wade Mahaffey

SSDiv6 · 08-21-2014, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wade Mahaffey

I have been preaching to folks for years. The Dragster/Funny Car cage is probably responsible for more head injuries and/or deaths than any other part of the race car. The reason is that it's proximity to the drivers head is just a few inches, and being strapped into that tight location keeps your head in between 6 bars to bounce off of! In NASCAR, there are no bars anywhere close to the drivers head. They contain the drivers head as part of the seat construction (which is heavily padded and will give or flex if impacted by the driver. Look at it like this...your head hitting that bar, is like someone with that bar hitting you in the head...NOT GOOD either way.

In my opinion, a horizontal 3-4 inch wide padded band should go from the front bar around behind the drivers head and back out to the front bar on the other side. Kinda like what you see in a NASCAR seat. It could be mounted as such to allow the drivers line of vision just over the top of the pad

Wade Mahaffey

Wade, perhaps a rule change should be required to add the additional padding as current the current Pro's do.

Jim Caughlin · 08-21-2014, 12:15 PM

Probably not the right section for this discussion as this is more of a dragster issue but as it's already started, all the padding in the world isn't going to help when the belts are loose. It is common for the dragster guys to intentionally leave their belts loose so they can get their head outside the cage to better judge the finish line. Go up to top end some time during eliminations and you will regularly see drivers leaned forward with their helmets way past the front hoop. If you put the big pad in place and restrict the driver view even more, I bet they will be leaving the belts looser yet. Not remotely saying it's OK, just good luck on policing this issue, no one thinks they are going to crash and everyone want an advantage when it comes to winning.

SSDiv6 · 08-21-2014, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Caughlin

Probably not the right section for this discussion as this is more of a dragster issue but as it's already started, all the padding in the world isn't going to help when the belts are loose. It is common for the dragster guys to intentionally leave their belts loose so they can get their head outside the cage to better judge the finish line. Go up to top end some time during eliminations and you will regularly see drivers leaned forward with their helmets way past the front hoop. If you put the big pad in place and restrict the driver view even more, I bet they will be leaving the belts looser yet. Not remotely saying it's OK, just good luck on policing this issue, no one thinks they are going to crash and everyone want an advantage when it comes to winning.

I agree with Jim.
Seen it happen and I also wonder why they take such risk.

Another Friendly Racer · 08-21-2014, 02:07 PM

Incredible photo Wade. I hope people do not wait for a rule change to take action when needed.

FireSale · 08-21-2014, 02:31 PM

From the photo, the foreword section of the cage is keeping his head from kissing the wall. Not a good trade off in my opinion.

It's not just a dragster issue, either. Funny car cages show up in GT cars with front wheel drive conversions and the /SM cars, too. All the SG and ST cars have them.

Dale

08-21-2014, 11:08 AM	#1
Wade Mahaffey Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 581 Likes: 0 Liked 17 Times in 7 Posts	Funny Car Cage...Safe or not? I have been preaching to folks for years. The Dragster/Funny Car cage is probably responsible for more head injuries and/or deaths than any other part of the race car. The reason is that it's proximity to the drivers head is just a few inches, and being strapped into that tight location keeps your head in between 6 bars to bounce off of! In NASCAR, there are no bars anywhere close to the drivers head. They contain the drivers head as part of the seat construction (which is heavily padded and will give or flex if impacted by the driver. Look at it like this...your head hitting that bar, is like someone with that bar hitting you in the head...NOT GOOD either way. In my opinion, a horizontal 3-4 inch wide padded band should go from the front bar around behind the drivers head and back out to the front bar on the other side. Kinda like what you see in a NASCAR seat. It could be mounted as such to allow the drivers line of vision just over the top of the pad Wade Mahaffey Last edited by Wade Mahaffey; 08-21-2014 at 11:32 AM.

08-21-2014, 12:15 PM	#3
Jim Caughlin Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Woodburn, Or Posts: 683 Likes: 80 Liked 800 Times in 244 Posts	Re: Funny Car Cage...Safe or not? Probably not the right section for this discussion as this is more of a dragster issue but as it's already started, all the padding in the world isn't going to help when the belts are loose. It is common for the dragster guys to intentionally leave their belts loose so they can get their head outside the cage to better judge the finish line. Go up to top end some time during eliminations and you will regularly see drivers leaned forward with their helmets way past the front hoop. If you put the big pad in place and restrict the driver view even more, I bet they will be leaving the belts looser yet. Not remotely saying it's OK, just good luck on policing this issue, no one thinks they are going to crash and everyone want an advantage when it comes to winning.

08-21-2014, 02:07 PM	#5
Another Friendly Racer Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 152 Likes: 0 Liked 19 Times in 6 Posts	Re: Funny Car Cage...Safe or not? Incredible photo Wade. I hope people do not wait for a rule change to take action when needed.

08-21-2014, 02:31 PM	#6
FireSale VIP Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Lakewood Washington Posts: 1,407 Likes: 29 Liked 237 Times in 126 Posts	Re: Funny Car Cage...Safe or not? From the photo, the foreword section of the cage is keeping his head from kissing the wall. Not a good trade off in my opinion. It's not just a dragster issue, either. Funny car cages show up in GT cars with front wheel drive conversions and the /SM cars, too. All the SG and ST cars have them. Dale __________________ Dale Shearon 68 Mustang 6394