Creasy accident and impact on NHRA

[Mike]

While NHRA is looking into safety rules for FC, one area they also need to look at is drivetrain.

I remember my dad seeing Bunny Burkett's tafc (at least I think it was hers... it was pink,he said) at a display a year ago and commenting on how if a driveline failure ever happened, look out.

Fast forward to Edmonton and that happened.

I assume NHRA and IHRA have similar rules in terms of shielding, etc.

What can or should NHRA do to see to it that an accident like Creasy had won't occur at an NHRA race?

 

[The Counterfeiter]

While NHRA is looking into safety rules for FC, one area they also need to look at is drivetrain.

Michael - a lot of strange information about what blew up (especially from Peanut's quote about the "transmission"). There was a mention somewhere about the reverser cable failing and shrapnel in Dale's legs. I can't imagine that the input shaft could have failed, which would lead me to believe that the reverser somehow fragmented. I've never heard of a reverser failing like this.
Hopefully, IHRA and the team can figure out what happened.
Thoughts and prayers go out to Peanut and the Creasy team.

 

[kd]

While NHRA is looking into safety rules for FC, one area they also need to look at is drivetrain.

Michael - a lot of strange information about what blew up (especially from Peanut's quote about the "transmission"). There was a mention somewhere about the reverser cable failing and shrapnel in Dale's legs. I can't imagine that the input shaft could have failed, which would lead me to believe that the reverser somehow fragmented. I've never heard of a reverser failing like this.
Hopefully, IHRA and the team can figure out what happened.
Thoughts and prayers go out to Peanut and the Creasy team.

My thoughts exactly Jim.!
I DO like the idea of the carbon fibre floor boards in Ashleys car. Think the rest of the JFR cars have em too.!
Waaaaaaaaay too many toe nail clippers in those things!!!

AND get well soon "The Real"- Dale Jr.!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

["Dr. Dirt"]

I have absolutely no idea what actually happened but if the entire reverser were to break loose under load, it could have spun with the handle sticking out, thus tearing up everything in it's spinning path-IE legs?

No matter what happened, it's a shame it did. Especially to such a nice guy like Peanut. He'll be back.

 

[turbo ken]

I heard of two different causes.
1) The cannon malfuntioned pushing the reverser back a little thus breaking the bolts that holds it.
2) A sprag in the reverser locked up then broke the bolts that holds it.

Whatever the cause of the reverser spinning, it was bad deal, the steel lever usually used to operate the reverser works just like a baseball bat.

Get well soon Dale!

 

[Bross Hawg]

Alot of teams run a mag reversor lever. They also only use one small (10-32) screw to hold the lever to the reversor. If the bolts break and the reversor spins, hopefully the lever or the bolt will break and not hurt the driver too bad. If you have ever felt the reverse lever in a FC, they feel kinda flimsy, that is why. The clutch guy needs to keep up on those reversor bolts and have a schedule on when he replaces them. The bolts on the rear of the cannon that hold the reversor adaptor also will loosen up and they are easy to forget about. If you do not check them every run, that can lead to the problem also. There is a lot on a fuel clutch guys' plate. Alot of things to remember. Trust me, I know.

 

[hellfirejim]

Alot of teams run a mag reversor lever. They also only use one small (10-32) screw to hold the lever to the reversor. If the bolts break and the reversor spins, hopefully the lever or the bolt will break and not hurt the driver too bad. If you have ever felt the reverse lever in a FC, they feel kinda flimsy, that is why. The clutch guy needs to keep up on those reversor bolts and have a schedule on when he replaces them. The bolts on the rear of the cannon that hold the reversor adaptor also will loosen up and they are easy to forget about. If you do not check them every run, that can lead to the problem also. There is a lot on a fuel clutch guys' plate. Alot of things to remember. Trust me, I know.

Having been there I know you are right on the money. Just a thought but all the rear ends in these cars have an anit-rotational attachment to keep them from spinning. Why couldn't there be something like that for the reverser that could be pit pined for easy removal by the clutch guys???

 

[RAPID]

Having been there I know you are right on the money. Just a thought but all the rear ends in these cars have an anit-rotational attachment to keep them from spinning. Why couldn't there be something like that for the reverser that could be pit pined for easy removal by the clutch guys???

Jim,

I like the way you think. It would have to be "pretty strong" but it might give the driver a chance to "try" to move his legs before it turns into a gigantic mixing machine in there.

Nice going,

Rapid

 

[davey]

Peanut said in an interview that it was like being hit in the legs over and over with a sledge hammer.

 

[megadeth]

I think Tom Hoover had a driveline failure incident once.
It is a scary thought of what could happen.

 

[Mikey]

While the rules do not specifically say you must have a driveshaft cover, the whole JFR camp has the right idea. They have completely enclosed the driveshaft strictly for the drivers safety in such a case as Creasy's. This is a great step into making the cockpit a safer place; maybe after this incident teams will start thinking like JFR.

 

[turbo ken]

While the rules do not specifically say you must have a driveshaft cover, the whole JFR camp has the right idea. They have completely enclosed the driveshaft strictly for the drivers safety in such a case as Creasy's. This is a great step into making the cockpit a safer place; maybe after this incident teams will start thinking like JFR.

"Wow a post in which someone doesn't bash JFR at all, even for all the things they did to improve safety"

 

[DrRocket]

I find it strange that NHRA.com couldn't find a single column nanometer for Dale - for good wishes, if nothing else.

Clearly a knee-jerk "Oh-my-God-it's-another-bad-accident-better-not-say-anything" moment.

It's there. It just got shuffled off of the headlines listings quickly by other things. It doesn't look like an NHRA page, but it is. Look at the url and look farther down the page. I think this is a pre-formatted template they use for website development that wasn't entirely finished.

 

[topnitro]

It's there. It just got shuffled off of the headlines listings quickly by other things. It doesn't look like an NHRA page, but it is. Look at the url and look farther down the page. I think this is a pre-formatted template they use for website development that wasn't entirely finished.

Thankyou for that, David. When I used the search facility on nhra.com nothing came up. Much appreciated.

 

[Mikey]

"Wow a post in which someone doesn't bash JFR at all, even for all the things they did to improve safety"

JFR needs to be praised for the steps they have taken in making a funny car a safer place. The only bad thing about them taking steps forward, seems as though no one wants to take these steps with them. Everyone wants to say how accidents could have been prevented, well take the driveshaft tunnel and put it in Creasy's car and he would still be walking and racing.

 

[You!]

Much to my surprise, I got a phone call from Dale about an hour ago. He was pretty excited about being out of his room and being pushed around in a wheelchair. While I know he was drugged up some, he still sounded great all things considered.

He did confirm that he has one more surgery planned while he's there, but it is mostly cosmetic. And I asked him about the quality level of this hospital and he said if this had happened in Winnepeg, they would have flown him to Edmonton. So he was very lucky there.

He said from the moment it happened to when he got in the ambulance took only two minutes, and initially, the track crew didn't even know anything was wrong. They lifted the body to hook him up to tow him off and it wasn't 'til they heard him yelling at them that they even realized there was a problem.

Dale described the pain and incident to the movie "Misery" and getting hit with a sledge hammer over and over. My legs began to ache as he was telling me the story. I'm just glad his legs survived period.

He's already been in contact with officials and key people (you can guess who) to get a fix for this so no one ever has to go through the pain he's still enduring.

Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers as he's still got some very rough times ahead. I'm proud to call him my buddy.

 

[willy]

Thanks for the update, Bill.

Prayers for the Peanut Dude.