Dual TD Crash Caused by Water at the Finish Line (1 Viewer)

[.]

X2 Sean. Maybe we could postpone judgement until the crew from the quicker car reports whether or not they leaked.

They didn't. Read her husband's comments on Facebook,it's perfectly obvious the track was wet.

 

[sammi]

Watch the video again and check out the finish line yellow shirt. I hope they didn't wake him up.

 

[None]

Go to every race for 6+ years and deal with them. Then come back and tell everyone how wonderful they are.

Are they all bad? No. But the good old boys club has not cleaned out the ones that are.

 

[stitcherbob]

I can't condone badmouthing all of them,but over the years I've seen some track workers that maybe weren't the best the NHRA had to offer.

One who, when asked what he needed to extricate Antron brown from his crashed overturned canopied dragster, shrugged his shoulders as if no one discussed how to open this safety system before it was implemented by DSR. Sure glad Ant was OK in that one....
One at Reading who couldn't answer my question as to whether a single hay bale ( I kid you NOT) placed at the foot of each scoreboard pillar right after Jimmy Nix was killed ( hitting one of those pillars) was enough to prevent another tragedy....
Several who didn't know how to operate a fire extinguisher to save their lives, much less the racers lives...

 

[Jimbo]

I must admit after reading everyone's comments I am a little bit in shock because I was under the impression that the NHRA Safety crew did a better job then what had been described in this most recent event.

Maybe it's time the NHRA address what going on and makes some changes to try and improve the safety crew.

Just my opinion.
Jim Hill
http://www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

They were the first pair down the track Friday morning. It was supposed to be slower classes first but those cars had a hard time getting out of the muddy pits so the geniuses at NHRA decided it was a bright idea to send Top Dragster down the track first.

I wasn't questioning whether or not they were the first cars down the track. As far as that goes, if the track is prepped properly, who does down the track first should be of no consequence. And if the track was indeed that wet, which appears to be the case, ANY car would've been in jeopardy, much less a light-weight 200mph dragster.

And before I say what I'm going to say next, I will preface it with the fact that I don't know anything about the incident other than what I've read here regarding what the owners of the quicker car in the video reported, so I'm making some assumptions and should be taken as "if what they're saying is actually true"......

I've been in my share of some pretty quick cars with much shorter wheelbases than these diggers, on less than desirable tracks with minimal personnel and have never had an issue getting down them. And while McGuire's delivery may not have been the most tactful in the world, this was at a National Event for Christ's sake, so there's no excuse. I've run probably a dozen Nationals as well and have NEVER had an issue with the track, but it's apparent something was overlooked.............badly.

No matter what line of work you're in, you have poor performers to some degree, and while it may seem like an overreaction to call for someone's job for missing something, I think it might be warranted in this case. We're not talking about a factory worker that missed a quality check on a widget that can get remade, these folks are in charge providing the safest possible racing surface for their competitors and the millions of dollars worth of equipment they're competing with. They need to be held to the highest standard possible.

Sean D

 

[TR]

I willing to bet both cars had 4-link suspensions on them and once the tires break loose, it's over with; as it is in Pro Stock. I don't know the situation, but how many cars went down the track prior to these two without issues?

Drivers and car owners always have the right to say no, I am not running my car down this track. We've done it after the car in front of us barrel rolled 11 times at the March Meet one year and made it on national television.

http://www.rodauthority.com/news/vi...coupe-crashes-and-barrel-rolls-down-the-trac/

A spring was leaking up from under the track, but you couldn't see it on the surface except for a couple of weeping spots. Compounded by the fact that they had ran Top Fuel in front of us and they had no issues.

I'm curious about the four link over a hard tail causing part of the problem, please elaborate.

Rick

 

[none]

The Safety Safari guys are known for providing a great track to race on and If they say its ready you tend to believe it. I know I always felt fine going down a safety safari prepped track. I think its obvious from the video that someone dropped the ball on this one, someone way higher up the food chain would be my guess. Clearly can see the spray come off the tires just before all heck broke loose. Shame two cars got wadded up very fortunate no one got hurt. I doubt i could just accept it as shit happens. Might not get anywhere but I'd sure try.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

I'm curious about the four link over a hard tail causing part of the problem, please elaborate.

Rick

I'm not smart enough to explain why, but I will say that when compared to the blown altereds I've driven, the Pro Stock cars at Roy Hill's reacted much different under tire shake. Was it because of the weight difference or the difference between center-steer and left-hand steer? I don't know. I always attributed it to the fact that one was suspended and one wasn't. The altereds were still pretty manageable when the tires shook, but when those doorslammers shook, they wanted to get away from you pretty quick and were much less responsive to correction.

Sean D

 

[barry]

Fellow races and fans who know me, are aware that when I pull the belts tight on the driver of my TAFC, that I am pulling the belts tight on a very special person. I have the up most confidence in the NHRA Safety Safari who would come to the aid of Marie if something were to go wrong. Being a fan of all forms of motorsports, I know that they are hands down the best.
I also know that something went wrong and if it turns out to be the fault of NHRA personnel, than the NHRA and the personnel involved should be held accountable.
I just don't want the men and woman who are on that truck and stand ready to risk their lives to help my daughter or any other fellow racer, be put in with other decision makers

 

[glofria]

I'm curious about the four link over a hard tail causing part of the problem, please elaborate.

Rick

Rick without going into great detail it is about the transfer of weight to the rear tires, Under acceleration the suspension "squats" and most of the weight of the car is put on the rear tires. If the chassis "unloads" the weight transfers off of the rear tires and the rear of the car break loose causing it to sway.

When the rear tires looses traction the chassis will unload as I suspect in this case. When the driver lets off the throttle the chassis will unload too. In the case of my friend Bill Burch, he did the worst thing possible and that was he got off the throttle and then got back on it. And that is why he crashed. You cannot "pedal" a 4-link (live) suspension car. You could slowly roll back into the throttle, but don't ever stomp on the pedal. Otherwise hold on tight.

 

[None]

The Safety Safari guys are known for providing a great track to race on and If they say its ready you tend to believe it. I know I always felt fine going down a safety safari prepped track. I think its obvious from the video that someone dropped the ball on this one, someone way higher up the food chain would be my guess. Clearly can see the spray come off the tires just before all heck broke loose. Shame two cars got wadded up very fortunate no one got hurt. I doubt i could just accept it as shit happens. Might not get anywhere but I'd sure try.

Great track to race on? One lane race track more often than not.

 

[none]

Great track to race on? One lane race track more often than not.

Well Ive put my trust in them for quite a few years.And they have helped me out of more than one bad situation.You ever had an issue racing on a track they prepped? I highly doubt the guys on the truck are in anyway responsible for calling that surface ready to race on.

 

[none]

. . . I highly doubt the guys on the truck are in anyway responsible for calling that surface ready to race on.

While I don't doubt that that's true, if it is, that needs to be corrected.

 

[mopain]

I willing to bet both cars had 4-link suspensions on them and once the tires break loose, it's over with; as it is in Pro Stock. I don't know the situation, but how many cars went down the track prior to these two without issues?

Drivers and car owners always have the right to say no, I am not running my car down this track. We've done it after the car in front of us barrel rolled 11 times at the March Meet one year and made it on national television.

http://www.rodauthority.com/news/vi...coupe-crashes-and-barrel-rolls-down-the-trac/

A spring was leaking up from under the track, but you couldn't see it on the surface except for a couple of weeping spots. Compounded by the fact that they had ran Top Fuel in front of us and they had no issues.

This was the FIRST pair of the day.

 

[FABMAN]

Watching the one safety guy with his hands in his pockets slowly walking towards track is very disturbing. I don't know how these people are hired, if their local with the track or what but NHRA needs to seriously look at process of hiring. I hope this isn't related to cost cutting, or volunteered people and not trained. An incident happened at KCIR when a car blew a motor and track personel didn't check track and sent another pair and car in that got into oil and crashed distroying a brand new car luckly the driver did not get hurt. This is an issue not only for National events but local events as well.

 

[DrRocket]

Makes me wonder, do any competitors ever inspect the track before the day's runs start? Wonder if it would have been caught.

I'm having a tough time believing that NO ONE at a major event caught the fact that much water was standing on the track

 

[Jimbo]

Have the two drivers involved made any comments or has the N.H.R.A. made any comments about what may have happened?

Jim Hill
http://www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

 

[Dennis]

Makes me wonder, do any competitors ever inspect the track before the day's runs start? Wonder if it would have been caught.

I'm having a tough time believing that NO ONE at a major event caught the fact that much water was standing on the track

Just a guess...If what is reported is true that there was water on the track, I'm guessing it was most likely seepage not actual standing (visible) water but actually many droplets spread over a decent sized area. The track is so prepped that even a track sticky enough to pull your shoes off appears wet. My guess is that unless someone walked that specific spot, it would have been difficult to spot. Not sticking up for the NHRA here, just thinking out loud.

 

[JF]

Have the two drivers involved made any comments or has the N.H.R.A. made any comments about what may have happened?

Jim Hill
http://www.nostalgicracingdecals.com

NHRA WILL NOT take any responsibility for it whether it is their fault or not.

The racers I assume want to continue to race NHRA, so I would think they will only voice their situation to their inner circle.

NHRA has ways of making your life hell if you criticize publicly.