Nitromater
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Has this ever been considered before ?
- Thread starter ANDY
- Start date
Dave
Nitro Member
That is not correct. It started in the turns however over time and as money allowed, the entire track is lined by SAFER barrier. You can see clearly if you watch the Daytona 500 this weekend, there is no outside wall in the turns or straights that is not covered by it. Most inside walls are also covered by it.
As far as how they would relate to drag racing, nobody has ever tested a SAFER barrier with a 300+ mph impact or studied the results of what a dragster, funny car, door car, or motorcycle hitting one would be.
I'm not saying it couldn't be done, but no studies have been performed yet. It certainly would be difficult in the shut down area as you need sections of wall that can be quickly opened to get the safety safari on track and with the way the barriers interlock with each other, that can't happen.
Looking at this picture. The pink foam looks like extruded polystyrene. The pink color is the marketing color for the Owens Corning
Formula brand. Perhaps tieing in with the best cancer awareness car/crew colors.
The wall to the right looks like the concrete wall. So what is the left wall materisl. Looks like the racing surface is the left side . So the impact crushes the foam toward the concrete wall.
And what are the vertical posts on the left. Are they foam?
But look at the width of that total wall and it would require two walls. Can't fit that on existing drag strips. Cost to move concrete wall and add everything else would be very expensive.
Require these walls and you won't see ticket prices go down. Someone has to pay for it.
Formula brand. Perhaps tieing in with the best cancer awareness car/crew colors.
The wall to the right looks like the concrete wall. So what is the left wall materisl. Looks like the racing surface is the left side . So the impact crushes the foam toward the concrete wall.
And what are the vertical posts on the left. Are they foam?
But look at the width of that total wall and it would require two walls. Can't fit that on existing drag strips. Cost to move concrete wall and add everything else would be very expensive.
Require these walls and you won't see ticket prices go down. Someone has to pay for it.
Randy
Nitro Member
The magnitude and type of impact BF sustained isn't that common. Even so, except for a few bumps and bruises it appears she will make the next race. I don't see where a call for action as necessary. My concern would be that all that foam, collapsing walls, or shock material would grab a dragster or altered like a hook in a situation where the racer would normally scrape, brush or simply bounce off the wall and continue down course. I don't recall any serious injury or death associated with hitting a K-wall parallel to the track. Most of the damage to drivers has been at guardrail openings, armco style guardrail impacts, racers being launched over the walls and hitting stuff outside of the racing surface or racers running off the end of the tracks.
Dave
Nitro Member
The wall compresses and in the worst case the foam behind needs to be replaced. There have been times parts of the car have crushed the steel and plates need to be welded onto it resulting in slight delays. The interlocking affect prevents it from being able to grab. The only situation I could think would be if the front of the car is ripped off like in Brittany's crash or Steve Torrence's and the exposed steel tubing from the chassis could stab into the wall.
But again, it has only been tested with full sized wheel and tire impacts and not the pizza cutter type front wheels used in drag racing.
I agree her crash isn't all that common, nor was the one that Brandon Bernstein suffered when he hit the wall bottom first and injured his back.
Found this. Nascar claims the cost is $ 500 per foot. And that is a apparently on the existing concrete wall. Not also moving the concrete wall and the cost to tear down the old walls.
The tubing on the racing side is 8 x 8 x 3/16 steel and is "not commonly available".
So figure 1320 feet for the racing area, plus 660, 1/8 mile for the shutdown area. Times two sides. If my math is correct that's
$ 2,900,000 per track. Plus have some
Extra material for race day repair if the wall is damaged. So Rounded To $ 3 Million Per track. And that's not the cost to tear down the existing walls, and rebuild them wider as oth r rs have suggested.
As I mentioned in the other post. Write your checks to the 24 tracks to pay for these safer barriers. NHRA can give you the
correct mailing addresses.
The tubing on the racing side is 8 x 8 x 3/16 steel and is "not commonly available".
So figure 1320 feet for the racing area, plus 660, 1/8 mile for the shutdown area. Times two sides. If my math is correct that's
$ 2,900,000 per track. Plus have some
Extra material for race day repair if the wall is damaged. So Rounded To $ 3 Million Per track. And that's not the cost to tear down the existing walls, and rebuild them wider as oth r rs have suggested.
As I mentioned in the other post. Write your checks to the 24 tracks to pay for these safer barriers. NHRA can give you the
correct mailing addresses.
I know that but I was giving a rough estimate of the length needed to see the cost.
But you would still have to pad the door opening or at least move the door surface so that it is even with the inside surface of the safer barrier so a car sliding down the wall won't hook on the door and will slide past.
But you would still have to pad the door opening or at least move the door surface so that it is even with the inside surface of the safer barrier so a car sliding down the wall won't hook on the door and will slide past.
That's the first thing I thought of when I saw her crash. I remember the buzz was about safer barriers after that crash also...then it went a whisper and disappeared.
stitcherbob
Nitro Member
not that I want to see someone hurt, but most of the time these safety additions come after someone gets killed. Like the catch fences at E-Town. Most deaths in drag racing haven't been from tagging the walls, they happen at the top end. Thus most of the money is spent there...
I'm just glad they got rid of the Armco rails....every track should. Look up Formula 1 deaths over the years that involved Armco....but not while eating or just before bedtime...
I'm just glad they got rid of the Armco rails....every track should. Look up Formula 1 deaths over the years that involved Armco....but not while eating or just before bedtime...
Wall slaps are some of the worst impacts. The human head and spine just aren’t made to move sideways in such a violent fashion.
HANS devices and roll cage padding help tremendously, but how do you prevent a 10,000+ horsepower car from occasionally getting out of control? Honestly, I’m surprised how often the cars go straight.
SAFER barriers may be a good idea but they would very expensive to retrofit on a track.
The only way to be completely safe is to never unload the car from the trailer.
While I absolutely hate seeing any kind of wreck, it is unrealistic to think all impacts can be prevented. Such is the nature of the beast.
Driving cars that accelerate from 0 to 100 in less than one second carries risks that cannot be entirely eliminated.
Hopefully Brittany recovers completely and gets back racing sooner rather than later.
HANS devices and roll cage padding help tremendously, but how do you prevent a 10,000+ horsepower car from occasionally getting out of control? Honestly, I’m surprised how often the cars go straight.
SAFER barriers may be a good idea but they would very expensive to retrofit on a track.
The only way to be completely safe is to never unload the car from the trailer.
While I absolutely hate seeing any kind of wreck, it is unrealistic to think all impacts can be prevented. Such is the nature of the beast.
Driving cars that accelerate from 0 to 100 in less than one second carries risks that cannot be entirely eliminated.
Hopefully Brittany recovers completely and gets back racing sooner rather than later.
