Johnny Gray: I'm Not Interested In Being a 60-year old Guinea Pig (1 Viewer)

[Bobby Bennett]

Competition Plus - Drag Racing Magazine - JOHNNY GRAY: I?M NOT INTEREST IN BEING A 60-YEAR OLD GUINEA PIG

Wendland discusses new ideas ...

 

[PJ]

When the body popped shouldn't the parachute have come out as well or was that changed with the new latch system?

 

[Butch]

I wonder how much input drivers and crew chiefs had in the design of the tethering system? With the front of the body locked down as tight as the rear has always been does it surprise anyone that the force of the explosion would break the body in the area of the fire wall?

We would all hate to see a tragedy happen because of a mandated safety idea. Come on NHRA let's engineer a solution not knee jerk one into place.

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

When the body popped shouldn't the parachute have come out as well or was that changed with the new latch system?

I noticed that too. YES it should. But no chute until he was almost stopped, and then only one......

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

I wonder how much input drivers and crew chiefs had in the design of the tethering system? ?.

According to the Ron Capps interview, no input at all.

 

[Leebone]

Something is awfully WRONG with this new system. Doesn't take a genius to figure that out. We almost lost Johnny Gray and Tasca's car almost burnt to the ground. I don't blame either one of them for being animated, or Capps either. Fix it NHRA just FIX IT!!

 

[my friends call me Zappy]

Something is awfully WRONG with this new system. Doesn't take a genius to figure that out. We almost lost Johnny Gray and Tasca's car almost burnt to the ground. I don't blame either one of them for being animated, or Capps either. Fix it NHRA just FIX IT!!

Agreed. they (NHRA) needs to drop the new mandate IMMEDIATELY, before the next race, until a better design......

 

[Sandman]

Agreed. The did more testing on the DSR canopy (which closed up tiny gap and posed no real advantage or threat to safety) yet apparently just did what looked right yet made funny cars many, many times more dangerous. I really hope the either abandon this idea or at least find a way to attach it only to the rear (which keeps the body with the chassis but out of the driver's face) or maybe test it a bit before making it mandatory. If I were Johnny I wouldn't get back in the car until they did away with it.

 

[SoCal Racer]

What really steams me is the typical NHRA knee-jerk reaction to an incident that happened ONE TIME in what, 45 years of funny car racing? And the way it was presented to fans it was made to sound like it was the drivers' idea and they were all in favor of it, when it turns out that is not the case at all.

 

[Toejam]

While I thought Tethering the bodies could be a problem, I think Side panels like Rob Wendland was suggesting would be really Costly!

 

[rckymtn3]

Typical "everything is fine, we know what we're doing, stop staring at that man behind the curtain pulling the levers" NHRA-style.

On NHRA's site, along with a photo of Johnny's Firewall covering his windscreen, the caption beneath the photo states....

"Johnny Gray suffered an engine explosion in the second round of Funny Car; his Dodge Charger body remained on the car as designed by the newly mandated tether system."

I imagine, two years from now you'll read....

"Courtney Force suffered an engine explosion during the first round of competition. The mandated articulated arm deployed as designed, but a malfunction occurred in the rapid epoxy delivery system affixed to the arm. The back-up safety device was then triggered which released the rhesus monkey. The monkey then made it's way out to the front deck of the broken body, and applied the epoxy to the body, gluing it successfully to the injector, and it's tiny hands. Courtney said she couldn't see a thing until some rodent seemed to clear the windshield. Fans later commented on how they would have loved to have seen the monkey do it's thing, but the mandated hockey helmets for spectators and the seven inch plexiglas made it difficult. NHRA is currently looking into a solution to the rhesus breeding program."

Rube Goldberg would love the NHRA.

 

[Mooseman]

You don't need to keep the body on the chassis, not needed at all. You just let the explosion blow the body off but have a cable tethered from the body to the frame at the rear pivot points so that the body blows off the chassis but wont go further then a set distance from the car, maybe have the cable long enough to clear the chassis but short enough to keep the body on the track.

Sort of like the tether surfers wear that attaches to the surfboard.

 

[bing]

The evolution of drag racing up until recent years was the racers/crew/chassis builders and it worked fine but now it seems the folks at the NHRA think they know best. Obviously not. As stated above, a tethering system connected to the rear of the car so the body drags behind the car is the way to go. Just gotta sort out a system that will deploy the chutes and let them blossom, no point having chutes mounted to a body travelling in the wrong direction. Connect them to a higher point of the chassis maybe although that may make the rear quite lite. I am sure the racers/crews/chassis builders will sort something out and while it may take a while it will be done the right way.

 

[Leebone]

God forbid this ever happens to ANY car again, but if it did happen to a Force car, "the mouth that roared" would be all over the NHRA like flies on you know what, especially when his daughter is in one of the cars. In fact, the burst panel did blow off of said daughter's car. Thankfully it wasn't worse.

 

[you]

You don't need to keep the body on the chassis, not needed at all. You just let the explosion blow the body off but have a cable tethered from the body to the frame at the rear pivot points so that the body blows off the chassis but wont go further then a set distance from the car, maybe have the cable long enough to clear the chassis but short enough to keep the body on the track.

Sort of like the tether surfers wear that attaches to the surfboard.

Agreed!

 

[Mark]

I was there at Charlotte when Hight's body went into the stands, and I don't remember a general outcry begging the NHRA to keep it from happening again...why? Because it's REALLY FREAKIN' RARE. The odds of a fan getting hurt from a body falling on them vs the odds of a driver getting hurt with this new tethering system (per run) is astronomically small. I guess the NHRA is just trying to protect themselves against lawsuits.

I too thought about the DSR canopy situation...it took a year for that to get into place, but this gets into place in three months.

 

[mick]

...........Rube Goldberg would love the NHRA.

great comment kevin.

 

[Silly Savage]

The way Johnny's body sat on the chassis reminded me a lot of Scott Kalitta and how his F/C body buckled up. I can't believe the chutes didn't pop as they were supposed to. I wonder if those "tunnel systems" that Force came up with years ago couldn't be applied in this situation....wasn't that one of the reason Team Force came up with those along with the driver shield around the foot/steering area? I am also surprised that they didn't show where Courtney's hatch went when it blew off of the body...looked to me like it was heading for the stands.

I think that the latch system in front was a better idea, just not in conjunction with the tether system.

How about this...we are going to be down to Mopar and Toyota involvement with bodies anyhow, so let's yank the bodies and turn them ALL into fuel altereds....

 

[TR]

Obviously we are all grateful the Johnny is O.K., but I have a question that has not been addressed. Who designed this system? It doesn't sound like NHRA talked to the Funny Car guys or crewchiefs, so who was the brainstormer that figured this out? A two year old could have told you the body was going to buckle in the middle with a major KaBoom. So I ask again who designed this Mickey Mouse system and sold the idea to NHRA? (my apologies to Mickey)

Rick

 

[MHayes]

Obviously we are all grateful the Johnny is O.K., but I have a question that has not been addressed. Who designed this system? It doesn't sound like NHRA talked to the Funny Car guys or crewchiefs, so who was the brainstormer that figured this out? A two year old could have told you the body was going to buckle in the middle with a major KaBoom. So I ask again who designed this Mickey Mouse system and sold the idea to NHRA? (my apologies to Mickey)

Rick

NHRA Mandates New FC Body Latch-and-Tether System | Drag Illustrated | Drag Racing News, Opinion, Interviews, Photos, Videos and More

"Led by NHRA Vice President-Technical Operations Glen Gray and Director of Engineering Timothy White, members of the Don Schumacher Racing, John Force Racing, Kalitta Motorsports, and Head Racing teams, along with industry experts including chassis builder Murf McKinney and renowned composite manufacturer Aerodine, worked together to design a latching and retention system to work under the demanding conditions. The group met numerous times in person, including visits to the various teams’ fabrication departments, and participated in numerous teleconferences."

Sounds like a group of two year olds to me