Jr. Dragster driver injured (1 Viewer)

[racer4rw]

Kinda old news but Bullitt speedway in Brooks KY had a auction & a slot car bracket race for her. They raised $7500

 

[NitroRichFire]

Please know that our thoughts and prayers are with this little lady! Never give up hope, think "POSITIVE"! Remember this:
Fear Knocked At The Door,
Faith Answered,
And There Was Nobody There!

 

[rocketman]

This accident right here is why everyone in an open wheel car needs to be using a hans. I never thought this way until this happend. I'm glad she's sowing some progress.

 

[Toejam]

I'm NOT trying to make light of any person hurt in this sport, much less a child. But are the Jr. dragsters getting too fast?? Everyone think's TF/FC are death traps at 1320 ft. what about Jr. Dragsters???? Is there a movement to shorten their races to 330'? Using some of the logic used by some on the 1/4 mile racing's Too dangerous wave, isn't this worth discussing? These are our kids remember...

 

[afx421]

get well very soon kaylee, god bless .you are in our thoughts and prayers

 

[rocketman]

Joe, I think such injuries are very rare. This is the first one I have ever heard of. All you can do is protect these kids to the fullest extent possible. I wouldn't have ever advocated a hans for a junior racer. Never! In fact, I remember thinking they over-dramatised the Enders crash in the Disney movie. But since Kaylee's accident, I think they should be mandated. This wil cause some hardship though so maybe the manufacturer can cut the kids a break. What do you think Joe?

 

[farmje]

I went to a dragstrip that was 1/8 mile and kids were running over 105mph in the 1/8th. They were running faster than some of the pro cars.

 

[Cliff Ricci]

I can only imagine that track was NOT an NHRA member track.........I do the JR Program at LVMS and the guidelines for ET and Speed are very defined in the JR rule book..... any speed over 85.00 MPH will get you sent home as soon as it happens no second chances........the same for ET the quickest they may dial is 7.90........if any car runs 7.70 or quicker they also get to go home..I had one run 7.73 in time trials on Saturday...I had to remind him 3 more hun and he goes home.............

There is a small group of JR's that have formed a 330 class .....the cars are very quick but because they dont go over the posted penalty markers its kind of gray....

Cliff

 

[none]

This is a touchy subject,my understanding is she was going too fast to make the turnoff. And then hit the end of the guardrail causing her injuries. I wish these kids would do some gokart racing first to learn handling and get familiar with speeds and turning.
I pray for her recovery..........

 

[Randy]

I had a chance to talk to parents and kids in the Jr. Dragster category last weekend at Fontana where we did exhibition runs for Lucas Oil during a huge event held just for them. They take their racing very seriously. The pits were so jam packed with Jr. Dragster racers it looked like an NHRA National Event.

One of the warnings we got as we entered the facility was to watch out for kids in the pits. They are distracted and having a lot of fun. The last thing on their minds is actually get run over or hurt. Watching all the kids in the pits was almost like being in the park on a Sunday afternoon. I think it's a wise decision to seperate their events from typical events where the "big" cars run, because the "big" car racers are distracted as well and may not be expecting small children to come running around the back side of their trailer chasing a plastic dragster.

Our hearts and prayers go out to Kaylee and her family. She sounds like a strong person and I know she'll be fine.

RG

 

[brian]

I'm NOT trying to make light of any person hurt in this sport, much less a child. But are the Jr. dragsters getting too fast?? Everyone think's TF/FC are death traps at 1320 ft. what about Jr. Dragsters???? Is there a movement to shorten their races to 330'? Using some of the logic used by some on the 1/4 mile racing's Too dangerous wave, isn't this worth discussing? These are our kids remember...

Actually, there are "Outlaw 330" JR classes around here for some bad little machines, but they are not allowed to run the full 1/8 as they are too fast.

 

[yoda]

I'm NOT trying to make light of any person hurt in this sport, much less a child. But are the Jr. dragsters getting too fast?? Everyone think's TF/FC are death traps at 1320 ft. what about Jr. Dragsters???? Is there a movement to shorten their races to 330'? Using some of the logic used by some on the 1/4 mile racing's Too dangerous wave, isn't this worth discussing? These are our kids remember...

Ever since the inception of the class, there have been several restrictions regarding performance- currently the 85mph rule on the regular Jr. cars, as well as E.T. standards that the cars have to abide by based on age. The nice part about the classes is that they are still dial classes- you pick the ET your kid can run based on their age, experience and quality of equipment.

Take a look at some of the newer cars, Joe- the quality is that of most TF/TAD cars, and in some cases, better than some of the Super Comp cars out there. Safety updates come down regularly, and as you know, none of it is cheap- I forsee HANS within the next two years, not for the speed, but because of potential turnoff impacts (Kaylee's injuries were steering shaft/butterfly wheel induced).

And personally, every parent I know that races one of these now would never put their kid in an unsafe car- the pain that the Medlin Family has experienced rippled hard through the whole community, as 90% of the kids racing have their dad or mom as their crewchief. Trust me, if we didn't think the cars were safe enough to run the speeds they do, there isn't one parent out there that would have them going that fast.