Maple Grove- Sunday Eliminations

[J]

Honestly, it was painful to sit there and watch today. There was so much downtime between pairs running down the track it just wasn't fun. First round the left lane was clearly a struggle, I think maybe two fuel cars won from that lane. (I could be wrong on the exact number). Just a long day sitting through it all. First time I wanted to leave early, ever in over 40+ years.

It was def a long day lol

 

[LoPony]

Long day, but very entertaining!

 

[Butch]

I dunno, it seems like whatever solutions they have in place right now are doing fine? Did I miss something? Did somebody get hit with something today? ALMOST everything has stayed within the walls this season, and for most events that I can remember, with only a couple of exceptions that were way down track. I know a spectator in a motorhome was hit with a tire part from Shawn Reed’s crash near the top end, and that’s unfortunate, but rare. Wonder if there was a lawsuit pending from that?

I’m not challenging you viewpoint here, but for those of us who aren’t really familiar, please explain why the body tethering is a hazard.

For the record, I’m fine with watching them lunch bodies in the air. Ha!

Hi Chris let's see if I can answer your question. Prior to tethering when there was a "kaboom" the body was free to leave the chassis in doing so at speed it helped put out the fire and permitted the driver to see where they were going. Yes occasionally part of the body headed towards the stands. Since tethering was mandated the body stays in place more often that not blocking the drivers view and keeping the fire contained under the body and around the driver. Several drivers have openly said how they feel the tethering actually is putting them in danger. Force's accident was as bad as it was because the tethering held the broken body in place prohibiting the automatic chute release from working. Today Matt Hagen again voiced his concerns following his explosion, in the past Capps, JR and others have also expressed their concerns. It's only a matter of time before the tethers will keep a burning body around the driver, the driver not be able to see and run into the car in the other lane. Hopefully no one gets seriously hurt when it happens.

 

[twostep]

I’m just guessing that it’s about Stewart’s interview following the crash being it was a Kalitta car. He didn’t point fingers or say anything negative about the incident.

As far as Tony knowing it was a Kalitta car I believe at that moment Tony didn't know what universe he was in. That was a rather hard blow to the noggin he took. But we all saw his reaction towards Doug moments later as he put his arm around him assuring him there was no blame and checking to see that he was OK.

Sounds like Team Kalitta appreciated Tony's professionalism. Two seasoned racers who have seen the good and the bad; they know how to deal with it and with each other.

 

[PDQ]

Alan Reinhart any ideas on the funny car bodies

 

[Brutus26]

My $.02 after reading some of these comments. Why doesn’t the NHRA, grow a set, and ask the drivers, CC’s who probably All know an engineer or very smart person in physics (or similar) to work on something for this? Not spend $$ on some consulting firm or BS analytics formula. My scrawny little (Clay Millican like) ass isn’t strapped into one of these cars, to have any say, but I do believe that something to the effect of blowing the body off and tethered so it goes behind the car is a good one (or start). Yes it may effect the job of the chute’s but would also form some drag and the weight of it may help slow it down but would allow for the driver to see where he is at, make moves to correct it and maybe steer towards/into the sand traps; if needed. Now if something happens to the tethering system and the body is bouncing all around and possibly into other lane? Well, “Houston-We have a problem” and are back to square one!

 

[scratch]

As far as the Body Tether issue goes the is no one real solution to the exclusion of all others. A racer does not want his opponent in the other lane to shed its body, or parts off of it, or blow off and into his car at speed and upset his car as well. Or spectators do not want body panels to take flight and end up landing in the stands, or dragging the body on a tether behind the car at speed and then dealing with a whole new problem of maintaining control or.... the scenarios are many. The most likely action would be to mitigate the explosions in the first place but that opens up a whole other can of worms. Call this a side problem of the cars now running so quick and fast. As any driver knows its Buy The Ticket And Take The Ride.

 

[mgty3whlr]

I'm far from an engineer but these cars have burst panels. Make them much larger. They are obviously pumping more fuel into these to make them quicker and faster but they are not compensating for a catastrophic failure. Take JFR for instance, they have burst panels on the topside running parallel of the supercharger. widen the panel double or 75% more with a tether or the other body styles, enlarge them 50-75% larger. tethered of course. I believe that would allow for the concussion of the explosion to exit quickly and allow for the body to stay intact. If you lenghen the tethers to allow the body to clear the chassis, where is it going to land? the side and jerk the car to the wall or the other lane? Everything is body wraps so it would be simple to have the wrap perforated or blended in with the sponsor that the fan wouldn't even know the difference.

 

[Nunz]

How about this, it would solve the problem of decreasing new car bodies to copy going into the future, and, eliminate the need for tethers altogether: Take the FC bodies off, put roadster bodies on with TF wings, and have at it!

 

[Nunz]

Honestly, it was painful to sit there and watch today. There was so much downtime between pairs running down the track it just wasn't fun. First round the left lane was clearly a struggle, I think maybe two fuel cars won from that lane. (I could be wrong on the exact number). Just a long day sitting through it all. First time I wanted to leave early, ever in over 40+ years.

I know there was a lot of carnage, but it was still done by 5 ish no? I watched on NHRAtv and thought it was a helluva race.

 

[LoPony]

Hi Chris let's see if I can answer your question. Prior to tethering when there was a "kaboom" the body was free to leave the chassis in doing so at speed it helped put out the fire and permitted the driver to see where they were going. Yes occasionally part of the body headed towards the stands. Since tethering was mandated the body stays in place more often that not blocking the drivers view and keeping the fire contained under the body and around the driver. Several drivers have openly said how they feel the tethering actually is putting them in danger. Force's accident was as bad as it was because the tethering held the broken body in place prohibiting the automatic chute release from working. Today Matt Hagen again voiced his concerns following his explosion, in the past Capps, JR and others have also expressed their concerns. It's only a matter of time before the tethers will keep a burning body around the driver, the driver not be able to see and run into the car in the other lane. Hopefully no one gets seriously hurt when it happens.

I had figured out the visibility thing, and I don’t know why I didn’t think about the (obvious) issue of being trapped in a fire! Hmmm. That is scary indeed.

 

[Rajunz]

In the early 90’s Austin Coil designed a body ejection system where in case of a fire the body would be ejected with air cylinders off the front of the car and then there was a cable that tied the rear tree to the chassis. I’m pretty sure John only ran it at a match race and then it was shelved for weight and other reasons.

I’m wondering if a spin off of that cable system would be ok. You could still have teathers to keep the body together as much as possible, but they would connect in the rear tree area of the body instead of the front. You can still blow the body off and get the chutes out and just have the body drag well behind the car far enough with the cable where the chutes could still be open. And also long enough to not just rip the cable off the chassis / body when it came off. I’m sure there is a possibility of the chutes getting tangled in the cable but at least the body would be off the driver, not in the crowd and the chutes would be deployed.

I’m sure it’s not that simple, but it comes to mind for me when this topic comes up.

That's the exact same thought that I had. A retractable cable that would drag the body behind the chutes.

 

[mick]

matt with a utube short out today

11K views · 6K reactions | Hey guys, I know sometimes emotions get the best of us in the heat of the moment, that being said, I wanted to better explain my stance on current tethering requirements. Hopefully I was able to better articulate my concern

Hey guys, I know sometimes emotions get the best of us in the heat of the moment, that being said, I wanted to better explain my stance on current tethering requirements. Hopefully I was able to...

www.facebook.com

edit: mighty mack also released a separate interview with matt today. while he was interviewing matt, the DK/tony crash took place.
it's on youtube. just search and/or subscribe to mighty macks channel.

 

[jsracz]

I know there was a lot of carnage, but it was still done by 5 ish no? I watched on NHRAtv and thought it was a helluva race.

I'm not sure what the experience was like watching on NHRAtv, sounds like it was better. I initially responded to the comment about someone saying I'm sorry I missed being there. I've never seen so many delays because of guys blowing up at the 1000 mark. I'm not sure what filler NHRAtv uses but I know when you sit there there's nothing. Sit in the sun and watch a hourglass. That's the option, there's only so many trips you can make to get something to drink/eat/bathroom. Will it stop me from continuing to go to three races minimum a year, no it won't.

Speaking of, I thought the 1000 mark was supposed to save all these engines from letting the inside parts out?

 

[Rajunz]

Anderson DQ'd for burning across the starting line twice...........what's this world coming to?

So now Team Titan are taking dives .....

 

[Rajunz]

I'm not sure what the experience was like watching on NHRAtv, sounds like it was better. I initially responded to the comment about someone saying I'm sorry I missed being there. I've never seen so many delays because of guys blowing up at the 1000 mark. I'm not sure what filler NHRAtv uses but I know when you sit there there's nothing. Sit in the sun and watch a hourglass. That's the option, there's only so many trips you can make to get something to drink/eat/bathroom. Will it stop me from continuing to go to three races minimum a year, no it won't.

Speaking of, I thought the 1000 mark was supposed to save all these engines from letting the inside parts out?

There was a race a few years back in St. Louis where there was also too much carnage. It sucks, but it comes with nitro racing. Lots of torn up equipment yesterday!

 

[Marchboom]

Wonder if the insurance companies that provide coverage for NHRA are telling the NHRA that they had better get the explosion epidemic under control.

Seems like every other run someone has a major explosion. Nitro racing, without any explosions, is expensive enough. Now it's really getting expensive. Carbon fiber might be a good investment.

 

[Percboy]

So now Team Titan are taking dives .....

Good thing they decide to only broadcast 3 PS pairs per show, no one will know.
Seriously, why would anyone sponsor a PS car these days with little or no TV exposure on race day?
Who made this decision? NHRA? Fox? Sucks either way.

 

[mick]

....... why would anyone sponsor a PS car these days.........

you could say the same about some fortune 500 companies who won't spend with the nhra anymore.
ups, catepillar, bud, miller, reebok, schick, mbna, oakley, pepsi, coca-cola, coors, jolly rancher, castrol, autozone, advanced auto, etc.
even at the nitro level, somebody needs to ask the question, what do we need to do to make companies consider the nhra again.
even at the tool level, have always wondered why milwaukee and stihl have no interest in the nhra; and stanley black & decker rarely
advertise the dewalt brand via the kalitta group.

 

[camaro]

So now Team Titan are taking dives .....

Diving only takes place, per the descending 'pecking order' of any given team. The Head 'MoFo' never dives for any underlings, with the lone exception of that year Force took a dive for Hight, in order to allow him into the countdown