Motorsports media asks, "Is this the time to bring back 1,320 foot nitro racing?"
- Thread starter Raconteur
- Start date
StockersRock
Nitro Member
Sounds to me like you only talk Top Fuel racing. There's only two classes at an NHRA national even that run 1000'. That's a very small percentage of the value of a day's admission.
CrewMan
Nitro Member
True Andy, but it is the perception, and your drag people that have not been just for that reason substantiate it.
And much as I despise the "perception is reality" line in general because I think it is a cop out in most instances it is used in, it is true in this case.
The whole 1000ft thing never made sense to me, and reading that article reaffirms some of that.
I know we have had deaths, and nobody wants to see anymore but from what I remember none of those deaths were caused by an additional 320' of track like the article in a couple instances refers too.
Blaine Johnson was not killed by a short shut down area - he was killed by severe head trauma caused by hitting the angled wall in the shut down area. NHRA fixed that with a guard rail or pinned section of wall in most cases that can be opened in the event emergency personnel needs on the track. There is nothing to say that the outcome would have been any different had that impact not occurred in that fashion,but it may not have been as bad. Nobody will ever know, but what we do know is that nothing has ever happened like that again.
Shelly Howard was not killed by a short shutdown area - as freak as that accident was, no shutdown area ever would have contained what happened there.
Darrell Russell was not killed by a short shutdown area - he was killed from severe head trauma caused by the wing strut from what we can pretty much all assume was a crap tire situation....too much speed and poor quality tires?....maybe...that is certainly possible but it was not because the shut down area was short. NHRA fixed that too...additional driver protection....have issues occured since then like it....yep....anyone die? Nope.
Eric Medlen did not die from a short shutdown it was severe head trauma caused an extreme condition of tire shake that I don't think will ever happen again. NHRA, John Force, manufacturers...fixed all that...at least to the degree that it was possible...and it was not shortening the trace 320'.
The Kalitta issue, is on NHRA not the shutdown length. No automatic motor shutoff...a concrete barrier at the end of track, and goofball camera man in a JLG right in the middle of the damn end of the track. Don't see that crap anymore do ya?
The cars now are eclipsing times and speeds in the 1000ft that are way faster that what they were. And I totally respect all of the Connies' and such that say the 1000ft was the right move. Precautions have been taken, strides have been made. The thread kind of takes a crack at the Dale Armstrong article...but the dude was right.
I don't think it makes a hill of beans difference to the average spectator whether Dixon runs 4.50 or a 4.90...can you really see 4 tenths of second difference at 300+? I don't think so....hell at the top end you are lucky if you even get a glimpse of the paint scheme.
What people want to see a 1/4 mile race and that includes me.
And much as I despise the "perception is reality" line in general because I think it is a cop out in most instances it is used in, it is true in this case.
The whole 1000ft thing never made sense to me, and reading that article reaffirms some of that.
I know we have had deaths, and nobody wants to see anymore but from what I remember none of those deaths were caused by an additional 320' of track like the article in a couple instances refers too.
Blaine Johnson was not killed by a short shut down area - he was killed by severe head trauma caused by hitting the angled wall in the shut down area. NHRA fixed that with a guard rail or pinned section of wall in most cases that can be opened in the event emergency personnel needs on the track. There is nothing to say that the outcome would have been any different had that impact not occurred in that fashion,but it may not have been as bad. Nobody will ever know, but what we do know is that nothing has ever happened like that again.
Shelly Howard was not killed by a short shutdown area - as freak as that accident was, no shutdown area ever would have contained what happened there.
Darrell Russell was not killed by a short shutdown area - he was killed from severe head trauma caused by the wing strut from what we can pretty much all assume was a crap tire situation....too much speed and poor quality tires?....maybe...that is certainly possible but it was not because the shut down area was short. NHRA fixed that too...additional driver protection....have issues occured since then like it....yep....anyone die? Nope.
Eric Medlen did not die from a short shutdown it was severe head trauma caused an extreme condition of tire shake that I don't think will ever happen again. NHRA, John Force, manufacturers...fixed all that...at least to the degree that it was possible...and it was not shortening the trace 320'.
The Kalitta issue, is on NHRA not the shutdown length. No automatic motor shutoff...a concrete barrier at the end of track, and goofball camera man in a JLG right in the middle of the damn end of the track. Don't see that crap anymore do ya?
The cars now are eclipsing times and speeds in the 1000ft that are way faster that what they were. And I totally respect all of the Connies' and such that say the 1000ft was the right move. Precautions have been taken, strides have been made. The thread kind of takes a crack at the Dale Armstrong article...but the dude was right.
I don't think it makes a hill of beans difference to the average spectator whether Dixon runs 4.50 or a 4.90...can you really see 4 tenths of second difference at 300+? I don't think so....hell at the top end you are lucky if you even get a glimpse of the paint scheme.
What people want to see a 1/4 mile race and that includes me.
SundayNiagara
Nitro Member
listen to and read the great article by the late dale Armstrong on slowing the cars just a little, saving engine parts and cost also may open up the show for other teams but is way to logical for NHRA and the suits to understand
Reducing the amount of avaible fuel on a pass has the same effect and is much easier to police.
mick
Nitro Member
IMO there should be more entertainment surrounding the start of the race (i.e. longer burnouts, staging process, back-up babes).
i think give the fans this and the distance of the track suddenly is not so important; having said that, nhra moved quickly to announce
a plan to revamp PS, they could certainly do it for FC and TF; whether to the cars, the track length, or both......my best guess
is john force would rather see his girls successful in nhra for years to come than to be stagnant and die along side the sanctioning body.
i think it's in the nhra's and their racer's best interest to make changes to advance the sport. i welcome any changes they try.....including 1000' and the countdown....pass or fail they are not standing still.
i think give the fans this and the distance of the track suddenly is not so important; having said that, nhra moved quickly to announce
a plan to revamp PS, they could certainly do it for FC and TF; whether to the cars, the track length, or both......my best guess
is john force would rather see his girls successful in nhra for years to come than to be stagnant and die along side the sanctioning body.
i think it's in the nhra's and their racer's best interest to make changes to advance the sport. i welcome any changes they try.....including 1000' and the countdown....pass or fail they are not standing still.
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StockersRock
Nitro Member
Agree, though with even move live TV coming, it's probably even less likely to come back.
Litefoot
Nitro Member
Its been my understanding that Scotts car blew up at a "thousand feet" and continued to run off oil and fuel from pan, I have heard off two deaths from the new net system, one dragster folded back into driver, I know its been said before but they need to use aircraft catch net systems, 1320, put mounting pads at all NHRA tracks, two set ups, one extra on site for a back up
TooTall999
Nitro Member
Saw it...ignored it....
flapjack
Nitro Member
Oh Hell No, they would have to turn down the wick! But that Rear Tire is the Fly in the Ointment, until they can make a tire that will "safely" handle speeds over 335, I seriously doubt 1320 will ever come back.
Is this really the Motorsports media, or the Drag racing media? And an 1/8 race for Fuel cars couldn't be more Boring!
Rajunz
Nitro Member
With that said, do you think the average spectator can even tell that the fuel cars are not running full speed for the last 320 feet? It's only 4 tenths of second!
Personally, I'll take what they're running now over "watered down" fuel cars running to a 1/4 mile just for the sake of saying that's the historic distance.
James
Nitro Member
So when they get too fast at1,000 feet are you ok with watering it down then or shortening the distance some more?
Rajunz
Nitro Member
If it's required to keep the drivers safe, I'm all for slowing them down, but not just to say that they're running a true historic distance.
Do you guys really want to see cars running what they ran 25 years ago? Because that's what we're talking about here, high 4 second runs, 300 mph 1/4 mile speeds. Think that's a way to get more butts in the seats? Like someone mentioned earlier, the Alcohol classes are close to running that.
Do you guys really want to see cars running what they ran 25 years ago? Because that's what we're talking about here, high 4 second runs, 300 mph 1/4 mile speeds. Think that's a way to get more butts in the seats? Like someone mentioned earlier, the Alcohol classes are close to running that.
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