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NHRA Mandates New FC Body Latch-and-Tether System (1 Viewer)

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Nitro Member
"The result of these discussions was the creation of a better dual latching system that requires both a 45-degree turn as well as an outward pull to disengage the latch, as well as a system that tethers the remainder of the body via the firewall to the front latch in case the body breaks behind the nose.

The bodies will not be tethered to the chassis, per se, but rather to the body latch, with the goal of keeping the body whole."

NHRA Mandates New FC Body Latch-and-Tether System | Drag Illustrated | Drag Racing News, Opinion, Interviews, Photos, Videos and More
 
When I read this today, my concern is the tethering of the body to the firewall via the latch. The new latch design is such that it will probably not release during an explosion. The body will still come apart. If the body is attached to the firewall/driver compartment, and air gets underneath it, will the chassis and driver possibly become airborne? With all the people they had working on it. I hope I am not envisioning this correctly.
 
 
Gotta do something before spectators get killed. That was a close call earlier this year.
 
If that happened today along with the kind of fire Tasca had yesterday, I fear it would have been a huge tragedy. It was bad enough today. :mad:
 
Johnny Gray Describes Second-Round Explosion at NHRA Sonoma Nationals

"The body did not come off the car. It blew the body up and the tethers yanked the body right back down. But the problem is, it blew the fire-wall up over the windshield. The body didn't come back down square on the go round. We had a nice gap in there, so we had fire coming in under the body and the fire wall was up over the windshield on the car so I couldn't see where I was going. Something hit my right arm pretty hard. I finally got stuff out of the way enough to get to the brake handle and start getting the car shut down, but I had no idea where I was going. It finally eased over and tagged the wall on the right side. I tried to just pull it off the wall a little bit and get it to come to a stop. NHRA arrived on the scene, and luckily the fire was pretty much out. They cut the tethers and started trying to get stuff off the car.

"The problem I have with what happened is that it held the body on the car but it scooted the body back so it was real hard to get out the roof hatch because the body was too far back. Also, the body couldn't have just been raised; there was too much damage and carnage. So with everything that took place, if the car had been really lit up on fire, it would have really been a bad situation.

"We're in negotiations with NHRA right now. Frankly, I do not want to run the tethers until we get some more stuff figured out. We'll see what happens. As I told them, I'm 60 years old, I'm not sure I want to race in Seattle [next week] with this new invention on the car that has good capabilities of getting me hurt. Had this taken place at 1,000-feet instead of [near the 330-foot marker], I'd have been in the sand trap and this wouldn't have been a good deal.

"I don't know how much the other drivers will voice their opinion to the media or to NHRA, but they all voiced their opinion to me. They're all scared to death, and they don't want [the tethers] on their cars. They're not happy about NHRA just saying well we've got to protect the spectators. My question is, okay we've got to protect the spectators, but does that mean the drivers are dispensable? I know I'm 60 and can be replaced, but I'm not in a hurry. And I guess I'm kind of like Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that."
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Did anyone think to ask Jim Head how he would secure the bodies to the car, since he is like....wait for it....an engineer and Funny Car driver? :confused:
 
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.
 
Registered member said:
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.
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Having not been in the loop, when I clicked on the link to watch the new tether system in action on Johnny Gray's car, I was expecting it to operate exactly as you described.

No clue though.. maybe something worse would happen when you're dragging the body via cord at 300 mph.

I don't know why its an issue all of a sudden. Bodys have been blowing off forever. The one time it makes it over the fence, suddenly it's an issue.

Why didn't they tether the tires on when Dixon's tire flew hundreds of feet into the parking lot like a wrecking ball?

Pretty obvious they should not run the current tether system until further notice.
 
Registered member said:
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.
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John Force actually had one of these back in the early 90's, along with a body ejection system.

If the car caught fire, he could push a button that would activate a couple air cylinders with arms that would push the front of the body up so it would catch air and come off the car. The body had a cable to where it would drag behind the car after it launched. At the same time, it would deploy a 3rd parachute.

He didn't have it on the car very long, as it added a lot of weight, and I don't think NHRA was 100% behind it.
 
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I am more than a little pissed that NHRA officials caved into FC driver's rants about the driver safety issues associated with the recently mandated body tethers. To get right to the point here is my issue: The fans don't assume any risk when attending an NHRA event the competitors do. Matt Hagan's near disasterous body blow off almost ended NHRA drag racing as we know it earlier this year. Of course the NHRA acted immediately to make the sport as safe as possibly for both the fans and the competitors. Did they get it perfect? No. But that does not mean that they should reverse the valid safety measures implemented to date to protect race fans because a certain DSR driver felt that he was in danger because he could not see down a concrete wall lined track with a sand pit and catch net at the end? Don't get me wrong I think driver safety is important but it pales in comparison to fan safety.
 
The body blow off earlier this year you're talking about.... you sure it was Matt's and not Hight's?
 
Registered member said:
I am more than a little pissed that NHRA officials caved into FC driver's rants about the driver safety issues associated with the recently mandated body tethers. To get right to the point here is my issue: The fans don't assume any risk when attending an NHRA event the competitors do. Matt Hagan's near disasterous body blow off almost ended NHRA drag racing as we know it earlier this year. Of course the NHRA acted immediately to make the sport as safe as possibly for both the fans and the competitors. Did they get it perfect? No. But that does not mean that they should reverse the valid safety measures implemented to date to protect race fans because a certain DSR driver felt that he was in danger because he could not see down a concrete wall lined track with a sand pit and catch net at the end? Don't get me wrong I think driver safety is important but it pales in comparison to fan safety.
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Dumbest post I've ever seen!! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
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