I remember someone being strapped
(maybe duck taped) to the wing of a top fuel car while they fired it up, and was even shown on TV.
Anyone wanna fess up?
It was a photo shoot in our pits for presentation to two potential sponsors and to highlight some products of a then current sponsor on another car. Only people around was our crew and professional NHRA card carrying photographers, one of which was the model.
It started out as just still photography, but as we were video taping the procedure anyways, Les Welch suggested we start the car and let it idle and I said OK. What was I thinking, huh?
The person on the car was standing on the rear end (a Strange unit that is flat on top) and had duct tape on his wrists and ankles to look like he was taped onto the wing stand, but wasn't. We had a crew man stationed to each side of the car to help him off if something went wrong.
It took place nothing happened to anyone, we got a lot of nice shots and the people we presented it to were exited, until the next race in Houston.
Mr Light was pissed at me for not allowing his old racing buddie's son run my second car in eliminations at the previous World Finals after the son had taken some "hero pills" and drove the car out of fuel and into the sand on the last qualifying run. I am just not going to be the one allowing a driver to kill himself, or someone else, if I can help it. So he tells the drivers in the driver's meeting in Houston that I grabbed a loud mouth spectator from the ropes, threw him up on top of the rear wing, taped him down and started the car, with the guy screaming all the while. My drivers come back and are upset that they were embarrassed in the meeting and then Dave Reiff comes by and asks if I want to tell my side on tv. I said no until he tells me what Mr Light has just said on tv.
Mr Light levies a penalty that I am banned from two races, fined 5 grand and am on probation. The Fram rep was in the pits for the shoot and told NHRA immediately that if I wasn't at the races, neither would they be there. I went to the "kangaroo court" appeals equipped with the tape of the event and several videos of other teams with crew members hanging off the wing while they hit the throttle to keep the car from falling off the jacks, and shots of funny cars warming up with the driver closer than our model standing on the rear. I asked for an on air apology from Mr Light (he wouldn't even appear at the appeals hearing) but never received it. NHRA put a gag order on the tape and me to never discuss the details, but since I don't plan on racing again, I told you what really happened. I won't tell about the results of the appeals, and they never reported it either, but I never missed a race.
As far as the potential sponsors, they were kept abreast of the ordeal as it progressed and they decided they didn't want to be involved with an organization that treated it's participants the way they treated us. The other car's sponsor is no longer involved either. So there you have it.
As a side note, I won't ever name the photographers involved as it took a lot of effort by all of us for them to keep their NHRA credentials. One NHRA official who was standing at the ropes while the shoot took place lost his job over the incident because he refused to lie for Mr Light. And I asked Mr Bernstien for PRO's help in defending our team and sponsors against the lies and was told they didn't want to get involved.
