Tasca injuries (1 Viewer)

After burnout they were lowering the body and body hit throttle basically a tony pedregon and Dickie incident
 
Seems like there’d be a tech bulletin issued about this a long time ago; like some sort of a rub-guard or something, attached to the injector hat that covers and protects the linkage and rigging. But that’s easy to say, sitting here on the couch.
 
Seems like there’d be a tech bulletin issued about this a long time ago; like some sort of a rub-guard or something, attached to the injector hat that covers and protects the linkage and rigging. But that’s easy to say, sitting here on the couch.

You'll see it now...
 
Hope no one was hurt too seriously...

Maybe they should enroll their crew in the " Canoles school of Funny Car ettiquette " ...

Really.. I don't know anyone who single handedly crewed as well as Harry.. Start, Lower body, RUN, Meet car at back-up, guide back-up, Take transfer of vht, apply vht, manage dryhops , line up, get to line, run to truck..... relax for ¼ mile... Get back to work, Lift body, Get driver out, Manage shutdown / cool down, Arrange tow-back, rest for tow-back, get pits / between rounds attention....

One man crew - even without a " guide" to lower the body - ( pretty good idea that if you did it wrong,,, it was gonna hurt..)

Rinse repeat.... never any issue / incident / concern / or problem... ( well, once... but it wasn't him...)

There have been alot of bodies raised and lowered over the years... a few accidents... but,

A new regulation would only ensure that there will be even fewer body lifts in the future... The lack of competitors and competition has illustrated that the challenge of managing the administration of the sport has overcome the ability to actually participate in it....
 
When I was on the Invader NFC team the only role I did not want was that of lowering the body after the engine was started. The Tony Pedregon/Dickie Venables incident was always in the back of my mind.
I strapped our driver in, then pulled the mag wire once we began cranking the engine, stood back and said a silent prayer as the body was being lowered.
 
I have been thinking about this, would a "no touching" rule be possible? Once the car is started and the body is lowered (no body obviously in Top Fuel), car does the burnout, backs up and stages without anyone touching the car. No pushing it into the water box, no pushing it backwards after the burnout, no shaking, pushing or pulling the car if it can't get reverse, no wiping the tires, no raising the body and playing in the box and then putting the body back down. The only exception I would allow is the throttle stop.
 
I have been thinking about this, would a "no touching" rule be possible? Once the car is started and the body is lowered (no body obviously in Top Fuel), car does the burnout, backs up and stages without anyone touching the car. No pushing it into the water box, no pushing it backwards after the burnout, no shaking, pushing or pulling the car if it can't get reverse, no wiping the tires, no raising the body and playing in the box and then putting the body back down. The only exception I would allow is the throttle stop.
I don't think so, for a number of reasons:

First, the reverse thing. These clutches just have a tendency to resist going into reverse with nothing being mechanically wrong. It seems unfair to me that a sound car could lose a run/race due to extreme randomness when it really takes minimal effort to correct the issue. Also, say it won't go into reverse because of a high idle. A crew member could fix that problem while removing a stop (it technically wouldn't be allowed, but who would stop it?), while someone in the other lane with an equally easy problem could be hung out to dry.

Second, say something minor goes wrong during the burnout. For example, car backs up and a crew member spots a couple drips from a fuel line. Not necessarily a steady stream, but just a little. Under a no-touch rule, the only options would be to abort the run over a potential non-issue or stay silent and risk something very bad. All it would take is two seconds with a wrench to fix the problem or verify that there isn't one. Even with a really loose line that IS leaking a steady stream, it's either an easy fix or an obvious abort.

Third, there are adjustments that need made in a carefully controlled environment. I'm thinking wheelie bars right now (especially for PS). The starting line is the only time a crew can be sure the ground is flat enough while the car is in full race-mode (i.e. tire pressures are correct). Trying to make these adjustments at the trailer or in the staging lanes is a waste of time.

I can think of a couple minor reasons, too, but this post is long enough as it is. Crews on the starting line must assume some amount of risk associated with the position. Given that there have only been a handful of injuries over the last few decades, I think the safety record is pretty good. If the issue is taking too long, though, I'd be in favor of a staging time limit. Like, a car must be pre-staged in x-amount of time once the starter gives the fire-up signal or they're shut off. Anything goes (within reason) during the allotted time.
 
I have been thinking about this, would a "no touching" rule be possible? Once the car is started and the body is lowered (no body obviously in Top Fuel), car does the burnout, backs up and stages without anyone touching the car. No pushing it into the water box, no pushing it backwards after the burnout, no shaking, pushing or pulling the car if it can't get reverse, no wiping the tires, no raising the body and playing in the box and then putting the body back down. The only exception I would allow is the throttle stop.

Chris,
If this happens once every 15 years I don't think a rule is necessary. (Tony's was 2005) I think that every owner/driver in the pits has already told his car chief "Make sure this can't happen to us." And every crew guy who lifts the body will be paying extra attention.

This has already fixed itself.

Just my opinion.
Alan
 
Never want to see anyone get injured but It'S just a fact these are dangerous machines and 100% attention is require. I'll bet more crew guys get injured in a NASCAR pit every race weekend than in 15 yrs of NHRA racing.
 
Chris,
If this happens once every 15 years I don't think a rule is necessary. (Tony's was 2005) I think that every owner/driver in the pits has already told his car chief "Make sure this can't happen to us." And every crew guy who lifts the body will be paying extra attention.

This has already fixed itself.

Just my opinion.
Alan
So the owner/driver didn't tell his car chief after Tony's incident "Make sure this can't happen to us"?
Or are you saying it takes 15 years to not think about it and then get reminded again and then be safe for another 15 years and so on?
 
No disrespect Alan, but if this has fixed itself how did this just happen, again

I mean it hasn't happened in 15 years Within an hour of hearing about it, everyone made a point to double check their cars and all the body lifting guys were reminded the pay attention when raising or lowering the body. My personal opinion is that nothing more is needed in the way of rules or memos.

If I make a mistake in my shop once every 15 years, I don't see a need to change shop policy for that.

And no disrespect taken, just discussing.

Alan
 
So the owner/driver didn't tell his car chief after Tony's incident "Make sure this can't happen to us"?
Or are you saying it takes 15 years to not think about it and then get reminded again and then be safe for another 15 years and so on?

Peter,

Just discussing, if a mistake is made once every 15 years, considering all the Funny Cars that make runs do you see it as an epidemic?


I think that there are more pressing matters to address. I know this isn't the perfect metaphor but, If a carpenter hits his thumb and breaks it it doesn't take a new policy for the other carpenters to not hit their thumbs. All the others just automatically pay more attention.

Alan
 
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