TF Dragster Destroyed In An Instant - Leah Pruett, St. Louis (1 Viewer)

[Cliff]

In the 1990's, there were some crashes when the chassis bent behind the driver & the whole car would go up in an arch. Scary ride and then I think the problem was solved. At least I can't remember any modern day crashes like that. Now it's the front half. I agree w/ Jeff. Would really like to know what caused the tubing to react like that. Hafta kinda wonder, with all the downforce on the front & rear wings, it's almost like something has to give & it's the chassis. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Butch]

I'd like to hear how she's feeling 24-48 hrs. after the crash.
I have to say that was almost award winning as to how the car settled down and went forward, almost like she was able to drive it.

 

[TD5023]

I'd like to hear how she's feeling 24-48 hrs. after the crash.
I have to say that was almost award winning as to how the car settled down and went forward, almost like she was able to drive it.

The parachute auto-release does amazing things as long as it works as intended. Hers was very similar to Tony's in 2000:

On the other hand, they become bucking broncos when they don't blossom. It's happened to Larry Dixon twice. Once in 2000 (before the auto-release was mandated):

And again in 2015 (where they were slow to blossom, but got under control pretty much immediately once they did):

 

[Pete]

In regards to where Leahs front end landed (standing room only spectator area)...heres Robert Hights body launchinf crash, that lands in the left side camping area

 

[twostep]

Not sure what was going on with the low down force cars, but the wind was howling, my guess is the combination of wind and a 80 degree track had something do with it . Nearly every pro stock car had their foot out of the gas once they got past 1,000ft.

The track was cool but normally they can negotiate an 80-degree one. But the substantial power increase due to the zero DA - and the cool track - was causing the PS cars to blow the tires off in high gear and the necessary corrections (which is what turned Delco and nearly did the same thing to Anderson and Jeg Coughlin) on account of the heavy crosswind proved to be a risk not worth taking. NHRA did the right thing, something I'm sure the teams were about to do on their own anyway.

 

[James]

Man, that front end came very close to a causing a major disaster! Not a good look with new series sponsor looking on. Dixon, Schumacher, Lamattina and Pruitt. We can now call this a common failure point. NHRA tech needs to help teams figure it out. Very close to a serious black eye for drag racing.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

Man, that front end came very close to a causing a major disaster! Not a good look with new series sponsor looking on. Dixon, Schumacher, Lamattina and Pruitt. We can now call this a common failure point. NHRA tech needs to help teams figure it out. Very close to a serious black eye for drag racing.

I had a short, but interesting exchange with Gwynn on this phenomenon on a Facebook post that Bobby made. For me, it would seem the fatigue properties of the tubing (at least in this area of the cars) are on the borderline and in some cases exceeded, obviously. Darrell said quite simply that the cars are too flexible as it is, and when you add some lateral movement (when the car wanders around while trying to bow in the middle) the risk of this happening dramatically increases. So I asked him what the answer was, just stiffen them up in that area and make the crew chiefs tune around it, his reply was "yepppppppp".

I'm not an engineer by any means, and I realize these cars are designed to flex like this in the middle, but at the end of the day, I could see what he's saying being basically right. In these instances it appears to be obvious that the fatigue properties are being exceeded, so I don't know what else you could do other than stiffen them up.....

Sean D

 

[Paul]

Man, that front end came very close to a causing a major disaster! Not a good look with new series sponsor looking on. Dixon, Schumacher, Lamattina and Pruitt. We can now call this a common failure point. NHRA tech needs to help teams figure it out. Very close to a serious black eye for drag racing.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10217336919116842

 

[James]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10217336919116842

Scary Chit!

 

[T.Smith]

Man, that front end came very close to a causing a major disaster! Not a good look with new series sponsor looking on. Dixon, Schumacher, Lamattina and Pruitt. We can now call this a common failure point. NHRA tech needs to help teams figure it out. Very close to a serious black eye for drag racing.

I'm sure they've seen a few stock cars upside down in the tri-oval fence at Daytona, they'll be fine.

 

[Dragracer]

The biggest thing they need to look at with all the drivers is a concussion. The effects may not be apparent immediately to the driver. They need to be watched very closely for a few days.

 

[MM]

The biggest thing they need to look at with all the drivers is a concussion. The effects may not be apparent immediately to the driver. They need to be watched very closely for a few days.

The head padding they are using in cockpits now is extraordinary. It's almost like a firm memory foam. I have never been through anything close to what Leah did, but I have experienced bad tire shake with it and without it and it makes a WORLD of difference in the headache afterwards.

 

[wireguy]

Keeping it together at 330 MPH

Top fuel races are a dazzling sight, covering 1,000 feet in little more than 3 seconds. The drivers get the glory and the engines get the attention—they develop approximately 10,000 horsepower—but underneath the car’s exterior is a marvel of modern engineering: a tubular chassis that somehow...

www.thefabricator.com

Great article!

 

[mick]

should probably establish some sort of minimum viewing/standing/parking/rv distance from all tracks from about 600-800' on.
very lucky no one was hurt down there.

 

[Dennis]

I'm not an engineer by any means, and I realize these cars are designed to flex like this in the middle, but at the end of the day, I could see what he's saying being basically right. In these instances it appears to be obvious that the fatigue properties are being exceeded, so I don't know what else you could do other than stiffen them up.....

Sean D

Same here (re: not being an engineer!) but I'd take it one step further. The driver's compartment is rigid and you've got these long pipes that want to flex, by nature, but are not allowed to do so after a certain point. I would have to believe that this factors into the reason why (when they split) they seem to do so there.

 

[Ramjet]

Same here (re: not being an engineer!) but I'd take it one step further. The driver's compartment is rigid and you've got these long pipes that want to flex, by nature, but are not allowed to do so after a certain point. I would have to believe that this factors into the reason why (when they split) they seem to do so there.

There is a safety breaking point in front of the Foot Box by design and that is where the tubing steps down so it will seperate on front or side impact to get it away from the tub. When you have thousands of lbs. of pressure levereged about 10 feet in front of that point it can only bend so many times untill it snaps. The break is most likely at the weld where the step down slips into the foot box. Normalized 4130 tubing that is stress relieved at all welds is required but you will have failure when the limits are surpassed. Other than a few different upright & diagonal placements these cars have very strict construction rules mostly from the foot box back. There has been very few catastrophic incidents like this and cars are front halved (and back halved) after so many runs because of "tired pipe". When a car "works" it's really hard to want to change it.

 

[r2]

 

[r2]

camera = C
cover = B
composure = A
commentary = F+

*There's language -

 

[stitcherbob]

 

[Nunz]

Cool video. Couple questions: Are they still heat treating the tubing? And, did I hear him say that the tubing is welded while vibrating?