Tire vibration blamed in driver's death-Houston Chronicle (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Wes
- Start date
I guess the only way to really find out what caused this harmonic vibration would be through the data recorder or if there was any video of the run.
This is pure speculation on my part and I'm not saying anyone knows anything for sure but harmonics that would transfer to the real tires could be caused by alot of different things. Drive train all the way to the tires. Could be anything.
One thing is for sure. John Force and his braintrust will find out exactly what it was and make the neccesary adjustment and they will share it with everyone else out there. That kind of determination makes drag racing what it is. The best and safest racing there is
God bless Eric Medlen. He will never be forgotten. Hats off to the team for their approach to finding out the facts of this terrible tradgedy. It was done in pretty short order.
This is pure speculation on my part and I'm not saying anyone knows anything for sure but harmonics that would transfer to the real tires could be caused by alot of different things. Drive train all the way to the tires. Could be anything.
One thing is for sure. John Force and his braintrust will find out exactly what it was and make the neccesary adjustment and they will share it with everyone else out there. That kind of determination makes drag racing what it is. The best and safest racing there is
God bless Eric Medlen. He will never be forgotten. Hats off to the team for their approach to finding out the facts of this terrible tradgedy. It was done in pretty short order.
sammi
Nitro Member
How many years have all of us heard from Pro drivers that the worst thing in their world is tire shake (vibration)? Maybe the time has come for Goodyear to engineer a tire that won't roll over itself, even in the event of a large miscalculation on the crew chief's part.
Any time a driver complains about a headache after driving a car, assume he has injured his brain. NHRA and SEMA pretty much cured burning to death years ago. Now, we need to cure shake.
Mark Watkins
www.madscientist1.com
Any time a driver complains about a headache after driving a car, assume he has injured his brain. NHRA and SEMA pretty much cured burning to death years ago. Now, we need to cure shake.
Mark Watkins
www.madscientist1.com
megadeth
Nitro Member
That's exactly why people shouldn't speculate! 
Apparently after what was said on the qualifying show he didn't run into the wall he brushed it hard and the damage to Eric was already done before that happened!
Once again m y heart goes out to Eric's Dad, family and his team mates.
Apparently after what was said on the qualifying show he didn't run into the wall he brushed it hard and the damage to Eric was already done before that happened!
Once again m y heart goes out to Eric's Dad, family and his team mates.
rocketman
Nitro Member
I have heard of tire shake so bad that a driver's fillings have come out. The best description I have ever heard is your head in a paint shaker.
BTW I know Brent Bucsh fairly well and he's pretty passionate about drag racing and we're all lucky he's a member here. I thought the same thing he did when I read DRO.
BTW I know Brent Bucsh fairly well and he's pretty passionate about drag racing and we're all lucky he's a member here. I thought the same thing he did when I read DRO.
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Reading this reminded me of an interview with dale armstrong I was reading a while back on drag racing online , dale was talking about his early days in drag racing with his old chevy 2 and that tire shake back then was so bad that he had to wear pads on his knees and arms and that some cars shook so bad they hurt some people . He also mentioned that when he was crew cheif on the bud king funny cars they tested a 18 inch wide wheel to cure tire shake . I think it was this interview Drag Racing Online - Innerview: Angelle Savoie pg.1 Vol. III No. 8 August 2001
All I can say is, that description is absolutely spot on. I received a mild concussion from tire shake about 10 years ago. It broke a weld on one of the NOS bottle brackets, the rear bumper broke loose, and it split my quarter panel from the wheel well up to the wing. In Eric's case, it's all speculation now obviously, but after that experience I have absolutely no doubt it could do some serious damage to someone. I remember sitting in the shut down area inside my car, and my head was just spinning, like it was going to roll right off my shoulders. It took me a while to get over that initial part. I just could not focus my eyes. After that I was so sick the rest of the night. It was a pretty scary deal.
I've had driven through tire shake prior to that, and it is possible to keep focused, but not in the case mentioned above. It was like everything was just one big white blur. I had the clutch really screwed on that pass, and it was the worst tire shake I have ever experienced, and I hope I never experience anything like that again.
none
Nitro Member
Greg,
When you lifted, it stopped, right? Eric lifted and put the chutes out, but it didn't stop. The article in the Cronical is about half right as I understand it. And I'll say the same thing to Burk that I said to you guys earilier this week, if you have better sources than mine NAME THEM! Don't just quote "Some guy I know" or "Someone close to the team"
JFR already has had people at the shop from other forms of motorsports, and the medical field to attemt to find a solution to this issue, should the same set of circumstances occur again.
I'm NOT speaking for JFR, and I'm not at liberty to share everything that I know. But I will try to stop the rumors when I can. I spent about two hours with Jim Head yesterday discussing a variety of things. (One good thing that came from a rain day). I hope that you can understand the position that I'm in and trust that what I tell you is true, even if I can't tell you all the details.
Thanks,
Alan
When you lifted, it stopped, right? Eric lifted and put the chutes out, but it didn't stop. The article in the Cronical is about half right as I understand it. And I'll say the same thing to Burk that I said to you guys earilier this week, if you have better sources than mine NAME THEM! Don't just quote "Some guy I know" or "Someone close to the team"
JFR already has had people at the shop from other forms of motorsports, and the medical field to attemt to find a solution to this issue, should the same set of circumstances occur again.
I'm NOT speaking for JFR, and I'm not at liberty to share everything that I know. But I will try to stop the rumors when I can. I spent about two hours with Jim Head yesterday discussing a variety of things. (One good thing that came from a rain day). I hope that you can understand the position that I'm in and trust that what I tell you is true, even if I can't tell you all the details.
Thanks,
Alan
jpee
Nitro Member
Alan I'd rather hear 1 sentence from you, KNOWING Its FACT than a whole paragraph of "I heard from good sorses"... etc...etc...
Thank you!!
TooTall999
Nitro Member
I'm no expert,but from what's been released it wasn't tire "shake" but an intense harmonic vibration that was the cause.If it was a harmonic from the spinning tire,lifting off the throttle wouldn't help unless you could stop the car immeadiately.From what I've read and heard discussed on ESPN,it was more along the line of the tire losing concentricity that caused the harmonic.According to the ESPN coverage,it was this vibration which injured Eric by basically shaking him into unconciousness.
Rick Rzepka
Nitro Member
jim head hit it on the spot,when he said this is a high dollar team so it WILL get tended too. unfortunatley it seems to take a high profile team (earnhardts case too) to really get the $$$ spent to make changes for the better. i have heard the alcohol funny cars shake alot, is this true?
im still stunned that russell and medlens crashes really didnt have significant impacts into the wall. then u see caminitos crash and u say my god how did he survive?
have the tires reached their limit? i hope todays race is a safe one. i know im gonna tear up when they fire the first pair.......
im still stunned that russell and medlens crashes really didnt have significant impacts into the wall. then u see caminitos crash and u say my god how did he survive?
have the tires reached their limit? i hope todays race is a safe one. i know im gonna tear up when they fire the first pair.......
TooTall999
Nitro Member
Eric's crash was not the result of tire shake.It was a high speed,harmonic vibration reportedly caused by one tire losing concentricity or going out of round.It's something totally different.
none
Nitro Member
David,
You are right that it was not tire shake per sey, but the effect felt in the cockpit was the same. I think we've all seen the ESPN super slow mo of Pro Stockers and Alcohol cars when they shake so hard that all four wheels are off the ground, but in that case when the driver lifts, the shake stops.
Alan
You are right that it was not tire shake per sey, but the effect felt in the cockpit was the same. I think we've all seen the ESPN super slow mo of Pro Stockers and Alcohol cars when they shake so hard that all four wheels are off the ground, but in that case when the driver lifts, the shake stops.
Alan
TooTall999
Nitro Member
That was my point Alan,although the impression I get from the reports is that the violence and intensity of the vibration was unlike anything experienced before this.From what I understand,the only thing that could have stopped the vibration was to physically stop the car,which we all now is a little difficult at 250+ mph.
BTW...what's the weather like down in Houston Alan?
BTW...what's the weather like down in Houston Alan?
Chili
Nitro Member
The whole thing is tragic and doesn't make any sense to me. I figure there was about 2,500 Funny Car runs in NHRA competition last year and not once single instance to compare this to. Since it was testing is it possible that they could of been trying a new setup or even new parts? We can speculate all we want but until the team and the experts come up with an answer we can only hope it doesn't happen again. NHRA teams are always pushing things to the edge and sometime a freak thing happens and we lose someone.
stanzig44
Nitro Member
I am trying to understand this the best I could. These are just some thoughts I had on this recently.
From what was stated in this thread and on ESPN, there was a harmonic vibration never felt before that was possibly caused by a tire losing concentricity. If this is true, is this still ultimately a tire issue? Not a chunking issue like in the past but something new?
Also was the chassis the same one that Eric was driving on Sunday during eliminations? I believe it hit the wall then. Could that have weakened a weld or did something to the balance or something to have led to this vibration?
Thanks.
From what was stated in this thread and on ESPN, there was a harmonic vibration never felt before that was possibly caused by a tire losing concentricity. If this is true, is this still ultimately a tire issue? Not a chunking issue like in the past but something new?
Also was the chassis the same one that Eric was driving on Sunday during eliminations? I believe it hit the wall then. Could that have weakened a weld or did something to the balance or something to have led to this vibration?
Thanks.
Alan,
Yes, when I lifted it stopped immediately. You have to figure, I had driven through tire shake before, and it sucks, but it's manageable. This incident however, started like all other shake, I tried to drive through it a little, but it got really bad, really fast. There were people on the starting line that could see my car shake, and they had never seen anything like that. Like I said, in my case it was just a screwed up clutch setup.
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