Spectator injured at NHRA race

[pdub]

Re: Spectator injured at NHRA race

point being there is tons of places to drop a track.. and only the farm animals would have to deel with the noise ,, on week ends..
but . the same ones that will cry about alll the speeding/racing// etc on puplic roads
will do everything in their power to stop a track from getting built..
or a runway from being used..
but HAY LOOK WE OK"D ANOTHER STRIPP MALL... 8) 8)

I look at golf courses as a total waste.. and to me they are.. to those that play they are not..
to bad they can't think the same way

My daddy put a golf club in my hand when I was knee high because he played golf. I could break 50 for nine holes when I was 12 years old. I never got any better. Never did. In 30 years I hit as many golf balls as any young touring pro ever has. But I never got any better.

And when I started typing this, I was gonna say just go buy a pool table. It's the same thing. It feels good when you make a good shot and it feels bad when you don't. And it's one helluva lot cheaper.

But while I was typing this I thought again. The pool table is inside the house. Maybe lots of guys need a legitimate reason to get away from the house. Yeah, that has to be it. Golf.

[38P]

Re: Spectator injured at NHRA race

the same ones that will cry about alll the speeding/racing// etc on puplic roads
will do everything in their power to stop a track from getting built..
or a runway from being used..

They're just trying to protect us from ourselves. > And yet they'll support millions in gravy for their favorite pastimes. They're the real hypocrites.

But while I was typing this I thought again. The pool table is inside the house. Maybe lots of guys need a legitimate reason to get away from the house. Yeah, that has to be it. Golf.

Apparently they've not experienced "getting away" by powershifting a big block musclecar or a 5.0 through the gears . . . or even clipping the "perfect" apex in a proper sports car or "G-Machine." :D

(Yes, I'm aware that many Bangshifters are under the spell of spanking the little dimpled balls around cow pastures with sack-loads of ridiculously expensive sticks while wearing hideously garish rags that would pain even Stevie Wonder's eyes. But for the life of me, I can't imagine diverting any "chedda" from the roddin'/racin'/ridin' budget to blow at any golf link . . . on GOLF that is. The highest and best use of Pebble Beach (arguably the ne plus ultra of American golf courses) is for the Concours d'Elegance, not golf! I highly recommend blowing money on that one at least once in your life)

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Spectator injured at NHRA race

al czervik said 'two biggest wastes of real estate are golf courses and cemetaries '

[IRONHEAD]

Re: Spectator injured at NHRA race

I have no issue with people that play golf, as long as they don't fight me tooth and nail to work on my own junk on my own land/driveway and stop every track for having a chance. and doing their best to get the ones that are around closed..
but some not all. are the ones that see a 454 on a cherry picker and a car nose off a car..
and call every selectman ,they can think of..
I didn't even have my c10 on stands before a cop was at my door because he got a call.. about noise..

that floor jack must be loud

[38P]

Re: Spectator injured at NHRA race

As L/E officers, it is their duty to apprehend criminals, so almost every contact they make, they check for wants and warrants, its their job. Routinely, cops will pull a register at a motel/hotel and clear all of the guests looking for wanted parties, it's better for everyone involved to catch them off guard when they can't run. If it was logistically possible to do that with concert/football size crowds, I'd be all for it. If one criminal is arrested as a result, it is a win for society. Just maybe that person was wanted for a homicide, and would have run from the cops if they stopped him for a "traffic" violation., thus sparing you or me the loss of a family member due to the resulting accident that will falsely be blamed on the cop.

I'm appreciative of the herculean efforts of the "thin blue line" to maintain law and order. But I'm enough of a Constitutionalist to object to warrantless "sweeps" of public assemblies or of private places in which citizens have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

To say that a municipal racetrack would solve the problem is false. You will always have a certain group that thrives on breaking the law. And that line of thought has a lot to do with the way our country is being run now. The government has put laws in effect based on what society wants. The argument "if we had a racetrack we wouldn't HAVE to street race" is comical at best.

Obviously, nothing that any government could legitimately do would totally eliminate criminality. But facilitating reasonable "time, place and manner" ways for groups of citizens to "express" their liberty (i.e. undertaking activities which are not inherently bad or immoral (a/k/a mala prohibita see http://legal-dictionary.thefreedicti...lum+prohibitum)) will likely reduce (or at least channel) unwanted conduct. In other words, if legal racing is made more convenient, not as many will assume the risks of illegal racing. That was a justification behind the NHRA's push for more drag strips back in the 1950s.

It's really the choice between spending more money on punitive reactions or positive alternatives.

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Spectator injured at NHRA race

when we were kids , always had too many cars in the yard
cops didn't say boo
the neighbors lived in fear

[38P]

Re: Spectator injured at NHRA race

Of what? Tetanus? An army of rodents? Double stacking? ;D

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: Spectator injured at NHRA race

It defies logic to conclude that because people will be criminals we shouldn't make reasonable efforts to address the issue rather then fine or criminalize the problem.
Following the logic that because criminals will still race thereby making new racetracks untenable would be like saying because everyone drinks alcohol; we should never criminalize one who drives while drunk. Yet in that arena, there are numerous ways that reduce the number of people who are put at risks by the drunks. Those ways include, but not limited to: holiday tows, free cab rides, running the metro bus system longer, and holding events in places where one can sleep it off rather then risk the public. In those situations, the government is funding (to some extent) those activities which keep people from breaking the law and keep the general public safe(r).
In direct response to the overpass idea, we pay for national parks all over the nation, yet do not directly benefit from each and every one thus, for the government to allow non-damaging use of public streets is routine (e.g. hollywood, "fun" runs, parades, or criteriums).

But there was an interesting comment above about conscience - you mean to tell me all the religious types are right after all? That a basic 10 rule system followed by people trying to good for others is a better way of living with one another rather then creating libraries full of laws to prohibit all the ways a person can do harm to another?!!!! careful now ;)

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Spectator injured at NHRA race

the old days were sure fun

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Spectator injured at NHRA race

loose lug nuts are never fun though

[IRONHEAD]

Re: Spectator injured at NHRA race

loose lug nuts are never fun though

nope.. and never pretty

[38P]

Re: Spectator injured at NHRA race

It defies logic to conclude that because people will be criminals we shouldn't make reasonable efforts to address the issue rather then fine or criminalize the problem.
Following the logic that because criminals will still race thereby making new racetracks untenable would be like saying because everyone drinks alcohol; we should never criminalize one who drives while drunk. Yet in that arena, there are numerous ways that reduce the number of people who are put at risks by the drunks. Those ways include, but not limited to: holiday tows, free cab rides, running the metro bus system longer, and holding events in places where one can sleep it off rather then risk the public. In those situations, the government is funding (to some extent) those activities which keep people from breaking the law and keep the general public safe(r).
In direct response to the overpass idea, we pay for national parks all over the nation, yet do not directly benefit from each and every one thus, for the government to allow non-damaging use of public streets is routine (e.g. hollywood, "fun" runs, parades, or criteriums).

But there was an interesting comment above about conscience - you mean to tell me all the religious types are right after all? That a basic 10 rule system followed by people trying to good for others is a better way of living with one another rather then creating libraries full of laws to prohibit all the ways a person can do harm to another?!!!! careful now ;)

Well said! Although there has never been a time when "everyone" drank alcohol, one of the most effective arguments against the "noble experiment" (18th Amendment a/k/a "prohibition") was that total criminalization did not sufficiently reduce demand for a product that generally could be regulated less intrusively. And in the years since the 21st Amendment (repealing "prohibiition") we've chosen to balance liberty with the often expensive social and regulatory costs of alcohol consumption in a variety of less restrictive ways. The risks of street racing certainly could be managed less intrusively than total prohibition.

BTW, even under the "10 rule system" alluded to, the folks in charge eventually created "libraries full of laws." It must be human nature.

[IRONHEAD]

Re: Spectator injured at NHRA race

if cops inforced all the laws in the books(if they could humanly remember them all)
we'd all be in jail..

[fast Ed]

Re: Spectator injured at NHRA race

From another forum:



NHRA announces preliminary results of investigation into Phoenix incident
Tuesday, March 23, 2010

NHRA has released the preliminary findings of its investigation regarding the tragic incident in Phoenix, which took the life of a spectator, as well as precautionary measures being implemented.

Immediately after the incident, NHRA?s Technical Department, teams, and manufacturers all began analyzing what had happened and why. NHRA?s investigation was aided by Dr. Juan Herrera, who holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. Some of his specialties include metallurgical engineering, failure analysis, vehicle dynamics, and accident reconstruction. Herrera worked closely with the Schumacher race team, which gave him its full support and cooperation in conducting his analysis as well as with the NHRA Tech Department.

Although his investigation is ongoing, Herrera found that there was a complex series of events that led to the incident in question. At this time, it appears that very quickly after the car launched, it experienced the loss of the No. 5 cylinder, severe tire shake, and rapidly decreasing acceleration forces. The left wheel then slipped slightly on the hub. The wheel studs experienced a bending force and then failure, which resulted in the wheel becoming detached from the hub. The studs themselves had some slight but preexisting cracking that likely was not detectable upon visual examination. After the left tire/wheel assembly came off, the race car arced to the left, and the tire/wheel assembly struck the left side of the car. This strike changed the wheel?s forward direction of travel and diverted it to the left, where it went off the left side of the track and tragically struck the spectator.

Immediately after the Phoenix incident, manufacturers responded by analyzing, inspecting, and servicing as necessary their respective parts. Certain technical changes have been made in some cases. As a precautionary measure, the type of stud involved in the Phoenix incident will no longer be in use. At the race in Gainesville, NHRA inspected certain aspects of Top Fuel and Funny Car wheels, hubs, and studs and will continue to spot-check vehicles.

The entire NHRA racing community has responded to this incident and is working together on potential improvements. Preliminary testing conducted by teams of two new wheel-retention-device designs was conducted on the Monday following the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. The wheel-retention systems are intended to improve retention of the wheel to the race vehicle. NHRA will allow Top Fuel and Funny Car teams that choose to do so to use either of the two designs that were tested beginning at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Charlotte.

NHRA will continue to work with the teams and manufacturers as they develop and test these two designs as well as others that are in the preliminary design and testing stage.

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Spectator injured at NHRA race

yup - loose lugnuts on the burnout