NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

[fahrenschnell]

Re: NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

In my opinion....there is no displacement limit or cfm restriction that will keep people from going so fast that they can be killed...

Hot Rodders and Race Car builders have always found a way to go fast regardless of restrictions.....And they will continue to do so...

It is all just a matter of making the land rockets that these cars are as safe as possible without removing the freedom to race....

Seth

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

In my opinion....there is no displacement limit or cfm restriction that will keep people from going so fast that they can be killed...

Hot Rodders and Race Car builders have always found a way to go fast regardless of restrictions.....And they will continue to do so...

It is all just a matter of making the land rockets that these cars are as safe as possible without removing the freedom to race....

Seth

Seth, I agree with everything you have said and that's exactly why these cars need to be slowed down.

Smaller fuel pumps and a single magneto woud get the job quite nicely. This would also allow for true innovation and experimentation in classes that have been technologically stagnant for 10+ years.

Safer for the drivers and better for the future of the sport.

Hell, Top Fuel driver Bob Vandergriff said the only dangerous thing missing from the E-town shutdown area was a "pond full of sharks". It sucks that E-town is getting bashed in all of this because it is a great historic facility, and since no one has any guidelines as to what a shutdown area has to be or look like they can't be blamed for this.

Time for big changes. "That's the way we've always done it" are the most dangerous words in the English language.

Brian

[1970camaroRS]

Re: NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

"There are but three true sports--bullfighting, mountain climbing, and motor-racing. The rest are merely games." -Barnaby Conrad, usually mis-quoted as being said by Ernest Hemingway. This statement illustrates that in these three endeavors, death is almost certain. Of course there have been great strides forward in all of these except for maybe bullfighting in terms of safety since 1923. But what's more in the spirit of the game, climbing a cliff-face unaided by ropes or helped along by iron spikes to climb on, or that mad-man who can climb a 1,000ft wall of rock in 10 minutes using just his hands and feet? Is it safe? No, that is why it is exciting for not only those watching, but more importantly those participating. For this reason I am against slowing down the 'fastest cars' on earth. It's an injustice to everyone ever involved in the sport to say, "Hey, you're going too fast, it's too dangerous." Isn't that the point? And it's not the cars that are unsafe, it is the facilities and procedures used. Why can't we find a way to safely arrest and out-of-control car? Why can't we require the tracks to be longer? I understand restrictive rules in classes meant to be competitive for budget or 'level playing field' reasons. But to slow the cars down in what is supposed to be the top of heap, bring the house down, fastest cars with unlimited power is a slap in the face. Especially to the departed who kept pushing to go ever faster.

[HoosierGTA]

Re: NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

Couple of years ago my company gave me tickets to go to the US Nationals. So this was only the second time I've been . The first time I was at the start line. Now that was pretty cool. The free tickets the were at the end of the track Now let me tell you thats pretty scary! Cars travelling 300mph basically at you. Never again . Think about it , I wouldn't stant near an airstrip with a plane comming in at 300 and they have control for when they are airborne !

[Shawn Anderson]

Re: NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

I would have a rule change that helped promote inovation, the true heritage in the sport is inovation not 300+ mph if that was only goal rocket cars would be the norm. I don't think any rule change would hurt the sport as it seems to me that unlike nascar and indy racing most NHRA fans are racers past or present or fans of the tech side of things. I would rather see one or two big rule changes than a bunch of new limits. How about drop the displacment 500 to say 350, and limit them to one mag. Then get rid of the nitro limit the rev limiter the gear limit and let them run any supercharger evan screw type. The true heritage of the sport is inovation. I am tired
of as the need to slow cars down in all forms of racing happens instead of a change at a basic level to a few major rule they put limits on things I would consider tuning that only keep the cars neer where they are at and make them all more alike.

[tiresmoke!]

Re: NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

*just posted a response, didn't show up....gonna try again.....*

Haven't taken the opportunity to read this thread until today.

NO ONE wants to see their friends/colleagues/loved ones die in one of these cars, PERIOD.

We do assume a certain risk when competing on the 1320, but I agree with Brian on this one....the Fuel Cars have outgrown the tracks, and have been for a long time.

Hell, bear this in mind: the "doorslammers" are running in what was once considered fuel-car ONLY areas of speed......

There's no way to sweep it under the rug anymore, time for a serious look at things.

They could, as some have suggested, slow the cars down on the starting line..i.e., smaller displacement, cut the mix on fuel, single magneto, smaller blowers and such.....limit the power to 1/8 mile.....myself, I've been thinking(calm down) of an arrestor system similar to the hook-and-catch wire system on an aircraft carrier. Would need some work to adapt it to racing, but it's an idea......

[min301]

Re: NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

I'm not qualified to say what should be done,
I can only say that something should be done.

Restricting the cars too much, defeats the purpose of
the class.
But, just lengthening the track allowing even higher speeds, g loads,
etc isn't the answer either. Those that make those decisions,
look to those in the sport to make qualified decisions here.

Bean counters don't make the right decisions, as we've seen before.

[CTX-SLPR]

Re: NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

Also its impossible to create a failsafe for everything till it happens. In a game like that where risks are very real its more about how do you control and midigate without taking all of the sparkle and fun out of it. Look at cars for example, we like driving but we are picky about what we drive and what we like. Sure a Toyota Prius and a Honda Insight have 4 wheels, a steering wheel and atleast 2 pedals but its not the same because they took the sparkle, the interest, and in a lot of ways the danger out of it so we hate them.

[Freiburger]

Re: NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

It's pretty clear that influential racers can pressure the sanctioning bodies to change rules. Has a racer ever pushed NHRA for more safety? Specifically, for shorter tracks, less nitro, or longer runoffs?

It's a real question.

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

Sure people have pushed, and probably now moreso than following any high profile incident before with the lone exception being the death of Eric Medlen that led to the new FC chassis, but even then, to my knowledge there has never been a "line in the sand" moment between NHRA and it's nitro racers or PRO (Professional Racers Organization).

Top Fuel racer Bob Vandergriff has been the loudest recently and really let it fly in this interview:

http://www.competitionplus.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6957&Itemid=24

Many other drivers shared their opinions on tracks as well. It's a pretty good read. Despite everything that was said though, every guy in the story was in their car in the lanes for round one on Sunday.

Force stays mum on stuff like this and obviously he's the biggest name and voice in the sport. I'm not faulting him for it and it's probably because he knows that if he were to make a comment it would be taken as gospel and sung from the hills, causing more trouble than good. He has a direct line to the top and that's why he and his team were the lead on designing this new chassis and bringing the Ford Blue Box into the cars. He does not raise the rabble, instead he works behind the curtain and achieves things.

Brian

[Silver68RT]

Re: NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

It sure looked like some action was taken to slow down the funny cars at Norwalk today. Lots of 5-sec ET's, and 290 - 300 mph trap speeds. I didn't see any notice from NHRA, but it sure seemed like they lowered the percentage of nitro, or slowed down the blower overdrive, or something. I'm not complaining - if it keeps them safe, I'm all for it. The cars still thunder down the track like a fuel car should, and I had a great time.

[1320Video]

Re: NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

It's pretty clear that influential racers can pressure the sanctioning bodies to change rules. Has a racer ever pushed NHRA for more safety? Specifically, for shorter tracks, less nitro, or longer runoffs?

It's a real question.

I don't think we'll see racers asking for it, especially the longer runoffs, how many tracks out there could actually expand to meet that requirement? There's quite a few I've been to that can barely meet the current requirement, and our local track can't be 1/4 NHRA sanctioned because they don't have 1/2 mile runoff room yet

Lowering the MPH would be disappointing IMO, a freak accident like this shouldn't slow down the sport... unless it's something that the teams feel is needed. I can't speak, I haven't even gone over 130 on a race track!

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

force , after losing eric medlen , went out and and redesigned the chassis

fuel cars put the fannys in the seats
the crowd loves the violence , nothing more violent than a fuel car

[CaminoKid]

Re: NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

Maybe the use of the safer barrier concept used by nascar has a place in drag racing.Along with some style of net at tthe end of the pass,like on aircraft carriers.Just a thought.I suppose the argument of the damage done to a car at the end of a run by the nets will come into play,but the trade off of loss of life would surely trump those arguments.

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: NHRA Scott Kalitta statement

they are crying about englishtown , but we were talking about maple grove and pomona being really short shutdown areas too
mickey thompson had stadium drag racing with cables stuck to the cars in the day