đź“° Auto News NHRA shortens Top Fuel racing to 1,000 feet

Bru

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From AutoWeek;

The NHRA has cut the race distance for its Top Fuel and Funny Car classes to 1,000 feet--320 feet short of a quarter-mile--as a safety measure in the wake of the death of racer Scott Kalitta nearly two weeks ago.

The shorter race distance takes effect with the Mopar Mile Hile Nationals in Denver, Colorado, on July 11-13.

Shortening the race distance will give the Funny Car and Top Fuel dragsters more runoff room after the finish line.

Kalitta died on June 21 in Englishtown, New Jersey, when his Funny Car engine exploded during a qualifying run. Kalitta's car ran off the end of the track, through a sand pit and crashed into a wall. The car's parachutes did not deploy. Kalitta, 46, was taken to a nearby hospital and declared dead.

After Kalitta's crash, several drivers complained that the runoff area at the Englishtown track was not long enough.

The NHRA said the change was made in collaboration with the race teams.

"With the change, fans will still be able to enjoy the sights, sounds and thrill of NHRA nitro racing with speeds around 300 mph and quick elapsed times to 1,000 feet," the NHRA said in a statement.

The NHRA said it is looking at the following issues as it investigates Kalitta's crash:

-- How to reduce engine failures.

-- Parachute mounting techniques and materials.

-- Increasing braking efficiency when downforce is lost due to a car body being lost.

-- New ways to stop runaway vehicles at the end of the track.

-- Considering the need to reduce speeds for more safety.

Drag racing legend Kenny Bernstein, president of the Professional Racers Owners Organization, said the group supports the change.

"It is not lost on any of us that this constitutes a change in our history of running a quarter-mile, but it's the most immediate adjustment we can make in the interest of safety which is foremost on everyone's mind," Bernstein said in a statement. "This may be a temporary change and we recognize it is not the total answer."

Personally, I don't think 320 feet is going to make a difference at 300 mph. From what I've read, the problem with Kalitta's incident was the racetrack itself and its poor runoff area. Combined, of course, with all the worst-case-scenario factors that happened that day.
 

Poopshinanigans

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Nov 18, 2007
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How to reduce engine failures: Is this even possible when you're running so much power? These motors are built to be romped on for 1/4 of a mile, nothing more. Doesn't the S/C have a cradle it sits in, maybe the whole engine should be shielded in 2in thick armor.

Parachute mounting techniques and materials: I heard that his parachutes didn't deploy because they burned up after the engine exploded. Hind sight says that were they mount them is illogical for fire, since the air pushes the flames onto them.

I agree with Bru on this, the perfect storm is going to kill anything you throw at it. They should just add more driver safety and make sure that all tracks meet or exceed NHRA standards. Or change the standards for longer runoff area and a massive trap at the end.
 

EmersonHart13

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I think this is a temp fix, and the easiest quick change they can make. Yes they need to work on the run off area as the best fix, as well as finding a way to make the parachutes more resistant to fire and able to perform their duties in the event of a catastrophe such as that.
 

CrawlinTBSS

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Jul 8, 2007
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theres no real way to prevent these engines from failure. you can see on every pass engines losing cylinder and never making full passes and all it does is take a few explosions to start something big.

unlelarry - theres no cradle holding the blower but they do have engine diapers that strap around the motor and blower to prevent shit from flying if it does blow off...ive seen sometimes on tv the blower pop off and hang there in the diaper. is a good safety item.

parachutes--maybe they need to mount them a bit further back to prevent getting damaged from fire? or create some mechanism that senses a bad explosion where chutes should be deployed and it could do it automatically incase driver is knocked out or something..
 

Poopshinanigans

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Nov 18, 2007
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i think the difference is that there are trees at the end of the track in NJ, but at RT66 there is a road and an open field. My buddy told me he skipped over the pit and flew into the trees past the small road thats at the end.

Looking at Google maps is interesting when comparing an NHRA strip with byron or gld.
 
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