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In an effort to solve the problem, both the
teams and Goodyear participate in on-going
tire testing. During the week prior to the
U.S. Nationals, Goodyear tested a newer tire
combination with Kalitta Racing driver David
Grubnic who hot-lapped two of the team’s
racecars. According to one source who
saw some of the test passes, the new tires
had a stronger sidewall, but blazed the centers
out of the tire.
“I’ve developed a lot of stuff
myself,” Forrest Lucas said. “I
pay for the research. Let these guys (Goodyear)
buy a bunch of tires, get a car, rent a racetrack
or build a racetrack and do the research themselves.
Don’t have the racers out here do their
(Goodyear’s) job. I don’t
think the drivers should be doing all the research,
I think Goodyear should be doing the research.”
Charlotte Lucas summed up the situation bluntly. “Somebody
has died,” she said. “They say
the tires you are running are not safe at these
speeds, you’ve got to use these tires
(Goodyear D2300) and now this has happened.
Look at how many cars have been wrecked with
drivers not getting hurt and then Darrell Russell
goes out there and gives his life... and nothing
has changed.”
Her husband added, “I don’t know
what NHRA can do, they are not scientists.
Goodyear should have a better handle on this,
you know, they are scrambling. NHRA tried to
do their part in slowing down the cars. NHRA
cares about these drivers, they’re not
heartless people, they really do care. This
is an entertainment business, a very, very
serious business, extremely serious when someone
can die doing it. But there are a lot of mechanical
factors in here and most things get better
as time goes on. Every part of the car gets
better and faster, but we got something that
is not getting better, by one of the biggest
companies in the world... I don’t get
it, I just don’t get it. Goodyear
should be doing the research and say ‘Guys
we have a tire we tested up to 340 miles per
hour... you are good at 325 or 330 for sure.’”
Since the first drag cars started burning
nitro, the power those engines make relentlessly
expose the weakest link in the valvetrain,
chassis or driveline.
The weakest link in nitro cars for more that
a decade has been the rear tires. The 85% nitro
rule seems to have contributed to fewer catastrophic
engine explosions in the near term but with
the teams now turning the blowers at more that
50% overdrive and a lot more static compression,
we may see more fires and explosions like Phil
Burkhart’s Sunday scorcher at Indy. In
order to make enough power for Fuel floppers
to run 5.70’s at over 320 mph and Top
Fuelers to run low 4.50’s at over 325,
the engines aren’t just loafing on a
pass. Still, the short-term results have been
fewer oil-downs and less explosive carnage
on the quarter mile with more consistent side-by-side
racing.
While some fans have complained of missing
the extra five percent nitro in the on-track
sound, at the U.S. Nationals John Force explained
for the fans, “We give you the best we
can give you. We may have to go to less (percentage),
but we don’t want anybody else to get
hurt.”
It is clear that everyone is working their
hardest to find a permanent solution to the
ongoing tire chunking problem. But never in
the history of racing has there been a racing
series with cars running speeds consistently
over 200 on tires proven to be subject to coming
apart at anytime, much less the 300+ speeds
regularly seen at NHRA events.
God forbid a tire explodes and sends chunks
into the stands at these speeds or, worse yet,
pieces of a wing, wing strut or other debris
flies into the grandstand. When a lawyer finds
out that NHRA has had this problem for over
a decade and has done nothing about it, some
family is going to own a large chunk of NHRA
or the track where it happened, according to
the lawyers we’ve spoken to.
Maybe NHRA Major Sponsor Forrest Lucas said
it best, “I think they should just end
the season right now, just end it and spend
the rest of the year making this tire thing
work. I might get fired for saying that, but
that’s how I feel.” 
What
do you think? Send your email to response@dragracingonline.com.
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