7/7/03

Safety On My Mind

fter the Cordova (IL) IHRA Pro-Am race, I have some thoughts about safety at the drag strip. A very good friend of mine was injured (he is okay now, thank God) when his throttle stuck on a pass in Quick Rod (8.90 index). I talked to him, and his recollection of the event has changed a few procedures in our racing program.

We know the dragsters are getting faster and faster as are the doorslammers in almost every class at probably every track in the country. We know if your car goes 150 mph it is required to have a parachute on it. WHY is it almost nobody uses it? Is it complacency with our own safety? I think that is what I felt. I made a couple hundred runs last year, used the chute twice to make sure it worked, and that was it. I always felt my brakes were plenty good. Well, here is what I think now that I talked to my friend who crashed.

His throttle stuck wide open going about 165 mph. His first instinct was to try to lift the pedal back up with his foot. He tried for a second or two and it was jammed. He had already hit the brakes as hard as he could and they were in the midst of burning up. The next thing he did was reach for the parachute release lever. He made a couple swipes at it

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and did not get it out (this is where my son's racing procedures and mine will change starting this week). That probably took a second or two as well. He then hit the ignition kill switch, but by then the brakes were gone and he was going about 125 when he hit the sand trap, bounced hard and tumbled off the end of the track into a farmer's field.

The car broke up and the engine and rear-end separated, which is a good thing as their energy in the impact was now gone. He rolled over several times, but his Danny Nelson Racecraft-built dragster protected him from serious injury. A couple bumps on the head, some bruises, and in a few days he will be just fine.

Another experienced racer crashed in a similar situation at Byron Dragway last year. He very seldom used the parachute and the reason is a common one: not enough time between rounds to get it repacked. He was more severely injured than my friend, but is now back in a new car and doing great.

The lesson we all should learn here is this: PLAN FOR THE UNEXPECTED. We never know when the throttle will stick, the brake rotors crack or the 99-cent seal in the master cylinder will decide to fail. Always have a plan in your mind in case it happens.

The plan our racing team is putting in place is simple and I think very effective.

1. We will use the parachute on every time trial to make sure it is an instinct to reach for the release lever. It will also show us if it is reliable.
   
   
2. We already have a Master Disconnect switch in the cockpit next to the driver's left hand. I think all race cars should have this added. It is simple to put in and is an IMMEDIATE way to shut the engine down. We just have a cable running to the master switch and hook it up to the lever.
   
   
3. We will remove the rear tires once a week and inspect the brake pads, rotors and retaining bolts on the caliper brackets.

If I had my choice of one more rule that should be mandatory it might be to REQUIRE every racer exceeding 150 MPH to use their parachute on every run. Sure, it is a lot of work, but how much work is it to haul a dragster that is broken in half back into the trailer and then get it into the shop?

If a track has a time limit between rounds and will not wait for someone to pack their parachute, SHAME ON THEM! Safety should be number one, not some stupid time curfew. It takes us about five minutes to pack the 'chute right now, but I think we will have it down to a couple minutes by the end of the weekend.

If you are the driver, your friend drives, or if one of your kids drive, NOW is the time to HAVE A PLAN in case something fails on the car. Just go through what could happen and what you will do over and over so it will be an IMMEDIATE RESPONSE when you need it.

Remember the old racer saying. . ."when in doubt, whip it out" (the parachute that is!).

Race safe and be ready for anything!

jok@racingnetsource.com