7/2/04

Here are the variety of letters we have received so far concerning the death of Darrell Russell and the problem of too-fast nitro cars.

Dear Jeff, I think your editorial was right on target. I wonder what your views are on other safety changes, specifically mandatory (or at least recommended) head and neck restraints? The only requirement at present is the foam collar which gives almost no protection in an impact, it is more for comfort than safety. You mentioned F1, CART and IRL in your column, all which currently mandate tested, proven head and neck restraints.

Darrell was wearing a HANS, but his accident and death were not preventable, even with the device. I have many T/F and F/C customers who won't race without the HANS, and still many who won't use until they have to. I am hoping that Darrell's passing will be a wake up call to the old guard that disaster is very possible at 330mph and they should make every effort to increase their chance of survival.

Sincerely,

Jay Braxton
Product Specialist
HANS Performance Products

Jeff, Did I call you in my sleep? You have my vote. WITH THEM IT`S ALL ABOUT THE $$$$$$$$$$$$. Look at Jerry Gannon at Atlanta or John Reynolds at Denver in the last two years. BOTH should not have happened! You would not believe the calls to my office about life coverage. How about a 40-inch tire and Only ONE fuel pump. That would slow them down. As Gustin says, "I don`t care if it`s a 6.99 or 6.09 as long as it`s side by side." The PRO show is dismal. Smoke and more smoke.

Your views are courageous with all the politics.

Regards,

Mel Eaves

Jeff - I am haunted by my the last time I saw DR and remotely talked to him. My friend, our boys and I were wandering the pits Saturday night after qualifying at Topeka. Most of the cars were buttoned up and most of crowd, crews and drivers had left. There was Wayne (Dupuy) standing along the edge of the pit. I walked up and asked about the one-piece chassis. One thing led to another and he showed us one of the tires from a recent run. It was shredded along the top side edges. Darrell was roaming around the pit and had a very concerned look on his face. Wayne told us what you said, that after every run they put new tires on. But once in a while they might get two runs.

While we were talking about the tires, Darrell would pipe in and say to Wayne, "This has to get fixed! NHRA or PRO has to do something about this." He looked very upset and then got on his cell phone. I don't know who he called, but in my imagination, he was calling Amato to let him know how he felt.

Then I said something stupid to Wayne..."What's it going to take to get a change... someone killed?" We both sort of yukked and shook our heads.

I don't think I'll say anything like that again to anyone. Anyway, etched in my mind is Darrell's concerned and irritated face and my stupid remarks. I guess Darrell would want us to keep writin', keeping stats and racin', but I sure don't feel like it.

Jim Hawkins

Jeff - maybe there is a string here connecting the death of Darrell Russell and what supposedly happened last Saturday night at Atlanta Dragway's annual Night of Fire (I wasn't there, but got this from a best friend).

As usual, they had Pro Mods, jets and fireworks. Atlanta's track surface is historically known to "go away" after 9 or 10 p.m. At 2:30 a.m., Super Pro was down to 19 cars, with one car crash and several other "nears." The Super Pro guys met with a track official, and one said he refused to race any more that night/morning. He got in his car, cranked up and left staging. Then 18 others did the same thing. The S/P money was split.

After reading all your responses about your Russell editorial, I get the impression that many people, myself included, want to see the fuel classes slowed down, for safety's sake. Perhaps what happened at Atlanta is what might happen in the future, with the fans demanding more safety and caring for the competitors at the sake of 330 mph and beyond.

I say restrict the power in some way in these monsters. Then we could watch real racing, instead of one-lane racing and "on-off-on-off" to the finish line, whoever pedals best wins. (Is that racing?)

Dale Wilson