SAFETY SUGGESTIONS
I read in the papers about the tragic death of Shelly Howard
and her son, and after the anger of this seemingly insignificant
(statistics-wise) incident, I did a little research on my
own. Here are the results:
1. There have been 345 fatalities in the U.S. attributed
to auto racing since 1990. (Herald Today). According to
NHRA (Dedicated to Safety), there have been very few incidents
regarding drag racing since 1990. I think that IF they include
all of the competitors who have died drag racing (organized)
and NOT just in the professional ranks, their
statistics would prove invalid.
2. Given these statistics, I think that whoever oversees
the SAFETY factor over in NHRA/IHRA should at this time
admit that they are over their heads and not competent enough
to be pro-active, should move over and accept the help that
is being offered by General Motors, NTSB, Ford, and the
forward-thinking competitors of OUR sport. (not
just the pro's).
3. Have an OPEN forum with these contributors and NOT have
a "What's good for General Bullmoose, is good for the
USA" attitude.
4. Develop a website to address such issues, and perhaps
find some solutions for preventing accidents in the future.
Pro-active is the key word here, and if the various sanctioning
organizations are not willing to accept the challenge, then
what prevents interested groups from taking on the challenge
themselves?
I heard through the grapevine that the Kalitta group is
doing a lot of research on their own and my hat is off to
them.
Gene Wagner
Boca Raton, FL
ANOTHER SAFETY SUGGESTION
I did not see the (Shelly Howard) accident as I had been
eliminated and had just left the track maybe 15 minutes
before it happened. I will not go into the details here.
A very good eyewitness account is on Mokandragway.com message
board.
I have been a drag racer for 35 years, and as far as I
can remember no accident can compare to this one. Just a
terrifying scene.
I think the time has come for a new safety rule to be implemented
to help see that this incident never happens again. How
about a remote controlled fuel cut off switch operated by
the crew chief?
Robert Adamson
Stillwater, OK
SUPER STOCK FAN
Great job on sending Kepner out to cover Super Stock class.
That was really neat to see pictures of Class cars doing
what they are built to do. Too bad the weather didn't help
the run-offs. That one shot deal is totally bogus.
By the way, Hey Bret, who won the US Classnationals in
SS?
Anatol (Tony) Denysenko
MoneyMaker Racing
Lyons, IL
'SPEC' TICKET PRICES?
NHRA wants to slow down the speeds on the dragstrip with
spec this and that and the tech dept. has "expanded
the current moratorium on engine components and cylinder
heads to include all facets of the clutch assembly."
Will NHRA lower the price of tickets until the chance of
a new record run occurs?
Thomas Conifer
