plumbing hand brake on a dragster

[Charlie Yannetti]

I think the hand brake is in fact a good idea and also an added safety feature.. HOWEVER, I'm sure the guys that had them at the Bristol National last year were thinking the same thing when NHRA Tech told them to remove them or go home..

But they also made a bunch of us S/G guys pop our chutes and repack them in front of them.. go figure.. good thing there wasn't somebody's crusty old underwear in there when I pulled it, huh...

[Rich Biebel]

Charlie my friend.....


Someone needs to remind the geniuses at NHRATech that even if you successfully pull your chute after you lose your brakes your still going to hit something.... anything other than a sand trap and your going to wreck your car and may get hurt......

My car has 2 systems....One fails I have the other...I don't need a hand brake to dump my car in an unsafe manner and end up in the guradrail.....

In 1966 the American auto manufacturers added dual master cylinders to passeneger cars....The purpose of that was to prevent you from losing ALL your brakes should you have a hydraulic failure due to a blown cylinder or caliper. Later cars had combination valves that accomplished the same thing.....

I go 170 mph at tracks like Island Dragway and you know very well what that track is like.........an NHRA SANCTIONED track. When they raced the open series there they did ask everyone with a S/C car to pull their chutes. I did and it was the only time I've ever done that......I am keeping my dual brakes or as I said staying home......I am not entering a single NHRA Division Event or National Event and have some Tech dude tell me I need to remove my handlever.......

Are ya listening NHRA TECH.......if you are you need to fix this issue...and talk to the people that race the cars that benefit from the added safety of having the extra brake system and those that had an event where it saved them and their cars...........Pulling your chute will not stop your car if you lose your brakes. Having two sets actuated at the same time is less safe as it can be too aggressive.....

[Chris Williams]

Originally Posted by Charlie Yannetti

But they also made a bunch of us S/G guys pop our chutes and repack them in front of them.. go figure.. good thing there wasn't somebody's crusty old underwear in there when I pulled it, huh...

They did this for all the "super" classes at Seattle last year. The reason stated was that we pull them so infrequently, they sometimes don't actually pop. Ours was fine, a friend behind me pulled the lever, and ... nothing ... it just sat there. He jiggled it, nothing. Gave it a good hit, and it popped. He was thanking the tech guys for making him do it.