Shut down distances.
 

Had nothing to do so I got on Google World and here's some interesting stats on shutdown distances in Div.1.

Island- .58 mi.
Numidia- .58 mi.
Maple Grove- .67 mi.
Lebanon Valley- .67 mi.
OBT RP- .67 mi.
Cecil co.- .68 mi.
Atco- .74 mi.
VMP- .77 mi.

Interestingly when we ran at Island there were complaints that the shut down area was too short.Interestingly Garlits ran 200 there with one of the Swamp Rats.I think that Cecil Co. is probably the scariest.After the end of the shut down area if you dont stop you launch into the air like the General Lee.
Just an observation from an idle mind.Bill here's another chance for a new crusade.LOL.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Ed,
Don't get your hopes up; I've never had a car that ran fast enough for ANYshutdown area to be a problem... :(

Re: Shut down distances.
 

tough guy, you could stop that car in a phone booth!!!!!!!

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Of course firebird is the longest...hell, if you go off the end you don't have an obstacle until you reach California ! LOL!

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Haha but up until they extended it this year it's always was one of the most difficult to shut down in Phoenix...remember Doug Kalitta taking out the signs at the 2008 event.

I hate running at Cecil County cause it's bumpy and short and no shut-down if you lose your breaks. Numidia is actually not that bad once you get up the hill there is actually more shutdown area after from where they make you turn off just in case. By far Atco is the best place for shutdown, you can have a full course meal by the time you reach the end of the track..

Re: Shut down distances.
 

I usually do not have to worry about not enough shut down area. At Gainesville I have to step on the gas to get to the turn off. But the most fun I believe is at Jacksonville Motorsports Park, if you go to the end it rises up into the circle track, how cool is that.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA no brakes

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Your talking about 300 ft plus or minus.I dont know about eating a sandwich but it could be the difference between turning or smacking the rail.
What track was it where Woodrow went into the swamp a while back?
Hey tough guy,you got that right.Thank God I've never had to prove it.Hope nobody ever has to.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Here's an interesting take and something I've mentioned before: Both Island Dragway and Numidia Dragway have 1700 feet of shutdown. At 175 mph, I'll easily wear the brakes out at Island (haven't been there in a couple of years but don't think it got any longer) and will use the 'chute to make things easier. Numidia? I've got to step on the brakes right away but no problem stopping. The difference? Numidia's shutdown area goes uphill. We always talk about short shutdown areas and it's part of the reason we went to 1000 foot racing. Now if we can't understandably make the tracks any longer, why can't we just regrade the shutdown areas? As a point of reference, the longest track on tour is Gainesville at 3300 feet, which is the place Woodro had his "encounter," although length had nothing to do with that.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Houston has a pretty nice shut down. 2 miles until you get to I10.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Mr Fernandez,
A friend told me you ran an in-line 6 AMC and did very well. A friend of mine now has my old 74 Gremlin with a 258 that I had "built" and would like to know what you did to yours to "smoke" those pesky V-8s. I think I have mine to about 300 Hp.
Thank you sir.
Harold Losey(Jerseyboy)

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Shut downs? Probably not a lot who are reading this have been there, but no conversation about shut downs would be complete without mentioning Sumerduck.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Numidia is a lot longer than Island.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Mine ran Stock Elim. off an index of 14.40 sec. We ran on a handicap system, in the 11 years I ran stock I only had to chase someone down maybe 5 or six times.Right Billy?

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Gainesville........I was there! Very scary! Jim
.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Has anyone other than me noticed this thread is 10+ years old?

Re: Shut down distances.
 

I'm sure Eddie had a lot more than that.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

That is where I started racing. Talking about a bull ring operation. I don't know how many people wound up in that creek after descending the hill.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Summerduck gets my vote. When I worked for Div ll we had a Nat Open there early 70's. Buster had a drivers meeting before anyone went down the track and advised the Pro cars to go down and look at the shutdown area. Some did, some didn't and 1 fuel car didn't get stopped. No one hurt but he didn't make another pass.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Numidias FIRST turn off is short. For some reason they want you to turn off there and not go to the top of the hill. So if you are trying to make that turn off, yeah, it is very similar to Island Dragway.

Atco and Maplegrove seem about the same to me, Maplegrove might be even longer.........

E-Town was just fine and there were several turn off you could take, unlike Atco or Maplegrove. The first one at Atco is pretty close to the finish line for a fast heavy car, and if you don't take it, all the way to the end you go!

I have had to get back on the gas pedal many times at Maplegrove if I wasn't on a full-out pass, which is typical when Bracket Racing! :)

Re: Shut down distances.
 

I think I've chased with the gremlin, but can't swear to it.....

got to say with the Gremlin, its always looking for the first turn off otherwise needs gas to make the turnaround most often.

some tracks, have no turnoff and are LONG.....toronto.....

Gremlin with me has enjoyed:

Numidia
Lebanon Valley
Maple Grove
Etown
Indy
toronto
Napierville
Maramichi
Epping
Charlotte
Atco
Hagerstown

Thats all I can recall at this moment

Eric

Re: Shut down distances.
 

That was Gainesville where Woodrow went in to the lake at the top end. As I remember the brake rod came out of the master cylinder and he had no brakes. The catch net was rotten and the car went right through it. Woodrow was lucky he didn’t drown. Gainesville is really long on shut down area.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

The same thing happened to a SS/AA car I crewed on a LONG time ago, back when Super Stockers footbraked. When the car touched down from the wheelstand the free swinging brake pedal bumped the driver's ankle, he recognized something was wrong and idled the rest of the way down the track. That made a big impression my young mind, and it's still something I pay attention to after all these years. I won't use the brake light switch for a pedal stop, and sometimes I have fabricated a "guide" to keep the rod aimed at the master cylinder.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

My son and I have gone to a lot of different tracks on Hot Rod's Drag Week.

The only one he was a little uncomfortable at was the NHRA owned (at the time) track at Columbus. The car with him it it is about 3,500 lbs, only went about 120mph and had Willwoods on the front and stock drums on the back.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Lebanon Valley when we raced there in the eighties was a challenge to stop a Max Wedge car with eight inch drum brakes!

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Yes, but the brakes were light weren't they. I know what you mean, same six cylinder brakes on a SS/IA Roadrunner at Dallas (Ga) Dragway quarter mile. Before they changed to eighth mile. Had Hurst/Airheart single piston discs on an IHRA SS/AA....really scary!

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Anybody run at the old South Mtn. Raceway. I ran there in the 90's once on the way home as a sideline to a big AMC show at Gettysburg. Staging lanes held about 10 cars. You had to make a u turn to get into the water box then if I remember correctly it was uphill to do the burnout. After the finish line there was a banked (ala Nascar) 180 degree turn at the end of the very short shut down area. This was with my first Gremlin (bracket car going low 11's). That was a novelty to say the least.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Here you go, Ed:

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Still pretty much the same at South Mountain. The turn into the water box isn't that bad, and it is slightly uphill to do the burnout...not Quaker City uphill though. I believe they've moved the starting line back, as I had no issues stopping my '64 Dodge there the other year.

On that topic...Sunset, outside of Mercer, PA. Basically South Mountain without guardrails. Back into the burnout box, 1/8th mile with about 700' of downhill shutdown, and a hairpin turn to the right at the end...first place I ever ran a car down the track.

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I ran Hudson, NC once, uphill to a cul-de-sac, then back down the hill to the pits. Interesting place. :eek: Oh, yeah, kinda short, too.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

Regrade the shutdown? You mean like this? :D

https://i.imgur.com/sw1Ci6q.jpg

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That looks alot like Lowville Pa.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

KD Dragway in Southeastern Ohio. Lowville has a greater downhill drop after the 1/8th mile mark and goes back uphill before where the 1/4 mile mark used to be.

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Never raced there,but on a visit to a friend she and my wife went shopping.They dropped me off at S.E. Int'l Raceway (Ithink that's what it was called) in Dallas Ga. What a sand pit. That's where Petty lost control of his car and two deaths occured. He was racing against Cotton Owens "Cotton Picker". That car wound up in the Albany NY area. I ran a round against it at the NED Bracket Finals the year it was held in Leb. Valley. Strangely the car wound back up in Ga. when I went to S.E. Int'l. The owner was a guy they called Uncle Milty. The next time we visited the track was closed. I drove in and looked the place over. The tower was still there, with paperwork scattered all over the floor.This was the mid 90's if I remember correctly.

Re: Shut down distances.
 

How about Delmar Ed? I believe it’s fairly long

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I only ran 2 or 3 Div. races there. Don't remember much about the track. I do remember camping in a tent next to my truck and trailer though.