Another Racer Killed at E-Town

[Mike Brogniez]

Can all accidents be eliminated, probably not.
Can safety be improved at many tracks, ABSOLUTELY.
Racers should not have to loose life or limb to make safety improvements happen.....

[hemidup]

My feelings? E-Town should be excluded and banned from running the Pro's, let alone anything faster than 8 seconds until they rebuild the track with longer shut down lanes. That old track needs to be upgraded to todays standards of speed. Screw the 1000' drag race that everyother track in the country has to abide to after Scott's accident. Anyone that raced in Minnesota at the old Twin City/North Star Dragways can tell you how scary it was to run a fast car with the short shut down lanes that made you think you might end up in the rubarb (cat tails) before they lengthened the track. That track spent some cash to keep us drivers safe. Too bad its closed down. If you want to see a crash, go watch NASCAR with 3 wide in the corners. Yes, accidents happen in drag racing but shouldn't happen after the stripe. My prayers and thoughts go out to Neal Parker's family and friends.

[Alan Roehrich]

I'd bet that given the current climate, any attempt to exclude E-town from the schedule, and any attempt to tear it down and rebuild, would result in E-town being gone forever. That, too, would be tragic. There may not be a solution for that problem, either.

[hemidup]

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

I'd bet that given the current climate, any attempt to exclude E-town from the schedule, and any attempt to tear it down and rebuild, would result in E-town being gone forever. That, too, would be tragic. There may not be a solution for that problem, either.

Take 2 of the lanes from Z Max and add them on to the back of E-Town. Problem solved. Pro Stocker's walked away from bad track conditions in Arizona, Pro's should walk away from E-Town. Forget the show and save an injury or death. Maybe then the track owner of E-Town will cough up the $$$ to make the track safe.

[Alan Roehrich]

Originally Posted by hemidup

Take 2 of the lanes from Z Max and add them on to the back of E-Town. Problem solved. Pro Stocker's walked away from bad track conditions in Arizona, Pro's should walk away from E-Town. Forget the show and save an injury or death. Maybe then the track owner of E-Town will cough up the $$$ to make the track safe.

You tell me, because I do not know. How much room is there behind the starting line at E-town, already owned by the track?

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

You tell me, because I do not know. How much room is there behind the starting line at E-town, already owned by the track?

Eliminate the screw blowers and limit blower size and overdrive. Make a rule change for a 400 inch max. engine size in Alcohol AND Nitro. Cut the nitro percentage (50% is a start), blower size, Overdrive, and number of fuel pumps in Top Fool and Nitro Ha Ha cars would be a start. In other words.....slow the damn things down with rule changes! I dont think Englishtown (and others) has the room to make the track longer. Remember when WJ ended out on the main road with his Pro Stocker several years ago and he sure wasnt as fast as the nitro and alcohol cars. 1000 ft sucks and 1/8 mile racing would suck to for a national event.

[hemidup]

Originally Posted by X-TECH MAN

Eliminate the screw blowers and limit blower size and overdrive. Make a rule change for a 400 inch max. engine size in Alcohol AND Nitro. Cut the nitro percentage (50% is a start), blower size, Overdrive, and number of fuel pumps in Top Fool and Nitro Ha Ha cars would be a start. In other words.....slow the damn things down with rule changes! I dont think Englishtown (and others) has the room to make the track longer. Remember when WJ ended out on the main road with his Pro Stocker several years ago and he sure wasnt as fast as the nitro and alcohol cars. 1000 ft sucks and 1/8 mile racing would suck to for a national event.

I say they should eliminate E-Town from the circut and get back to racing 1320'. With the dangerous E-Town track in the mix, pretty soon the Pro's at all tracks will have to run to the 660'. Than to the 330', than to the 60', than nothing.

[Jim B]

Alan has pretty much summarized the variance in stopping the different vehicles and speeds that come into play. The bottom line on a 200+ mph pass is if the chutes don't deploy, blossom and stay attached to the car, you're going off the end hard. A brake failure in a 125 - 160 mph vehicle has a much different requirement to stop when leaving the pavement at the end. I remember going off the end at the old Pocono Drag Lodge in Pennsylvania and coming to a stop safely. The end of the shutdown area ran up the side of a mountain and was very effective for all types of vehicles. Granted the trap speeds were sub 250 mph but that was the most effective system I've seen. Unfortunately, it's not practical to retrofit an uphill runoff road to most existing facilities. The bottom line requirement lies with the sanctioning bodies. The only solution I could think of offhand would be a tailhook (aircraft carrier type) stopping reel at the very end for the faster cars. That's not as easy or simple as it sounds because the catch hook device would have to be standarized in the chassis construction and the cable reel device would require active operation by a track end crew. Car weight, speed, etc. would have to be taken into consideration to set the takeup reel drag. Existing runoffs would be maintained and used for slower vehicles (maybe 150mph and down) and the cable catch system activated for passes by the faster cars. Or unfortunately, a few deaths per year in a dangerous sport will be considered collateral damage. Time will tell. Heartfelt condolences to the family....