new nhra rule

[rustbucket]

NHRA shortens race distance for Top Fuel and Funny Car classes to 1,000 feet as an interim safety measure

As the investigation continues into the tragic accident that took the life of driver Scott Kalitta, NHRA has announced that beginning at the Mopar Mile High Nationals in Denver, Colo., both the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes will race to 1,000 feet instead of the traditional 1,320 feet or one-quarter mile. This is an interim step that is being taken while NHRA continues to analyze and determine whether changes should be made to build upon the sport's long standing safety record, given the inherent risks and ever-present dangers associated with the sport.

[drummondracing]

Drag racing has been 1/4 for how long ????? Why not just choke the cars back and continue the 1320. anyone who races knows that ther life is at stake everytime they trip the beams. This whole kalitta accident has had the drag racing world on its lid like no one has ever been killed before. Dont misunderstand me I am not bieng disrespectful in any way, God rest his soul but each ane every one of us get behind the wheel every friday,saturday or, sunday Knowing that 1000 things could and will eventually happen. It is a dangerous but enticing sport and we have to accept the concequences or take up another hobby!

[John_Heard]

The tracks have not kept up with the speeds of the cars that are running on them so I can't blame the drivers or NHRA for taking some steps to increase safety. I'd prefer they stay 1/4 too, but totally understand they really need to do something about this, many of the tracks are unsafe should a car repeat what happened to Scott Kalitta. Hopefully they can come up with a good idea on how to increase the safety on these tracks shutdown areas soon and they can go back to 1/4 mile.

[sverbus]

I agree with both parties involved and with both of you. I feel the bottom line is the track owners themselves!!! I'll site an example to back up my claim.

National Trail Raceway held the Pontiac Excitement Nationals for years, I've been going there with my folks for a very long time. However, 2yr's ago, NHRA pulled from that track and went (gladly) to Norwalk Ohio for the Summit Racing Nationals. It's been there for 2yr's now, this year being the 2nd. I've went both years and each time I've had an absolute blast with my folks and wife. What I'm getting at is that Norwalk owners are a family business, they are from a rich drag racing history from what I understand, and they sunk a ton of money into that track.

Trails...didn't do a DAMN thing over all the years that they held the event there. Christ they couldn't even invest in good bathrooms...it was porto john heaven there every "stinking" year. The bleachers were falling apart, they were the removable type which I might add aren't the safest. What I'm getting at is that to many of these track owners, even though the tracks are owned by NHRA, don't do a damn thing to maintain or improve the tracks. They gobble the money up and buy another house. We can put a man on the moon for god sake, you mean to tell me that over the years when the cars have surpassed 300+mph that they couldn't see this coming and couldn't figure out a way to extend the shut down area's? I'm not an engineer, so I'm not going to propose any solutions and make myself look dumb, but I DO know for a fact that there ARE smarter guys an gals than me in that department and like I said before, we can put a human being in space....

Ok I'm getting off my soapbox now...

[no_bite]

shorten to 1000 feet ??......lets just start calling this "nhra pinks" !!

[stroker1]

I don't feel the same way sverbus. How can you lay it to just the track owners. Of course nobody is gonna spend huge bucks on saftey precautions unless NHRA mandates it. Besides that the owners likely are not engineers themselves. So I say if it's an NHRA sanctioned track they must adhere to some type of new saftey policy that NHRA will most likely require in the near future. That will force the tracks to comply or lose NHRA sanctioning.

[ytnova]

I understand nhra is wanting to play it safe, but limiting the track for the fuelers to 1000 feet is kinda pointless, these cars are going 270+ at the 1/8th and 300+ at the 1000 foot mark already, how much time is really added for the drivers to pull the chutes and get on the brakes when these things are covering ground so fast, milliseconds? Nhra should already of had some kinda rule for the shut down length at the tracks where these cars run. And who the hell puts a concrete wall at the end of a track instead of some kind of sand trap or soft safety wall? The drivers and the fans need to put some pressure on nhra to make these changes. It wasn't until last year that nhra mandated concrete gaurd rails and moving the score board and light poles x-amount of feet away from the racing surface. Kinda like the whole earnhardt deal, they are being reactive instead of being proactive. They need to take a step back and rethink the whole thing, maybe come out with some kind of blueprint or minimum standards for tracks that want to hold a national event. I also think they need to take another look at some of the standards for the cars, I am sure there is a way to automatically open the chutes once you cross the finish line, so even if the driver is slow to react or gets knocked out, they will deploy, in addition to the cable hooked to the burst panel.

[sverbus]

Stroker1 I agree with you and I was poor in my execution of trying to get my point across in that I think NHRA should be the ones that mandate to the track owners that changes have to be made. And I'll put money on it that at some point, in a private conversation, more than 1 person talked about the potential of something like this happening and saying "lets just keep that between us, cause that's going to cost a whole heap load of money" and then in the next breath they asked "so what time's your T off time?"

I know there are alot of really wonderful people that really care for the safety of drivers and fans. But there are also those that only see money, and don't care who gets hurt in the process.

But yeah, NHRA should be the ones to mandate these changes. They've got the money....especially with the explosion that this sport has seen in the last 15 or so years.

[mytmouz]

These events are helded at tracks 1 time a year. most traks are landlocked and cannot expand the shutdown. The track where Kalitta wrecked had the wall there because there is a 6 lane highway on the other side of it. So everyone says go to '1000ft and expand the sand trap'. This expense will be 'mandated' by NHRA to the track owners who then will need to decide if the expense of removing the asphalt, reworking the retun lane turnoffs, hauling in the sand is worth the 1 time event. If they say yes, then the shutdown for the 'slow' Top Sportsman/outlaw cars will be shortened or they will have to run '1000ft. Who gets to pay for this, why the Spectators of course because the tracks catch hell when they try to up the entry fees. And the spectators mostly don't want to see a shorter race. People didn't stop watching Nascar when they went to restrictor plate racing...

[drummondracing]

I have to agree with ytnova wtf is shortning the run by 320ft going to acomplish considering the speed and amount of ground these cars are traveling. I also have to agree with tporter I race at MIR or budds creek MD occasionaly and they have an awsome facility TOP NOTCH!! however between their barrels and sand trap they are simply out of room they are butting up to a main highway and cannot lengthen the track anymore. As I said earlier I feel the easiest thing to do is govern the cars I dont like it but It seems like a somewhat safer solution.

[hsutton]

I agree with both parties involved and with both of you. I feel the bottom line is the track owners themselves!!! I'll site an example to back up my claim.

National Trail Raceway held the Pontiac Excitement Nationals for years, I've been going there with my folks for a very long time. However, 2yr's ago, NHRA pulled from that track and went (gladly) to Norwalk Ohio for the Summit Racing Nationals. It's been there for 2yr's now, this year being the 2nd. I've went both years and each time I've had an absolute blast with my folks and wife. What I'm getting at is that Norwalk owners are a family business, they are from a rich drag racing history from what I understand, and they sunk a ton of money into that track.

Trails...didn't do a DAMN thing over all the years that they held the event there. Christ they couldn't even invest in good bathrooms...it was porto john heaven there every "stinking" year. The bleachers were falling apart, they were the removable type which I might add aren't the safest. What I'm getting at is that to many of these track owners, even though the tracks are owned by NHRA, don't do a damn thing to maintain or improve the tracks. They gobble the money up and buy another house. We can put a man on the moon for god sake, you mean to tell me that over the years when the cars have surpassed 300+mph that they couldn't see this coming and couldn't figure out a way to extend the shut down area's? I'm not an engineer, so I'm not going to propose any solutions and make myself look dumb, but I DO know for a fact that there ARE smarter guys an gals than me in that department and like I said before, we can put a human being in space....

Ok I'm getting off my soapbox now...

Maybe they really didn't go to the moon either. Have you ever seen the picture and noticed the flag?