Re: Street Outlaws looking for fast cars in Detroit

rmcomprandy February 24th 2015, 9:10 pm

maverick wrote:
Carl wrote:
maverick wrote:
Carl wrote:
maverick wrote:The "seriously injured" thing is a "when" deal, certainly not an "if".

What difference does it make? People get hurt with all the safety equipment too.

I guess getting people off the streets isn't enough?

I guess you're right...Roll cages and safety equipment don't make any difference. We may as well race naked on motorcycles.

....and yes, getting 'em off the streets is a good thing.

Point being....drag racing is dangerous, and can kill you no matter how much safety gear you have in the car.

True enough. But I'll minimize the chances of leaking my own blood on the track any way I can. Case in point:

Years ago, I was at Bradenton and I saw an IHRA Mountain Motor ProStocker go squirrelly through the traps at 208 mph. The driver was helpless to avoid the wreck and we couldn't even see the car for all the smoke and dust as it flipped and skidded and barrel rolled off the far end of the track. The noise seemed to go on forever and we figured the driver was dead. When the safety crew arrived there wasn't a piece of the car's body left on the twisted and broken chassis. The engine and drivetrain were mostly absent too. The cage was resting upside down...and when they got the driver out of the car, he insisted he was ok and didn't need the ambulance. Instead, he began to walk back along the track, helping the cleanup crew to pick up pieces of his car.

Would anyone care to repeat that show without a cage and harness?

While some insist that "When your number's up, your number's up.", I will attempt to forestall my number coming up. As such, I no longer play rooftop trombone recitals during thunderstorms.

I watched as Don Carlton met his death when his Pro Stock car rolled in testing. He died from internal head injuries sustained by hitting his head numerous times off the roll bar... he was wearing a good helmet too.
Safety equipment can be a detriment as well, sometimes. NOTHING is gonna be perfectly safe.

maverick February 24th 2015, 9:19 pm

I suppose it can, Randy. Still, I'll take my chances strapped into a cage rather than squashed in a tin can or skidding down the track on my butt. Shocked

My old bones don't heal like they used to.

DFI429 February 24th 2015, 11:12 pm

bbf-falcon wrote:I believe in safety as much as the next guy,but NHRA are so hypocritical when it comes too it the money part. They make you change out a perfectly good set of safety harness every 2 yrs. or you can't race.And then at the same track let a 2000hp small tire car w/o wheelie bars run so dangerously out of control pass after pass and never blink an eye.

Rick,
This is a great parallel to many inspection requirements we go through - the NHRA requirements might make sense for a racer that's in the seat three days per weekend, every weekend. Much like the active duty-based inspections we deal with, revolving around three shifts, maintenance going non-stop. But for US, that isn't the case, so for each, it becomes overkill & hassle, pushed on a much lower activity/use level.

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