Thoughts On Drag Car Remote Shut Off

In light of the latest crash and unfortunate death of a fellow racer:

What is everyone's thoughts on a remote shut-off for drag cars similar to monster trucks? Could even hook up solenoid for chute.

I realize the monster truck aren't moving nearly as fast but the concept may be applicable...

Or is this just a case of "You pays your money and you takes your chances."

Bill

What they need is a minimum shut down area length instead of trying to put a bunch of slow down devices in place before you crash into a wall. If the shut down area is too short then they shouldn't have fast cars there.

X-2

Yep. To drag race on a track with a short shutdown length is to assume that all drivers are competent, conscious and alert, and that all safety systems are on the car and operating correctly. I don't think anybody can guarantee all those conditions with 100% certainty....and so, ya pays your money, ya takes your chances. I figure that carefully choosing the track can minimize the chances.

I guess when you run in the points, you gotta run the tracks they go to. I don't know why all the "big car" tracks aren't the same, with the same length of shut down. You would think that NHRA/IHRA would demand safe shut-down areas at the tour tracks.

Bill

dfree383 wrote:I don't think the legnth of the shut down had much if anything to do with this latest or kalatta's death. Not much you can due when the driver out or some other issue.

True. That's what I was thinking with the remote shut-off/chute.

There was a guy crashed at a track up here a few years ago and they figger he had a heart attack, full throttle right to the end, jumped the sand trap and the berm. If the car would have been clicked off it would have been some what better. I can't imagine how fast he would have been going when you hold WOT for 3/4 of a mile.

Bill

it'd be hard to know fast enough to "kill"the run i think.shit happens fast and i dont think it could be done unless it was a deal where all cars were auto shut down at the end of the track.it's a sad thing to see but this thing we do can be dangerous.

That's true. I guess the monster truck deal is to protect the fans in the stands. Those trucks will climb into the stands in a heart beat.

Just thinking of some way they could add to the safety.

Bill

Its just part of the deal............this drag racin stuff is actually dangerous................

I think the remote shut down is a good idea. Sure, there would be lots of instances when it would be too little,too late, but if it only worked one time it would be worth it to that individual.

the resent crash , he could have had 2 miles of shut down, it is sad, i seen in person shelly howard and her son die , i always thought , that a device needs to be placed at the end of the 1/4 mile or 1000 ft for fuel cars, that once the cars gets to that spot , the shuts are deployed and fuel is shut off automatically

I wish there was an automatic parachute device. It needs to be able to be used manually also for emergency situations going down the track.

what you are asking for already exists, its been tested. Has not been approved and is highly unlikely it will be I beleivethe fuel teams are agaisnt it.

I worked with some guys on the parts list, supposedly they took this list and built one from off the shelf parts for testing. said it worked in testing, I wasnt there so I just took their word for it. they said they pitched it to NHRA and didnt get far. they said several venues were pitching it to NHRA and didnt get far, but this is all second hand so who knows. Not all teams like this idea it takes some control from drivers

the parts are easy. Spread spectrum radio reciever in the car with Remote I/O Remote I/0 can be hooked to a fuel solenoid. or chute launcher , etc..

that's the O part of the I/0 Input/Output PLC
Input = guy with a button on the starting line.

these PLC's can have 128 plus in and out so the sky is the limit....one of the issues NHRA was worried about. RADIO devices in the car is STRICTLY prohibited.
Spread spectrum technolgy is what you see used on your tornado warning poles with the sirens. Ever wonder what was in tha box? Spread means it hops frequencys so it cant be duplicated, this means you can encrypt all the fuel teams with a different box at the track and use the same repeater. typically in a 1/4 mile the thing would operate in less than 5 msec.
thats .005, actually the longest time would be the closing of the fuel valve or chute deployment.
NHRA could control the boxes and hand them out with predetermined encryption so that no other teams box could activate another one's

the kicker is these things can collect data, almost real time and send it back to the trailer.... for wehat good it would do I dont know cause you cant make adjustments that fast... or can you>? I think the run would be over by the time someone crunched the data... just my opinion. BUT that is exactkly what NHRA is worried about. IMHO if they were that worried about it they could hand the teams the boxes.

then there is the whole other issue of who/and when to push that kill switch.. Youy COULD potentially hurt someone worse if the driver had control of the car... I think... so they say.. I dont know but I do know I wouldnt want that responsibility.
SO to sum it up, its already been submitted and no news released on it... so basically its a NO or at least not a YES at this point.
the technology is there though.

I believe the monster trucks use wiFi because of the closer proximity of the trucks and the high degree of encryption. But I dont know that for sure. Just what i was told.

jsracing wrote:what you are asking for already exists, its been tested. Has not been approved and is highly unlikely it will be I beleivethe fuel teams are agaisnt it.

I worked with some guys on the parts list, supposedly they took this list and built one from off the shelf parts for testing. said it worked in testing, I wasnt there so I just took their word for it. they said they pitched it to NHRA and didnt get far. they said several venues were pitching it to NHRA and didnt get far, but this is all second hand so who knows. Not all teams like this idea it takes some control from drivers

the parts are easy. Spread spectrum radio reciever in the car with Remote I/O Remote I/0 can be hooked to a fuel solenoid. or chute launcher , etc..

that's the O part of the I/0 Input/Output PLC
Input = guy with a button on the starting line.

these PLC's can have 128 plus in and out so the sky is the limit....one of the issues NHRA was worried about. RADIO devices in the car is STRICTLY prohibited.
Spread spectrum technolgy is what you see used on your tornado warning poles with the sirens. Ever wonder what was in tha box? Spread means it hops frequencys so it cant be duplicated, this means you can encrypt all the fuel teams with a different box at the track and use the same repeater. typically in a 1/4 mile the thing would operate in less than 5 msec.
thats .005, actually the longest time would be the closing of the fuel valve or chute deployment.
NHRA could control the boxes and hand them out with predetermined encryption so that no other teams box could activate another one's

the kicker is these things can collect data, almost real time and send it back to the trailer.... for wehat good it would do I dont know cause you cant make adjustments that fast... or can you>? I think the run would be over by the time someone crunched the data... just my opinion. BUT that is exactkly what NHRA is worried about. IMHO if they were that worried about it they could hand the teams the boxes.

then there is the whole other issue of who/and when to push that kill switch.. Youy COULD potentially hurt someone worse if the driver had control of the car... I think... so they say.. I dont know but I do know I wouldnt want that responsibility.
SO to sum it up, its already been submitted and no news released on it... so basically its a NO or at least not a YES at this point.
the technology is there though.

I believe the monster trucks use wiFi because of the closer proximity of the trucks and the high degree of encryption. But I dont know that for sure. Just what i was told.

Thanks for the info! It all makes sense, I guess.

Even if they had a signal wire in the track at the finish line (it works for dogs...). I can't see a need for throttle after the race is over.

Maybe a catch wire like on an air craft carrier!! Well, maybe a bit "out there".

Bill

IMO, It would be awfully hard to tell for a starter if a car was out of control 1/4 mi. away w/everything else that is going on at the starting line. If I were the starter,there is NO WAY I would take on the responsibility. Boy's,this shit's gonna happen from time to time and there's not a whole lot we can do about it

bbf-falcon wrote:IMO, It would be awfully hard to tell for a starter if a car was out of control 1/4 mi. away w/everything else that is going on at the starting line. If I were the starter,there is NO WAY I would take on the responsibility. Boy's,this shit's gonna happen from time to time and there's not a whole lot we can do about it

No, I agree the starter would not be the one to do this. It should be someone near the finish line. Or something in the track surface etc. Something electronic would react much faster than a human.

As stated, if it saves one or two racers, it may be worth it.

Bill