Eastern Members - NHRA is 1000 ft now?

Just flipped on ESPN 2 and caught some NHRA race. All they keep talking about is "since we've switched to 1000 ft racing now...." I don't get it!

Forgive me if this is old news, I've been out of the country and without internet for the past 6 months. This sucks!

Since the accident they decided to goto 1000 ft

1000' for nitro for the rest of this year until they figure out what to do for safety...

i really dont care all that much about shortning it...the top fuel cars go under 4 seconds and still hit 320 mph

So everything else is still 1320? Thats good. I guess if its in the name of safety, thats cool. They must be able to find a way to make it safer...hopefully 1320 will be back next year!

So everything else is still 1320? Thats good. I guess if its in the name of safety, thats cool. They must be able to find a way to make it safer...hopefully 1320 will be back next year!

the plan is to go back to 1320

guys i think it is a good move more complete races now.. and they still go 300 plus

NHRA said they will be looking for improvements to alot of tracks ..BEFORE...going back to 1320 FT / 1/4 mile runs.....:nod:

Shortening the track was a bunch of bullshit. They did it with the claim that it is safer because the cars blow motors past the 1000' mark, what happens the first round of qualifying with shortened runs? You guessed it, two guys popped motors before the finish line.

They aren't going to find the cure for a once in a lifetime boomer of an engine failure by shortening the track. They need to take away motor from these guys so the damn things stay together. There are a lot of options:

1. Take away NITRO! There is already a shortage of the stuff and due to federal regulation it can't be purchased in big quanities, so drop the percentage a lot. It saves the teams money and it is easier on equipment

2. Take away boost! Face it, you can change the amount of ovedrive in a blower all you want, with modern rotor and case designs you aren't doing much to actually lower the amount of boost they are running. Standardize the blower design and limit the PSI they are allowed to put in. It takes pressure off of parts and saves teams money since some components will last longer

3. Make rebuild rules! Much like F1 has gone to where you have to leave the thing together for 'X' number of passes. This will force teams to build in reliability instead of making consumable engines. Anyone who has followed the sport for a while knows how Austin used to talk about Force's "1000ft motors" openly, do they really think taking a few feet off the track has changed that mentality among the teams that can afford it?

Sorry about the rant, I just see this as one more clown move by the NHRA. Fuel cars are supposed to be the top of the sport, how "top" can they look if they can't even run the full track like everyone else?

Nobody cares about the motors... It's all about the safety. That's why they shortened the race.

No,their reason for shortening the track was because "the engines are failing past the 1000' mark". It is about the engines and making rules changes there is the only way things will change.

It was bad enough when they went to the NASCRAP championship system, now they are taking away part of what makes the sport what it is. I don't know where they find the jackasses that are running the major sanctioning bodies anymore, but they need to send them back.

the whole 1/4 mile should be concrete
longer shutdown area

Lengthening shut down areas isn't realistic at a lot of tracks. At E-Town the back wall of the sand trap is only about 25 yards from Pension Road and the entry road behind the facility follows the edge of woods that don't belong to the track so they can't back it up either.

Most of these facilities are built to the exact size that will fit on the property. They just need to slow them down, the cars are going so fast that they aren't safe no matter what they do to the end of the track.

The accident that this is all a reaction to was such a massive blower explosion that Scott had to be knocked out. Brakes never got applied, chutes never came out. Every indication that the driver was just along for the ride. Why change the whole sport because the "worst case scenario" came along once after 2 decades of going 300+?

No,their reason for shortening the track was because "the engines are failing past the 1000' mark". It is about the engines and making rules changes there is the only way things will change.

It was bad enough when they went to the NASCRAP championship system, now they are taking away part of what makes the sport what it is. I don't know where they find the jackasses that are running the major sanctioning bodies anymore, but they need to send them back.


where are you getting this information?! everywhere i have looked after reading your post has said that the nhra reduced the track legnth after the death of scott kallita. couldnt find a thing that said it was "because our engine blow up after 1000".

I suppose the "hans" device that is mandated in nascar is a waste after D.E. Sr's death too right?

and as far as the "jackasses that run the major santioning bodies" comment. dude get real, a driver died and they DID SOMETHING, much more than i think you could/would have done in your "armchair racecar". Take a seat.

I think they should keep it at 1000ft and not take anything away from them. Schumacher ran like 314 today. That could have been in the 340 range in the 1/4 w/o the rev limiter


Have you even been to a race ?? You would never know they didn't go that extra 320 ft

and falk all of those rules this isn't IROC series er I mean nascar.


1. Take away NITRO! There is already a shortage of the stuff and due to federal regulation it can't be purchased in big quanities, so drop the percentage a lot. It saves the teams money and it is easier on equipment

2. Take away boost! Face it, you can change the amount of ovedrive in a blower all you want, with modern rotor and case designs you aren't doing much to actually lower the amount of boost they are running. Standardize the blower design and limit the PSI they are allowed to put in. It takes pressure off of parts and saves teams money since some components will last longer

3. Make rebuild rules! Much like F1 has gone to where you have to leave the thing together for 'X' number of passes. This will force teams to build in reliability instead of making consumable engines. Anyone who has followed the sport for a while knows how Austin used to talk about Force's "1000ft motors" openly, do they really think taking a few feet off the track has changed that mentality among the teams that can afford it?

Been to a lot of races in my life and never saw racing, or any other sport for that matter, make it less of a game at what is supposed to be the top level.

1/4 has been the distance for a long time. No more or fewer cars will wreck in 1000' than in 1320'. It is a non-move

The engines blowing up thing was first broadcast when Jim Head said it and then reinforced in some of the NHRA press releases later.

I am not asking for spec rules, just doing some things that would prevent what actually cause the accident, a massive blower explosion. Taking away blower are nitro are moves the NHRA has used before to slow the cars down, the idea of making them have engines last two passes instead of one is just an idea that some friends and I have discussed. The NHRA has also outlawed certain styles of blowers in the past because of the amount of boost they were capable of, even after pulley overdrive rules were first instated.

The fact that they are hitting such speeds in the shortened distance just speaks to the fact that they haven't made anything safer. It goes to show that the teams will push as hard as the rules allow. Do you think 314 is that much safer than the 330+ they were going before? I don't think a similar engine failure would be any more survivable now than it was before simply because it was a worst case scenario accident.

shtnfrds, there is a big difference between an actual safety device and letting cars continue to go unsurvivable speeds and calling it safe. The NHRA tried for a long time to take little steps to slow down the fuel cars, or at least maintain the speeds they were going. They finally have the perfect example of why they need to do it and they instead just went to a slightly slower version of the same old thing.

I have been around racing for 20+ years. Seen a lot of guys get hurt and die. This is the first time I have ever seen such a massive nothing done and seen it accepted as a solution by so many.

Do you think 314 is that much safer than the 330+ they were going before?

Yes because they have an extra 320 ft to stop and arent covering as much ground toward the end of the track. Worsham IIRC made a device deploy the chutes if they bang a blower. So giving them more stoping room and that device should help a lot.

There was a GREAT article on what NHRA can do to slow down the cars. I cant find it but it was by one of the crew chiefs and it was seriously the EASIEST thing they can do to slow them down. ARGH ARGH ARGH

Yes because they have an extra 320 ft to stop and arent covering as much ground toward the end of the track. Worsham IIRC made a device deploy the chutes if they bang a blower. So giving them more stoping room and that device should help a lot.

When you are looking at the speeds Top Fuel cars are traveling, 320 feet isn't going to make a difference. In a worst case scenario, it would do nothing.

Well, I'm all about the safety of these guys, but I'm not about slowing them down. I'm sorry, make the cars safer, not slower. manditory bulkheads or motor blankets. Safer shut down areas, dead mans shut deployment systems. Technology marches on, and speeds and power outputs should be increasing, not decreasing. This is not spec racing, its Top Fuel, the baddest motorsport in the universe, where the guy with the most power and the biggest balls goes home with the trophy!!!!!

When you are looking at the speeds Top Fuel cars are traveling, 320 feet isn't going to make a difference. In a worst case scenario, it would do nothing.

thats a good point, assuming all the other variables were the same, scott kalitta would have still died regardless of the 320 feet. The NHRA believes, as noted before that most VIOLENT expolisions happen after 1000 feet. I some what believe this, and i do think the number of them will decrease. But in terms a single accident it could still happen in 1000 feet.

I dont know why its so hard to make a device that can automatically deploy the parachute and or brakes in the event of a major explosion. There should be NHRA officials at the end of the track with the ability to deploy the chutes or brakes if that were to happen.

When you are looking at the speeds Top Fuel cars are traveling, 320 feet isn't going to make a difference. In a worst case scenario, it would do nothing.

So at Etown if they were running 1000ft and Scotts car blew up like it did and deployed the chutes you really think it would have made no difference :eyes:

I dont know why its so hard to make a device that can automatically deploy the parachute and or brakes in the event of a major explosion. There should be NHRA officials at the end of the track with the ability to deploy the chutes or brakes if that were to happen.


Del Worsham make a device that does that I saw an interview that John Force was talking about it because they were putting it on all the Force cars. If it blows off the burst pannel or the body it opens the chutes

I dont know why its so hard to make a device that can automatically deploy the parachute and or brakes in the event of a major explosion. There should be NHRA officials at the end of the track with the ability to deploy the chutes or brakes if that were to happen.Scotts car had the automatic deploy when the body flies off on it, the only problem is the car burned up his chutes. Nothing you can do about that and that is why SFI is looking at different material for them.

At top speed a Top Fuel car is traveling 440 FT per second. That extra 320 ft of shutdown area does help the cars and it helps them a lot. That is almost 2 seconds more of slow down time once they hit the chute which doesnt seem like much but it has helped the drivers out a ton.

Plus the races are that much more exciting. Ive watched a few on them and they are almost always a full race with less cars blowing the cars up. Yes the 1000ft situation sucks but it is the best thing for them to do until they can make the sport safer for the drivers.

I still cant find the blog of the crew chief who had the perfect answer to slowing the cars down and allowing them to finish more runs while running almost the same ETs and not killing the motors. Ive searched for hours and havent found it! :bang::bang:

Shortening the track was a bunch of bullshit. They did it with the claim that it is safer because the cars blow motors past the 1000' mark,
Its true, most catastrophic failures happen on the big end. Some of its due to the rev limiter, which has to be the all-time dumbest idea to slow them down.

1. Take away NITRO! There is already a shortage of the stuff and due to federal regulation it can't be purchased in big quanities, so drop the percentage a lot. It saves the teams money and it is easier on equipment
Only one problem with dropping nitro %. They easily circumvent this by adding more volume, and cranking in the timing.

2. Take away boost! Face it, you can change the amount of ovedrive in a blower all you want, with modern rotor and case designs you aren't doing much to actually lower the amount of boost they are running. Standardize the blower design and limit the PSI they are allowed to put in. It takes pressure off of parts and saves teams money since some components will last longer
This is the easiest, bestest way. Even Dale Armstrong has been telling them this for years. Apparently no one listens to him. Heck, hes only one of the most innovative minds in the sport all time.

3. Make rebuild rules! Much like F1 has gone to where you have to leave the thing together for 'X' number of passes. This will force teams to build in reliability instead of making consumable engines. Anyone who has followed the sport for a while knows how Austin used to talk about Force's "1000ft motors" openly, do they really think taking a few feet off the track has changed that mentality among the teams that can afford it?
That would hurt more than help.

I still cant find the blog of the crew chief who had the perfect answer to slowing the cars down and allowing them to finish more runs while running almost the same ETs and not killing the motors. Ive searched for hours and havent found it! :bang::bang:

Dale Armstrong. Previous crew chief for Kenny Bernstein.

Dale Armstrong. Previous crew chief for Kenny Bernstein.
Thank you!!! I found it within 2 minutes!

http://www.competitionplus.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6566&Itemid=24

It is a long read but it gives a complete over view of how easy it is to slow them down and not blow the motors up. Its unreal how simple it is.

The was a device to deploy the shoots in the event of a blower explosion invented 3 or 4 years ago by Worsham. There was a rumor that Kalitta even had it on the car, but I never saw anything to confirm or deny it.
The problems they have had with these devices fall into two basic categories, electronic and mechanical. Electronic deployment systems have tested to randomly go off because of the violent vibration and extreme G's the car experiences. The mechanical systems have failed in the past because of damage they suffer in the event of a blower explosion, they are basically in the line of fire and get hung up before they release the chutes.
I do agree that having a better firewall to separate driver from engine would be a help, but with a carbon fiber body that will flex and shatter, the results of a really big boomer would be about the same. Perhaps it is time to consider a firewall that includes a cowl that extends forward to the back on the blower?
I also think it is time to put the firewall on the chassis instead of the body. The chassis being more rigid is a better mounting point than a carbon body that flexes violently just from air resistance on a run, much less a blower explosion.

So at Etown if they were running 1000ft and Scotts car blew up like it did and deployed the chutes you really think it would have made no difference :eyes:

Your post makes no sense, if the chutes deployed it would be an entirely different story.:eyes: Re-read my post.

So at Etown if they were running 1000ft and Scotts car blew up like it did and deployed the chutes you really think it would have made no difference :eyes:

it probably would have made no difference. his chutes did deploy they burnt up in the fire. He would have been going maybe 10-20 mph slower which probably would have done nothing

I just saw this on ESPN

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/racing/nhra/news/story?id=3593470

I love how it took a few months and probably a couple hundred thousands dollars to figure this out.

Del Worsham make a device that does that I saw an interview that John Force was talking about it because they were putting it on all the Force cars. If it blows off the burst pannel or the body it opens the chutes

i know they have one for the chutes. I meant more along the lines of both chute and brakes. the only thing that would have possibly saved him was applying the brakes. That could have slowed the car down enough so the impact wasnt as severe. I think a NHRA official should be able to remotley release the chute and apply the break.s

"these guys" don't need anyones help to keep them safe. they are the ones that make the choice to get in the car, and drag racing came from 2 guys that said "i bet ican beat you in a 1/4 mile race" and you can run what you brung, and we don't care if you can get killed doing it because the bread of men back then were hard core. that was part of the alure to drive a race car, because if you could get killed doing it not just any joe off the street would get in one. If you are worried about dying then get another job. sure you can keep making it safer and safer until nobody gets hurt anymore and then it's like a ride at six flags just about anyone can do it, then who do you cheer for Dapper Dan or Big Daddy Don Garlits I'll take Big Daddy anytime! Scott Kalita would be the first one to speak up and say that drag racing means racing a 1/4 mile and that's how it has always been and always needs to be, now let's get in and race not whine. Remeber the drivers have a choice get in or stay out! it's that simple. why do you think Dale didn't use the hans device when almost every driver had one on in that race, and why did he always wear and open face helmet? because he was old school and when he started racing the everyday fact was that everytime you get in that race car you might not come out alive. it's part of the game if you can't handle it fan or competitor then you don't have to do it or watch it.

When Dale died, hardly anyone in the field used any sort of head and neck restraint, much less a HANS. The best most would use is the cheap little neck roll, just a piece of foam in a soft cover basically. Many even fought against the rules when they came in.

As far as the guys being hardcore and being able to deal with death, good for them. But realize it is a two way street. Public perception and insurance are two easy ways to kill the sport all together. If steps aren't taken to keep it as safe as possible, tracks and events won't be insured, facilities won't be insured, legislation will be put in motion to stop a sport with a bad image, and then we will have no place to race.

I am lucky, I live in Jersey with 3 drag strips, a full road racing facility, 2 dirt ovals, and soon a brand new paved oval. I can't imagine how many kids would be dying in the streets if they couldn't race legally. We need tracks and safety is one more way to help keep them around.