Alan Johnson tells them what is up,,,,, Chassis wise

[Rapid Randy Baker]

Anybody catch his comments on the qualifying show?

He said, "Fix the tracks with bumps or fix the cars so they won't break. The only time we have a car break up is when it hits the bumps in the tracks. It is that simple really!"

Great job of someone who knows,,,telling it like it is! JMO

Rapid

[Lippy]

Randy, what if we quit worrying about 2 extra lbs, and make the chassis stronger with some heavier tubing in that area? Seems like the chassis would still flex enough in front and back of that area to plant them would'nt it? Beef up the frame and give it a little more wing. JMO NHRA is gonna hafta do something cause someone is liable to get killed, and soon.

[Rapid Randy Baker]

Good idea Lippy,

If they really want to slow them down take away some wing and add some weight. As racers, we just want to race and go faster than the other guy,,,,pretty much at whatever the cost. I don't believe for a second that that cost is loss of life. I don't think any driver feels that is on the table at anytime either.

It looks pretty obvious to me, the cars won't run these speeds in this design with the current materials. If I was a car owner, no way in hell if I had a car would I subject my driver to that bit a possibility.

The smart thing to do is run the cars 1/8 mile until such time everybody can get a new BIG tube heavier chassis,,,,,before someone else does die in these things. I know this is pretty drastic, but come on someone needs to do something like this to cure the problem.

Rapid

[Rapid Randy Baker]

I did see an interesting bit of information somewhere. The person was saying in essence: If the front is stuck to the ground with the front wing, and the rear is stuck to the ground from the rear wing, allowing the chassis to flex in the middle,,,,at some point is it always going to break at the stress point.

Pretty simple, but makes good sense. So do you make the car shorter to allow for less flex? Do you build it so it can't flex as much?

IF you could get builders and ALL people making the rules on the same page,,,,this could be cured with a design/material change.

[Lippy]

Alright Jerry, that will be quite enough of that kind of talk!! I say, make em front engine! C'mon, lets grow some cajones.

[Solid Rock]

Although I am not any kind of engineer, it sure seems to me that any time you are continually flexing any piece of metal, it will break sooner or later. I have always wondered why more top fuel cars don't break apart.
I've seen Bernsteins car hit the bump that used to be in RT66 and go from being arched up about 2 feet to just about touching the pavement, to being arched up again in a fraction of a second.
I also wonder how much these cars flex in the trailers, while in transport.
If they aren't secured properly, with some sort of cushion or something to limit the flex, this will further weaken the metal.
I remember, years ago, of hearing of someone who was building a dragster for, I believe, the Top Dragster class, where there was a slip joint in the top rail, where one tube slipped inside the other and it had a cable running through it to control the flex. I believe there was a pivot point with a heim joint in the bottom frame rail.
I don't know if anyone ever tried this or not.

I really believe that NHRA needs to do something, and soon, to address this problem before someone gets seriously injured or killed.

[jim sanders]

as history shows the sport is always finding the next weak link.the wings and the flex allow the car to stick which in turns allows more fuel to be burned which makes more torque which in turn makes for a quicker et which is the whole point in drag racing.they make rules to try to slow them down, such as nitro % , rev limiters etc. and the smart people figure out how to burn more gallons of 85% than they did at 95%. by getting the car stuck and loaded and the clutch locked sooner.keep it stuck and loaded and cylinders are not "put out" and a great et results until the rpm hit's the limiter setting and all hech breaks out !! Under the present situation i still think the distance should be shortened to 1000ft.Think of all the things that are happening to the car and the DRIVER when the engine just quits when the chassis is arched, the wings at the proper angle of attack,the rear tires are square, the g-forces being applied to the driver and then all that torque is gone in an instant when the motor shuts off!! Iwould like to see cameras set up all along the course with hi speed images perfectly aligned with the car straight on from the launch to the stripe and then some.frame by frame in slow-mo.then play it backwards too ! too much coffee this morning maybe, just some thoughts..

[WildcatOne]

Rock just talked about something that I have also thought about...a chassis that flexes without welds but will still retain structural unity under power...and his description would be a possible solution to this problem. Over the last 10 years, there hasn't been one single Top Fuel run that I've witnessed, either live, on TV or on audiocast, that I haven't held my breath and hoped to God that those cars would come through the run safely with the drivers in one piece at the other end. Ever since the Blaine Johnson tragedy at Indy in '96. Not all of them made it. It wasn't all to do with the chassis; some of the crashes were from various malfunctions...tire failure, engine explosions, stuff getting tangled, air getting under the front wings resulting in blowovers, the track being uneven in spots, etc. But as sickening as that crash was Friday night, some ideas are now being brought out that could help such as Rock's suggestion. The cars that broke apart under power recently have mostly had it happen at the point between the cockpit and the engine, which is where the most stress on the chassis occurs during a run. Last year the Sarge's car broke at that point and I have a lot of pictures of that same thing happening over the years of TF cars that break in the middle. Darrell Gwynn at Santa Pod. Jack Ostrander, Jim Head, and so on. If they could try one that has something at that point that would allow the chassis to flex out but not break at the breaking point and come back down...great point, Rock. WC1

[flyinhillbilly]

i was standing down by the finish line in memphis in 2001 when larry dixon's car broke in half at about 1000 ft, i dove under a ford truck, parts were flying everywhere, a front tire hit the fence about 20 ft from where i was standing and broke 7 posts off at the ground, lets not forget about the spectators, we can be killed too.