Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Donny Schatz described on his Facebook site about losing a RF torsion stop during hot laps at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton Saturday night.  The video shows a scary moment reminisent of Lefflers crash.

Is this happening far to much recently for it to be a coincidence?  Devices to help prevent it from happening is one thing, but shouldn't it be prudent to figure out why it's happening?

Glad he's OK.

The greatest knowledge is to know that you know nothing
at all.

*reminiscent

The greatest knowledge is to know that you know nothing
at all.

Simple solution.

REQUIRE steel torsion bar stops. 

Simple to tech.

The cars won't slow down even a little bit.

Jeff Holt

WOW--that was a violent, scary, heavy hit !!!!  I'm sure glad Donny was OK.  Please--every team needs to be sure they are using the safest, strongest parts available.

A simple query, not a judgement nor condemnation of anyone.  I am not attempting to cast doubt upon anyone's capabiity to manufacture nor am I attempting to harm a company's reputation.  However, is there a specific manufacturer for which the failures are most prevelant?  We do not need anymore deaths or serious injuries in the sport. 

This problem needs to be fixed. If the Outlaws change their rules to include a fix for this problem many other tracks and sanctioning bodies will follow suit. The cars are always going to have danger applied to them, but if there is a continuous problem that is causing accidents it needs to be fixed!

Ask Frank

I know this is during hotlaps so was not completely up to speed so imagine the same wreck at probably another 20 mph+ or on a larger track with cement retaining wall this wall buckles and moves in the video.   we would have lost another driver this is as scarry of a wreck as I have ever seen. I have known and been friends with donny and his family for 20 years and even worked on his cars for a time way back when and they have always strive to have the safest well maintained equipment imagine a car and driver with less than the best equipment around.   I am sick to my stomach after watching that wreck. hoping good comes out of this just another big wake up call something has to be done. glad you are ok donny

Does anyone know the cause of Justin Henderson's wreck at Knoxville this past Saturday night? I just caught it out of the corner of my eye, but it looked like the front end hooked right into the wall.

Ask Frank

This would not be happening nearly as much with steel torsion stops. 

they need to fix this before it hurts another driver. i also cant believe the size of the hole in the fence. seems to be a big one right in front of donnys car after it comes to a rest.

Wow.  Very fortunate.  Might as well take the weight rule away if this type of thing continues to happen anyway.

Luna's Ford engine style that won 2 WoO titles and 3 
Kings Royals before a weight rule against the best EVER
in their prime and now DOMINATES super dirt late model
racing is no longer allowed/wanted in a WoO sprint
car.... Was Luna a miracle worker?

Running steel will not solve the problem totally. Someone will come up with a quick easy fix this winter by the time they roll thru the trade shows.

how  much more carnage and injury do we need to wittness?  can't something be done?

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

There are safety devices available TODAY that help prevent torsion stops from coming off.  Anyone that is not using them is an _________ (you can fill in your own description here).

Justin Henderson's front axle broke going into turn 1 at Knoxville Saturday.

That was ugly...Glad the wall gave a bit there..Another 10-15+mph could have been worse...

Those safety devices were available for the nationals yet I saw very few have them on their cars.  Kyle Larson had them on his car but teammate Rico Abreu didn't.  It amazes me that the safety feature is out there with minimal cost, yet very few people see the need to use it.

www.ibracn.com
#PaulsToTheWall
GO SAMMY!

Agree. And then Sammy could make weight too.

Glad to see Donny is ok after this one. Looks like its a guardrail instead of an actual concrete wall. Outcome could have been way worse!

Real race cars don't have fenders...

Maybe someone with more advanced knowledge of chassis could answer these questions, but in a normal troubleshooting fashion I believe they should be asked, namely, what development over the past few years has caused this to happen? I've not been an ultra long-time fan of sprints but this seems like it's relatively new and I don't recall this happening outside of a two-year max bracket. If it has, I stand corrected. What change has been made to the front suspension that allows this to happen, or has no change happened but this is just a byproduct of something else that has changed (ie: more speed putting more force on that point of the suspension, something else on the chassis, etc.)?

Also, what are the major drawbacks to the retainers? It seems like a no-brainer to me but I have to think there's more than general stubborness in why more guys aren't using them. 

I believe Sammy would have had to had "several" of them in his pocket to make weight. P.S. Im a Sammy fan . Albeit a disgruntled one .

what i see as the biggest problem is that everyone is so concerned about weight that they have all gone to stops that do not have through pinch bolts with a nut on them anymore , they have aluminum stops or ti stops and the pinch bolt is just threaded into the bottom of the stop , when the pinch bolt went all the way through and had a nut on the bottom so that u could get torque on the bolt we almost never saw a stop come off . i think we need to go back to this before someone else gets killed , the insignificant amount of weight that a nut will add is well worth saving lives !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!