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

I've seen Triple X's new drive line restraint and also Butlerbuilts new front axle tether.  I understand some series and tracks are putting new rules in place to require some of these things.  Could we get some info from people who know what these rules are going to be?  Also can we get info on what testing was done to come up with these new products and requirements?  I'm sure there are many like myself who like to know.  Thanks.

Knoxville, Butlerbuilt and the local teams worked together on the axle tether after 3 or 4 incidents where the axle was thrown from the car into the infield (one hit a safety worker 2 years ago), and another was launched over the frontstretch fence onto the concrete (luckily, this was during a local show and only 3500 people or so were there, if it happened during Nationals, odds are that a spectator or 2 would have gotten seriously injured or killed).

The driveline restraint appears to me to be a new iteration of the hoop that most chassis builders already use (it works okay if the driveline stays in tact, but if it breaks  in front of the hoop, a driver can still get seriously injured (the XXX design seems to be an improvement over the current design, but IMO, more work needs to be done (and not just for sprints, open wheel (IMCA) modifieds need something done too or a driver is going to lose an arm one of these days.

contact John McCoy @ Knoxville about the tether, the annouced the rule @ their banquet, I'd imagine the WoO rule is bascially the same

[email protected]

Does anyone have pictures of the proposed tether?

It's not proposed, it's MANDATORY @ Knoxville and all WoO shows starting in 2014.  THe KRCO is purchasing the tether for al the local teams that finished in the point standings in 2013 (75% attendance makes a team eligible for the points), so the local teams aren't out any $$$ to purchase it to start the season.

I'd imagine Butlerbuilt has photos, not sure if anyone else would.

So whats everyone going to say when the parts and pieces are flying around hooked to the car during a wild flip and pounding the driver all up or much worse killing them? What happens when a driver is made to run a certain seat that he is not comfortable with and ends up getting hurt in a mandatory seat,do they come back on that organization because they made these rules (tethers,seats) mandatory? just asking

new WoO rules regarding tethers, seats, etc,

http://www.woosprint.com/images/stories/MainImages/PDF/2014RulesBulletin1.pdf

The tether I have seen doesn't have enough  slack in it to allow the axle to get to the driver.

Not much different than the tether rule they added for the drag link after Kevin Gobrecht's passing.  The tether actually helps keep the part away from the cockpit.

The seats are seatbelts have to meet certain SFI specifications (thi is an industry standard), all they are really doing is mandating that the meet a minimum criteria, there are still seats that meet higher specifications available.  Same goes for Helmets, fire suits, etc..

You can not endanger fans at race tracks period.  Think about what you said.  The front axel with out a tether could also bounce down the track and hit another car in roll cage.  Man can adapt to about anything.  Once you drive with a safety seat a few times you will not want to drive without one.  You will notice that the safety seat was not required as of yet but most sprint car drivers use them.

So where can we find info on the testing of the tethers & how the results were? Or is it just a case of,we think this will work so let's just make it mandatory & see what happens?  

Just for the record tho,someone take a tape measure & measure from where the tether mounts to the chassis & run the tape to where it mounts to the axle,then keep going out to the right front wheel, now take that total measurement & run it back from the mounting point on the chassis to the cockpit. How is this not going to act like a Medievil Flail at the driver when he is flipping?

Do you run a winged Sprint Car?  Why are we not worried about all the wing tree components that can harpoon a driver while flipping?  This stuff is located 8" from their skull...we're more worried about front axles that are 4 feet away?

do it in the dirt

I have been a part of sprint car racing since I was 12 and have been around and involved with these things for 28 years. I haved crewed and owned. I have seen some fairly serious injuries in sprint car racing throughout that timespan including family and friends! All the guys I have known that got hurt knew the exact risks they were taking straping into one of these beasts! None had regrets... It would seem lately we almost have liberal mindset regarding nascar type rules in the sport.. Some of the art of the sport has been lost due to a lack of respect towards the cars nowdays.. Drivers are driving with no respect for the equipment because they are feeling more and more "bulletproof" due to many of the safety improvements.. There have been alot of improvements that were neccessary and lately it seems like we are starting to get some rules that seem a little quick and manufacturers already have the product to sell the next week after something happened... Just a quick observation..  Now as for axle teathers, I have seen many get launched off a car.. I would also be one to think it could be quite dangerous to keep that thing flailing around on the car through a wicked crash and put the driver at more risk than neccessary.. Time will tell with this one..

NHRA started doin it this way,now only multi millionaires can race there.

You would have to be a Freaking Idiot not to think that an axle teather is anything but a good idea for everyone and as usual it's Knoxville Raceway leading the way.  I'll pay for anything that makes the car, driver and fans safer.  In my opinion the axle being teatherd to the car in a wild flip won't get near the driver. Someone made a point about wing stands and there is some merit in that but I don't know how to fix that, there is a thing called non - wing racing though. 

k

and don't forget the entirel wheel assembly wheel, tire, rotor, brake, part of axle, etc that flew off the car at the flag stand and landed in the back row of Dingus parking lot hitting a car during a weekly Knoxville show..

Fact is you cannot bubble wrap life. Tethers on indy car and nascar are a way different deal as when they wreck they mostly slide down the straight.Racing is never going to be safe. All the air bags and advertised crush zones in modern cars have only served to give drivers a false sense of security to drive without regard. We can't have grass in playgrounds,no snow hills for kids,no dodgeball and the list goes on and on. Life is dangerous,living it more so. These rules always start out as good intentions that mostly benefit manufacture's with the latest greatest must have that fades out to a shop corner when the next comes by.  The ascs engine rule started out to even things out look where that has gone.

Kind of like better seat harnesses, better seats, better helmets, neck restraints, wings, roll cages.... you're right it's mostly for the manufacture's benefit. 
Some manufacturer will benefit yes, but anything that potentially makes the race, driver, fans safer can't be a bad thing. 

Keep It Real

Didn't say a thing about helmets and such did I ? Typical , always go way off point. We have great helmets,seats,torsion bar retainers on our cars, belts etc. Have went to the nth degree to learn how to mount em right.  I am all for safety, I just see the direction this all goes and it runs people out of the sport.

call up Butlerbuilt and price a tether.  Are they going to get rich off of these? No.  They will not bankrupt anyone.  I am old enough to remember when seat belts and roll bars were a  stupid idea.  Auto hiway deaths are down in every state.  In Iowa they are down by about 200 deaths a year.  What does ASCS engine rules  got to do with safety?