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

Saw on Dollansky's facebook page that he was limping getting out of the car last night... He must of had a wreck, cause I see he finished 19th... Any news?

Also I see the wild child is hurt... any news there? Here in Kentucky you dont see anything about the outlaws and it sucks! I miss the midwest!

The Crowd Pleaser IS THE BEST ever!

OMG! I hope he isn't hurt too. I don't want to see anyone hurt of course but with all the bad luck the 7 has had i would worry about his ride. And i have been debating on skipping Friday at I-55 to save a few $. If he is hurt then i for sure will.

What a bad year for injuries. I know it's grassroots racing but you would think the safety of the drivers would be higher these days.

I just read on his website that it was a drive-line failure.

It pains me to say this, but these guys are not that bright. They ought to speak with Don Garlits about what its like to have your foot sawn in half and all the fun he has had as a result of it. That was way before they knew better. I believe it was not too long after that incident that scatter shields became mandatory in drag racing. I understand the logistics and the tight confines in a sprint car but there has to be another way to protect yourself and the sanctioning bodies need to step up and mandate better protection. Because if left to their own devices, racers don't give it a second thought.

More rules that will do it

Sanctioning bodies are not in the car drivers are and they don't want the weight so they take the risk. No one says they can not have a guard

All chassis are built with a mandatory safety loop around the torque tube, there are also kevlar boots that can be placed around the torgue ball and housing, although I don't see many teams using them. I realize weight is a big issue but you can also use a steel drive shaft in lieu of the more popular titanium shafts that most team utilize. But the fact is no matter what material is used, they will break. I agree that teams are not taking as much precaution as they could be. Does anybody know if there is some type of boot or sleeve that can be placed around the torque tube?

and I hope you remember that when somebody holds out their hand looking for a donaton to support a racer that decided to not use the safety products that could have prevented the injury.

I don't understand how you got to that conclusion. I didn't say I wouldn't help them I just said I thought it was up to them to use it. I am not a mean person that does not care about the drivers But I do pay to watch them do what they do best (push it to the limit)and I think they should be able to police somethings themselves. The sport is ruled pretty heavy now.

I was recently at a WoO show and looking at many of the WoO teams they were using either the Butler Built or Stroud boot to go over the "bell housing". There are metal scatter shields also, but have heard where the shrapnel of the u-joint and cast magnesium bell housing went through a metal shield. I do not remember if Craig had a scatter shield on or not. The other alternative is to run a billet "bell housing" which King Racing Products makes. The billet aluminum housing doesn't shatter when a u-joint breaks, it contains the broken pieces that get whipped around.

Based on much of the discussion about people urging a change to make drive lines safer, a possible next step would be having a drive line tunnel in the cars. This would keep all parts of the drive line away from the driver. Possibly the u-joint slip yoke connection is no longer the answer for connecting the drive shaft to the engine. I have heard some chatter about looking at different ways to connect the drive shaft.

I know many of the smaller "clubs" in the open wheel ranks shy away from making safety rules being afraid of being held liable in case of a problem happening where that safety feature causes a different problem.

Just some thoughts on the situation.

shame they won't make it mandatory untill somebody loses a foot or becomes permanently disabled

Watching these cars on the limit, with guys that do it well is quite a spectacle. They can't perform from a hospital bed or a wheel chair. And even if they enclosed the driveline with something that may weigh 10 lbs. Is that really going to change the world?

Sprint cars, yes they are inherently dangerous. However known safety issues need to be addressed and remedied and corrective measures mandated, we're beyond the stone age now.

These drive line failures we hear about are on the upper level for the most part. These are likely the cars that have pretty rigorous maintenance schedules on them. The weekend warriors are probably more vulnerable.

As was posted & I've posted before... it's a shame something bad has to happen before something positive can happen.

Dale Earnhardt's crash totally changed Nascar from a safety perspective.

Do we really have to keep learning the hard way??????? Will it take losing one of our heroes or watching them get maimed/crippled to open some eyes? Man... if that's true we sure haven't advanced much in today's society.

Have there NOT been enough driveline failures lately to get serious about this?

It really gets old hearing the same tired excuses from "we've always done it this way" people. Who cares!!!!! You've always done it wrong and were lucky!!!!!!!

In the interest of driver safety... let's figure out a better way.

Chassis discussions happen among the manufacturers... can we talk about driveline security?

Don Garlits had a scatter shield years before the explosion that cut through the block and ultimately severed the car in half . Over the winter he created the first functional rear engine dragster.

Hmmm should the engine be put in the back and call it an indy car , just the facts please.

I'd bet my life, that my good friends in mechanical engineering could fabricate something that would prevent this, and it would weigh/cost very little in the scheme of race expenses. Not sure why a problem this primitive is even an issue anymore. I'm not saying the sanctioning body should be responsible, but as a driver I'd want that protection, and if I was ever a team owner, I'd want my driver (and investment in him) protected. I understand drivers want room, I am one in a different form of racing, but I don't see how you'd be taking more than a 1/2" of foot room away from these guys to build a shield that works.

Since i was at the Autodrome Drummond for the OUTLAW show, and i was able to see the inside of the car, i might as well fill you in on what exactly happenned inside the car.

The u-joint failed severely, it was wrapped with a kevlar blanket as an extra safety measure. But the u-joint failure was so severe that it tore of the torque tube assembly from the firewall, therefore hitting the driver on the ankle.

I beleive it is painfull but i also beleive he will be back in the car for the Oshweken show.

Even if you use some extra protection like he did, when a major failure occurs, the next weakest part in line lets go, that's what happenned in this case.

Sorry for my writting, i am a french canadian, so i do my best to write so you can understand the situation.

jake

Good job, Jake.

TSA...It's not a GROPE...it's a Freedom Pat!