When to get off the gas

[Daddyfink]

Both of these morons fail!

http://youtu.be/Uud7rcwhI5U

[JunkPile]

Gas 'til you see God, then brake.....or not

[Ace-Garageguy]

I'm kinda curious how the driver of the poor little '55 ended up with his legs out the windshield.

Is there some new safety system here I don't know about? Harness bolted down with un-graded hardware-store bolts, in sheetmetal? No harness at all?

Maybe it's the old theory that being thrown from the car is safer?

Man...guy coulda had his legs cut clean off when it rolled.

[TFchronos]

Yeah he's one lucky guy being able to walk away from that one. I think World News said he didn't have the harness bolted down properly.

[kalbert]

Pretty car, lots of money in that one. Shame they spent so little on safety and followig the rules. Looks like a bench seat and a lap belt if that? The guy and his car were better suited to sitting in the show car area looking good.

[Greg Myers]

That's what I heard on the local news, Lap belt , and get this; "In his WIFE'S car."

[espo]

I'm not up on the safety requirements in drag racing any more. But I would think if you are in a class that requires a roll bar you would also need to have a 5point belt. I think the Camaro driver should have shut it down if he's that far out of shape. Not sure what caused the '55 to lose it, but he has got to be one of the luckiest people to walk away from that one.

[Greg Myers]

Luckier ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgaZzastKM0

[Draggon]

I thought he had dropped a deuce by how he was walking until I replayed and saw his legs. Thats some scary stuff.

I was at Baylands when that primer 55 crashed, Greg. I was on the pit side near the lights and really did think he was dead. There was a very eery silence after the car stopped rolling.

Edited September 26, 2014 by Draggon

[kalbert]

I think the Camaro driver should have shut it down if he's that far out of shape. Not sure what caused the '55 to lose it, but he has got to be one of the luckiest people to walk away from that one.

Kinda looked like the 55 just floated away from him. There's no aero on that shoe box to hold it down. When he got some speed it got light, and when he tried to (over)correct it got away. Camaro guy looks like he didnt hook and never gave it a chance to.

Edited September 27, 2014 by kalbert

[Daddyfink]

I used to see some really dumb things and even dumber drivers back when I used to work at the local track.

Seat belts older than the car, no return springs, No overflow cans, no helmets, a guy wearing a batting helmet, and it was a Yankees one if you really must know,

Roll bar made out of PVC, bungee cords holding down the battery, hood, driver. Zip tied body parts, fuel tank made out of an old cast iron pipe and rolling loose in the trunk. And many more!

But the biggest problem where the new drivers that did not know when to lift. Some thought they were Willy Borsch and tried driving it through only to pinstripe their car and the K-Rail!

Some cars where great for cruising but lousy for racing. Poorly setup suspensions, tires that could not handle the power and engines that only looked fast but blew up at the hit! Lots of busted universal joints!

Glad the guy lived to tell the tale.

[slusher]

Kinda looked like the 55 just floated away from him. There's no aero on that shoe box to hold it down. When he got some speed it got light, and when he tried to (over)correct it got away. Camaro guy looks like he didnt hook and never gave it a chance to.

I agree it looked like the 55 got light and floated or lifted. I thought the Camaro was gone a couple times. Dale Earnhardt said if you get all the way out of the throttle you will wreck, you need enough throttle to keep it moving forward. Makes sense but this was drag racing. You really should back off on the first sign of breaking loose..

Edited September 27, 2014 by slusher

[Ace-Garageguy]

I really have to say that any COMPETENT tech inspection, if there WAS a tech inspection prior to letting these guys race, would have caught the inadequate belt / harness attachment that allowed the '55 driver to be ejected from the car.

Second, the '55 started its roll when it "tripped" on its own sticky rear tires...tires NOT designed to go sideways, a problem compounded by a high center of gravity, all initiated by its driver's over-correction. This is an excellent illustration of the reason that cars designed to handle cornering, like road-racers, are built as low to the ground as possible.

Third, the '55 appeared to have directional-stability problems even during the pre-race burnout. This could be from poorly-setup or loose rear suspension linkage, which wouldn't be surprising considering how poorly the belts / harness must have been installed.

Edited September 30, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy