FLVA

Here is a very simple solution to making Nascar much much safer for the drivers -- in fact this would likely have prevented nearly all the driver deaths in all Nascar series in recent years. MOVE THE DRIVERS POSITION TO THE MIDDLE OF THE CAR!! Hey, these are all dedicated race cars that just look a little like a stock car. There is absolutely no rational reason to have the driver positioned at the left side of the car (so vulnerable to T-bone and wall slapping head injuries) except hidebound tradition. Hey there ain't no passengers, no passenger seats at all. Move the driver to the middle of the front, add lots more crash protection on both sides, and end driver deaths from head contact with the walls once and for all. No excuse not to except money and tradition , and the teams have plenty of money and tradition that kills drivers is really stupid. Frank van Alstine

IslOMan

<p>Lake Silver/Ebony 180FWD
Jamex Filter-Borla Exhaust-Garrett Stage2
17x8.5 Zender Monza Elegance-235/40x17 Yokohama AVS Sports
<img SRC="http://www.mint.net/~kentech/auditt/ttsig.jpg" BORDER=0>

John Force

I've been very fortunate to have been able to form some pretty close relationships with several members of top Winston Cup teams and have discussed, way too many times, the demise of Adam and Kenny. Their tragic deaths had little to do with the driver's placement in the car. I believe the only driver who died (recently) as a result of his head hitting the wall after a driver's side impact was Joe Nemecheck's brother in a Craftsman truck at Homestead. I believe Adam, Kenny, Neil, and way too many others had their tickets cancelled by, sorry I'm not a physician, by going from 150 mph to 0 in about 0 seconds. All sorts of bad things happen to the gray matter, spinal cord, and your internals when this happens. The design and construction of today's Winston Cup cars pretty much precludes the possibility of a driver's head contacting the wall during a driver's side wall impact and pretty much prevents any significant intrusion into the cockpit when the car is T-boned. Adam and Kenny would more than likely lost their lives regardless of where they were sitting. Wish I could remember the date... a month or so ago... Autoweek took a look at a harness/helmet device that seems to greatly enhance a driver's safety during those "sudden stop" impacts with fixed concrete objects.<p>J.R.S.
99.5 A4 1.8Q
87 Grand National
12.2 @111

John Force

<p>J.R.S.
99.5 A4 1.8Q
87 Grand National
12.2 @111

FLVA

I'm not so sure about that, its always driver side flat impacts that does it. Think again.

John Force

Think what you want dude... ignorance is bliss. You must be one incredibly happy fellow. One more time, I'll type real slow so you will get it, Adam and Kenny would have screwed the pooch if they were sitting in the trunk of their cars. Their heads did not hit the wall...<p>J.R.S.
99.5 A4 1.8Q
87 Grand National
12.2 @111

FLVA

Or, ever hear of crush space and lowered peak g forces? Hey dude I have been working races since b4 you were born, the nay-sayers always win till enough drivers die.

John Force

how old I am... or what my real-world automotive experience might be... Baskin Robbins makes all those flavors because everyone prefers something different. You prefer to believe what you have been fed by the media. For what it is worth I have a basic understanding of the dymamics involved when an automobile crashes into a fixed object. Been there done that. You can make Kenny and Adam the cornerstones for your argument however, why don't you get with some of the folks who actually worked the New Hampshire accidents... you might be surprised at what they tell you. One of them was a driver's side impact, one of them wasn't. Both of them took a life. Heaven (and quite possbily that warm spot) is full of drivers who's tickets were canceled because their cars (NASCAR, IMSA, SCCA, NHRA and on and on)just stopped too damn fast. There was a top fuel driver a few years back... he made a pass near 300 mph and couldn't shut the damn thing down. He hit the sand trap at the end of the track, still in warp drive. The car went from around 200 to 0 in about a second. The car didn't touch anything solid... just the sand that stopped it. He died a few days after the accident... Put down your Zymol, go to a Winston Cup race, get some credentials and take a close look at the cars. It is virtually impossible for a driver's head to impact anything solid outside of the car. You say you've worked a lot of races... where? The concession stand?<p>J.R.S.
99.5 A4 1.8Q
87 Grand National
12.2 @111

smallTTs

Everything you said is right on the money, and you explained it in easy to understand terms.

Remember that our world has some folks who's life motto is "My mind's made up; don't confuse me with facts." Fortunately very few of them head up professional racing organizations.

We think you'll not change FLVA's mind on this, but you insight is important to post.

Thanks!

FLVA

Well gee, I worked for SCCA at Road America for several years back when Roger Penske was driving the Zerex Specail, where Jim Hall and Hap Sharp showed up with the first sucker cars, and when Jim Jeffords had a birdcage Maserati. I was a corner worker back in the day before barracades and any safety stuff at all. I watched them pick Don Skogmo out of his Lola (both halves) after hitting the idiot unprotected pit barrior in the rain. My opionion, you racing redneck yahoos always think safety is good enough now till a buch more drivers get killed. Good luck jerk.