Question about Drag Strip Safety in light of the death of Scott Coletta

[K-80-123]

First and foremost my thoughts and prayers go to Scott's family and friends it is a terrible loss to them and all the drag racing fans.

At the end of the strip there is a sand pit and concrete wall with a catch fence....could this be safer?

Would this configuration at the end of the strip make a difference in accident survivability?

1. Lengthen the sand pit 500 feet
2. Place the catch fence at the end of the sand pit.
3. Place those large yellow highway water and or sand barrels 7-10 deep.
4. Behind the water and or sand barrels place a safer barrier made of foam attached to a concrete wall.

Here is a you-tube vid of a NASCAR crash at Texas Motor Speedway where the driver walked away.....in this vid he hits the wall at about 180mph.

YouTube - Michael Mcdowell - Hard Crash at Texas...

It seems that the crash that killed Scott Kalitta when the car hits the end of the sand pit and catch fence it hit with such force into a concrete wall that the ability to survive is very limited.....is there a way to dissipate this energy to make it more likely for a driver to survive a crash like that?

[1fast400]

I don't think it would have mattered in his case, regardless of what was done at the end of the track. As I posted in another thread, I'm pretty sure there is a road that crosses the end of that track, which is why the barriers are abnormally close. Generally the sandpits are pretty large. Look at 2 weeks ago when Shawn Gann went off the end of the track and into the sand pit. That sand pit was quite a bit larger.

I think the biggest problem in this wreck was Scott was likely knocked out upon the explosion. Going 300mph you're going roughly 450 ft/sec. If you had an additional 1000' of shutdown, he would have covered it in 2 seconds with little deacceleration. I'm not sure there is a safe way to slow someone down from that type of speed when the driver can't make an effort to slow the car down (i.e. braking/driving).

I'm not saying things shouldn't be improved, because it's obvious they should be. I think the first thing is to start slowing down the cars. I will be very interested in what NHRA's response to all of this will be.

[AJRacing]

Originally Posted by 1fast400

I don't think it would have mattered in his case, regardless of what was done at the end of the track. As I posted in another thread, I'm pretty sure there is a road that crosses the end of that track, which is why the barriers are abnormally close. Generally the sandpits are pretty large. Look at 2 weeks ago when Shawn Gann went off the end of the track and into the sand pit. That sand pit was quite a bit larger.

I think the biggest problem in this wreck was Scott was likely knocked out upon the explosion. Going 300mph you're going roughly 450 ft/sec. If you had an additional 1000' of shutdown, he would have covered it in 2 seconds with little deacceleration. I'm not sure there is a safe way to slow someone down from that type of speed when the driver can't make an effort to slow the car down (i.e. braking/driving).

I'm not saying things shouldn't be improved, because it's obvious they should be. I think the first thing is to start slowing down the cars. I will be very interested in what NHRA's response to all of this will be.

I agree with all of that. Slowing them down is something I don't think we'll see. It's the most logical thing but the sport is all about who can go faster.

I Live pretty close to Kalitta's operation and it's a tragedy what happened but I think that with any car going under 5 seconds in the quarter, this is a distinct possibilty. I love racing and I don't want to sound cold hearted but if you drag race a funny car for a living, you have to accept that this could be the outcome on any run. That's half of what makes some of these guys so spectacular.

R.I.P.

[1fast400]

There is something specific to this wreck some haven't thought about. He blew the body off. Once that body went off, there was no downforce on that car. That's why it looks as if it speeds up after it explodes. The sand trip, regardless of length, wouldn't have made a difference. Without downforce, he was going to simply "fly" over top of it.

I spoke with my brother this morning. He had 5 voicemails on his answering machine last night as he was out to dinner. He goes up to look at the car tomorrow. I can't comment about anything I'm told, I don't want my brother to get into any trouble. I'm not even sure if he could get in trouble, but don't want to take any chances. As soon as I'm clear to give info, I will. He did tell me the recording box survived and that they'll have a lot of info to look at.

[Jerome]

Originally Posted by 1fast400

There is something specific to this wreck some haven't thought about. He blew the body off. Once that body went off, there was no downforce on that car. That's why it looks as if it speeds up after it explodes. The sand trip, regardless of length, wouldn't have made a difference. Without downforce, he was going to simply "fly" over top of it.

I spoke with my brother this morning. He had 5 voicemails on his answering machine last night as he was out to dinner. He goes up to look at the car tomorrow. I can't comment about anything I'm told, I don't want my brother to get into any trouble. I'm not even sure if he could get in trouble, but don't want to take any chances. As soon as I'm clear to give info, I will. He did tell me the recording box survived and that they'll have a lot of info to look at.

Notice what I highlighted in bold above?

Watch the video, not on YouBoob either. I mean on a decent TV with decent sound.

Hear the engine slow down? I hear the blower, or more specifically the whine from the belt slow down.

The car was slowing, and many have commented on this fact. It has been "told" he was going 200mph or less on impact.

[K-80-123]

Originally Posted by 1fast400

There is something specific to this wreck some haven't thought about. He blew the body off. Once that body went off, there was no downforce on that car. That's why it looks as if it speeds up after it explodes. The sand trip, regardless of length, wouldn't have made a difference. Without downforce, he was going to simply "fly" over top of it.

I spoke with my brother this morning. He had 5 voicemails on his answering machine last night as he was out to dinner. He goes up to look at the car tomorrow. I can't comment about anything I'm told, I don't want my brother to get into any trouble. I'm not even sure if he could get in trouble, but don't want to take any chances. As soon as I'm clear to give info, I will. He did tell me the recording box survived and that they'll have a lot of info to look at.

Mike, is still seems to me that something can be done to safely dissipate the energy of the car and give the driver a better chance to live when this happens again.