[DirtTrackTherapy16J]

So this will be somewhat of a long post, if you dont want to read it or comment, no problem.

Being at the age of 40, I missed alot of racing before my time and then again in the 2000s due to an injury before returning to racing in 2017, thanks to Funk and The O'Connor Family. Although equipment and technology has come a long way, things still happen that as a fan, you dont want to see in sports, including racing. I seen some injuries in football and wrestling while playing in high school that the image will never leave my head. Same with racing. I'm sure anyone who reads this can relate or have had some experiences themselves.

What I'm talking about today is 3 fire related incidents/crashes that I have seen since 2020 in Sprint Cars, one at Kokomo in 2020, one at GC in 2021, both of those being Live, the other this past weekend at Port Royal, possibly the worse one I have seen. I sometimes dont like mentioning names so I wont in this instance. In 2020 at Kokomo that driver was okay, this past weekend at PR, that driver is said to be okay. In 2021 that driver was not as fortunate, but has since made a recovery and even won a Feature at GC this summer, way to go 5!!

What I would like to say to this is 3 parts. First being other drivers. Kokomo and PR both, multiple drivers shut down, jumped out of their car, some even still moving, ran to the driver of the fire, helped pull them out, roll them on the ground, pat them out, do whatever they could to help!! For me, I will never forget things like that until the day I pass. THANK YOU and HUGE respect to all drivers that do that!! I believe most, if not all drivers would do this!! For me that says so much about THE PERSON...not everyone is a fan of every driver, including myself, but as a human being and a person that is a completely different story which is more important in life then a driver. Unfortunately at GC in 2021 I'm not sure anyone knew initially there was a fire as there were no flames and very little smoke and it appeared to be a broken car or spin out until it came to rest in turn 1 and the driver jumped out and started rolling on the ground. People including myself, was yelling for first responders to hustle and do more. I was wrong, they didnt know bc of no flame and very little smoke until it got worse, then they kicked it in high gear and did all they could to help the driver. That brings me to part 2.

Around here, most first responders at tracks are Volunteers. They dont get paid, yet they put not only their time, likely away from their family, but more importantly their life on line at times to help others. Again, I was frustrated last year at GC and felt helpless for the driver, and you could hear people making comments at PR in the video and then again online. I try fixing my mistakes so I've thought differently and I ask anyone to think of things in a more positive way toward first responders in today's world. Maybe they dont have the training to put out race car fuel fires, maybe they dont see it right away, maybe the extinguisher is wrong for that type of fire, who knows, I'm just an onlooker, not in the heat of the moment where their mind and body is racing trying to help nor can see the type of extinguisher or what their training is. For that, I say THANK YOU for trying and even being at a track on standby to help if needed.

Last part...I heard a person say that is why they dont like wings bc the driver was trapped in the car with the crushed wing on top of them at PR. We all have our favorites. Mine is nonwing for several reasons. I think most on here are nonwing. Some love wings. Some love stock cars. To me their all respectful race cars, regardless of preference including stock cars. However, something came to my mind, some on here may say I'm stupid, I'm dumb, I'm clueless, blah blah blah...I'm not around wings much so I dont know the answer...but is it possible in the future for there to be a safer way for a wing? Is it possible to have an escape door/hatch in the wing, where its pinned down under the wing, where the driver could easily reach the pins and push up and out, instead of being entrapped in a fire with a crushed wing? One of the worse feelings is seeing someone alert and knowing they have to get out, of any situation, but their trapped.

[Charles Nungester]

about five or six years ago when Rico went back west and ran more winged stuff. One of the Kaedings caught fire. Rico stopped about halfway down the front stretch ran all the way back to Kaeding in turn four and was pulling him out. I think Port's was handled well. They did have a foam truck although if that wing hadn't been knocked loose enough for him to push it up off the cage. IDK, He'd of probably been singed pretty good.

Things can happen at any track at any time. I've seen some big pit fires as well. Always be aware what safety equiptment is on hand and that they're trained for most situations.

Can't say enough for Bobby and Connor Gompf and crew, I've seen them at the scene before the car stopped flipping. All are trained, All have fire equiptment and the track always has two ambulances and a Foam Fire truck., Have sawsall and jaws of life too.

Stay safe ya'll.

[JMA1181]

Outlaws are requiring an onboard fire suppression system to be on all cars for the first event of 2023.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by JMA1181 Outlaws are requiring an onboard fire suppression system to be on all cars for the first event of 2023.

Folks,

While I appreciate the efforts of those who require/strongly suggest a fire suppression system for open wheel cars I am, and have been for some time, convinced that it is time for the fuel pump to be relocated out of the cockpit. I can think of no other vehicle, much less a race vehicle subject to horrific crashes, that allows a high pressure fuel pump, with aluminum fittings and light weight hoses, to be located in the cockpit between the driver's legs. I am so convinced of this that I specified a front drive for the fuel pump on the new oil pump I ordered from Barnes for my SC car. While I don't have the radiator clearance issue on my car (it is a laydown radiator) that will be argued about on a sprint car it seems to me that re-attaching the radiator would be more wise than waiting for a driver to be killed by fire because he couldn't get out of the car and away from the fuel source of the fire. It seems to me that we might be better served to be more pro-active than reactive on this point, especially since there is a wide variance in the capabilities of rescue crews around the country.

Tim Simmons

[Charles Nungester]

How about some kind of shutoff at the tank that shuts off if the flow is anywhere over max throttle flow, This would be on the fitting to the fuel line from the tank. say the flow is two oz a second at full throttle. if four oz per second start coming out, it shuts down at the source.. This of course does nothing if a bladder is punctured. but it's a fix for fuel line ruptures

[Moreland76]

Charles, you are absolutely right having Bobby Gomph and crew is always a positive at any show for me. Secondly all you volunteers thank you for all you do there is nothing predictable to what you might be facing that night. Appreciate you all , Lance Moreland

[jjones752]

Seems like an escape hatch in the wing would be problematic; first, the wing has a top and a bottom surface so a single hatch would probably not work. Then, I've never seen a wing retain its' shape in a crash (which is why it's in the way of escape in the first place) so it would probably be impossible to release the hatch due to all the deformed aluminum.
The biggest drawback from the racer's standpoint is that it would add weight (and very high up, too, increasing the C.G.) and possibly be difficult to design so it didn't disturb the aero, both non-starters for a team to even consider it.
Fuel pumps in the cockpit have always bothered me, and moving them to a safer location along with a fire supression system seems like the way to go along with wearing all the mandatory safety gear.