[PJ Wright]

When I look at the picture Seadog posted at the beginning of this thread, I see 3 small lights that represent an attempt at improving safety. Apparently others see something that represents everything that's wrong with the world.

[HDINDY]

It's gonna be a long winter.

[illiNOISE]

Originally Posted by rpedersen20 Not sure why racing organizations got on board with the participation trophy deal. The organizations are afraid to send people home resulting in large and stupid amount of cars in all races. If tracks and organizations started 18 cars in a feature instead of 20-24 or even larger at some places because of provisionals the benefits could be threefold. First the money usually going to those cars can go thru the field. Second less confusion for fans trying to find out who's winning, and lastly less cars for leaders to run into lapping sometimes multiple times a race. Hell during sprint week they had 12 cars heat races taking the top four. I think some places feel guys won't keep coming back if they can't get laps, but thank god we have PARAGON.

What about scenarios where you have just one or two more entries over the cutoff point? And you're running at a track with a strict curfew? Or there's very eminent severe weather bearing down on the track's vicinity? Do you still insist on pushing off seven or eight cars to contest a B- Main that takes six to a feature that would likely now not happen?

I do think that drivers who get lapped more than twice should probably be expected to take the car pitside. (Oddball races like the Little 500, or races on tiny indoor tracks--think Ft. Wayne or Atlantic City--being exceptions.)

[RynoK1999]

Originally Posted by MiniSprint19 How long have neckbraces been out? How long the hans been out? It's pretty simple conclusion if you know anything at all! I mean how long have people been walking away from the nasty crashes with the neck brace and and waking away alot longer then they have been walking away with a hans! The hans has saved lives to but not nearly as many as the neckbrace!

Delete your account

[ModernDayDrifter]

Originally Posted by RynoK1999 Delete your account

Post of the year candidate!

[Jack Dupp]

This is going so well that we may as well add a little fuel to the fire. Another announcement at the USAC Night of Champions Banquet is that the USAC giant semi truck hauler is being retired. Replacing it will be a mobile media truck to provide real time internet coverage of events. ...And discuss...

[darnall]

Originally Posted by on_the_edge Just like a photographers camera flashes, or fans standing at the fence, racers block out those distractions and focus on driving. USAC is trying something to improve safety which all of the nay sayers on this thread were crying for 4 months ago. . It is a safety innovation that everyone should embrace and atleast give it a try before coming up with all this speculation about how it's not going to work. Small step or not, a step is a step in the right direction to improve the safety for the drivers. Like I said no one has even seen it in action so not sure how you know it's not going to work.

Thank you sir... boggles my mind how so many people who have never even drove a sprint car during wheel packing can have so much knowledge about how something is going to affect a driver.

As a driver with nearly 35 years worth of some sort of open wheel race DRIVING experience (very off and on due to budget) I am all for something of this nature. When you are running an open wheel car right at the edge you get extreme tunnel vision.. on a fairly open track (10-20 carlength gap ahead) you are primarily focused on hitting your marks perfectly while also scanning as far ahead as possible to see any cars wrecking, spinning, slowing, or driving erratically, as well as identifying color/number of cars ahead and trying to pick up on lines your next target is using and where you are gaining/losing time on him.. instinctively, unconsciously, you tune your peripheral vision to identify any large object moving from the infield toward the track, or from outside the surface back in. between the apex of 3-4 and exit of turn 4 you take a millisecond to glance at the flagstand, and again once you are off turn 4, At every corner exit and middle of each straight you catch a glance of the green/yellow lights at the end of the straights and once every lap or so a quick glance at the guages... and you are constantly looking at the condition of any line you are not currently using... looking for the deep color of moisture, the shine of a polished off slick spot, or the dark gunmetal color of rubber laying in a spot... most likely you have to fiddle with your helmet once a lap to pull a tearoff or crack the shield to clear fog. Any cockpit adjusters you have are getting touched occasionally and hundreds of other things need done with your senses......And this is all on an OPEN track... add heavy traffic or a tight battle with one car and you would not freakin believe how much more focus gets put into that..while still seeing/noticing most everything else I listed.

Anybody who actually just read the previous paragraph spent over two minutes doing it... on a cowboy up bullring you have 9-10 seconds to accomplish all of this once..but you have to do it 20-50 times.. on a fast half mile you get nearly twice as much time to do it, but the speed increases the closing rate so much that you have to drastically expand your field of vision and put much more focus on any car possibly slowing, getting out of shape, etc..

did I mention you have huge seat attachments on both sides of your head, which is locked in place pointed forward by your HNR, you have a 1/8 inch piece of warped lexan 2 inches in front of your dust filled eyes and another 5-20 layers of film and various hunks of dirt stacked on it...20 inches ahead of that a big grid of thick wire similar to the side of a shopping cart completely covers the 2 square feet of window space you have to see all this stuff thru in an environment full of dark spots, glare, dust, smoke, etc.

Regardless of where you are on the track and what the situation is one thing remains constant... you are paying attention to any car in your field of vision.

I can not think of a better place to put some sort of warning light if you want me to see is ASAP!!!!!

What about on the dash?? couldn't hurt, but more than once all of us have been locked in a wheel to wheel battle centimeters apart and gone 3-30 laps without ever ever taking a peek at the dash... and a light bright enough to catch my attention inside my cockpit could very well cast glare between my eyes and danger for the millisecond it takes my pupils to adjust.

Is the prototype too big??? HE11 NO!!!!! I never notice a photographers flash bulb popping like a roman candle 10 feet away or 300 feet away..some of those things are like a 10 inch diameter ball of lightning...

Will the glare be a problem??...SERIOUSLY!!! a 3 inch yellow or red LED in an open space won't produce enough glare to hide a golfball.

I only see a couple things on the prototype that I would address...

1) make sure they are ridiculously bright.... insanely bright. I don't want to see a reflection off the side of a well polished car and think it may be the light coming on.

2) maybe a minor positioning change... any time I am in a tight battle with a car it seems that I spend way more time seeing the left side of the sail panels than the back of the cage.. position so they are visible from that angle and it's perfect..


Sure other things are in use to notify me of trouble... racecievers are an AMAZING tool but far far from bulletproof.... at least 20% of the field either isn't using one or it isn't working properly.. sometimes they are hard to hear under green... some places/series I have run have an expert on the mic...the guy talking in my helmet at the chilibowl is the best in the biz at giving clear concise timely info and nothing else.. other places either never say a word or have some guy babbling like a meth head with a good idea.

Most everywhere I go race I have to rent or buy a transponder. I had to buy my transponder pouch or mounting bracket for different models. I had to buy and maintain my raceciever, headphones, head&neck restraint and full containment seat. Even if I only get to jump in somebodies car once or twice in a year or two the seatbelts I bought and keep clean and stored indoors, with sometimes no more than 40 laps on them, are worthless if the date on the tag is 2 years and one month old so I get to buy a new set or pay to have mine rewebbed. If I do get the opportunity and means to own another sprintcar some day and wish to draw a pill with one of the midlevel-major sanctioning bodies I will have to spend untold amounts of money on whatever suspension/ axle/ wheel/ fueltank/ nerfbar tether system has been deemed the latest greatest safest way to keep all that debris close enough to my car that it can smack me in the head a few times once I hit something.....

And you guys are telling me this will be a system owned, operated, maintained and fine tuned by a sanctioning body and not me??????

SIGN ME UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the life of me I can not imagine how anybody who has ever taken a green flag in a pack could be against this.

Oh yeah...just thought of one more draw`back... probably zero chance of USAC having 24-100 of these made and useable before Knepper55 hotlaps fire off at DuQuoin tomorrow.

[darnall]

One more thing... as for the green light being on constantly to identify the leader/top 3.....I can go either way on that... sure it could be a bit of a distraction but if the brightness was toned down on green as compared to the warning colors it would be something you probably only notice if you are looking for it....

If I am in 2nd hounding the leader I would very much appreciate if the guy we just lapped knows we are the top 2 so he doesn't hit me with an insanely impossible to execute car crunching slide for life thinking hes going to wrestle 17th place and the extra 20 bucks from me.

[jjones752]

To say "Well said" would be a monumental understatement; thank you for abso-freaking nailing it...

[TQ29m]

What Jim just said, and where did you find that 39cent word? 😂 Bob