Just curious, but what is the standing, rule, opinon, safety factor, if you will, of adding a tube across the halo, or a tube, and a couple of ones from the back of the halo, to the one added across the halo. Seems to me, I've seen several of these, and I know that more than a few serious injuries are caused by another car, sprint, midget, whatever, open cockpit race car, getting in the cage when the car is on it's side, or has another car go over it, and drop a wheel or other part, and the driver is hit, just wondering what the rules are from the sprint, midget, mini-sprint contigent, on this addition to the top of the cage. To those that have this added tubing, do you feel it is a hinderance, as far as getting in and out of the car, and do you feel better, or worse, knowing you have this added protection, I understand the added difficulty of getting a backboard in, but maybe it would lessen the need for one. Thanks! Bob!

Good idea Bob, but I have one problem with it. If a car is on fire, it sure makes it hard to pull the driver out of the car. I've been involved with that on more than one occasion. If that bar was across the top the driver wouldn't have been able to get helped at all.

Maybe I should clarify what I've seen, it is almost directly above the driver, probably not more that 8-10 inches of the halo is involved, and that is all in the back, yes, you would have to bend a bit to get past it, but most drivers put their butts in first, and then the top, arms, shoulders and etc. I was hoping someone who had one that way, could help out on this, it isn't new by any means, just wanted some input. Thanks! Bob!

The concern I have about the hoops is load distribution in a crash....when a regular cage hits the ground the force is spread through 3sq feet or so..when that hoop hits the ground the same amount of force hits the points the hoop is attached to the cage...2 square inches on each bar that runs forward & backward beside the drivers head...usually in a spot thats almost halfway between and support from below which is the weakest spot on the cage....

Those hoops look to me like they would make a cage more likely to collapse, cave in, or have tubes torn out.....On my midget I felt like I needed more room from the top of my head to the top of the cage so instead of a hoop I built another halo....all 4 sides..that matched the size and shape of the top of the cage...I used 10 spuds that were 2 inches long and fishmouthed to attach my new upper halo to the existing halo.....now any load is still spread across the entire cage instead of jammed into a small area....

If I have a decent pic i will post it...

Yes, it's a bit ugly.... I call it "The Luggage Rack on the Family Truckster" ... but rollbar padding conceals it enough that it doesn't look stupid from the grandstands... and I feel much safer.... a person could do the same thing but make the opening a few inches smaller each direction and accomplish the same thing as the hoop does.

Darnall, I appreciate your thoughts, and understand your concerns about it maybe making it weaker actually, and have also added the extra "halo" as you mention, my concern is as I stated, someway to keep another car, or parts of a car, from entering the cage from the top, and zapping the driver, I've seen some pretty nasty "in cage" crashes, but don't always get the results, the one's I've seen didn't acyually raise the cage that much, maybe 2", but they were also supported by 2 pcs, with a slight bend in them, that came forward from the rear of the halo, and as much as anything, helped support the cross piece, not so much to support that whole thing, but help deflect any intrusion into the drivers head. I see your points, but was looking for some input, from someone who had ran a car, with one installed, ya know the driver is pretty vulnerable, he couldn't duck if he had to, even if he saw it coming, maybe not having any bends in the tubes would be better, that way it wouldn't contact whatever first, and still protect the driver. I think the extended rail on the left side, is a big improvement, I've had my helmet and tires meet, and my shoulder bashed a time or two, and that wasn't total contact racing either, just "happens". Just fishin! Bob!

---------- Post added at 1:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 1:00 PM ----------

Jimmie, when can we expect to see your new trailer, or don't you have the locks on the doors to all the rooms yet? Keep on, keepin on! Bob!

Bob I have also been thinking about this for a long time. The best thing about a wing is all the energy it eats up in case of a flip. I used to call our's or $500.00 crush proof box. When a car flipped and landed on it's wing there wasn't much action left in the flip because the wing used it all up. Since we 1000 cc sprints or midgets are starting to experement without our trainer wings on I have been getting a little more concerned about things.

I kinda of like the idea of a 4 or 5 inch tall aluminum box with internal ribs for support mounted to the cage and hinged in front, it could be shaped to follow the contour of the frame and not add too much weight to the car but it would absorb a lot of the impact and help take the violent bounces out of a flip it would also help keep other cars out of the cockpit. If a wing shop would build one I would sure buy one.

Honest Dad himself

Wings suck for any reason. Man if you need wings to feel safe, your in the wrong sport. The less crap on our cars the better. I'm sorry if that came across as a little blunt. That being said, thinking like that, as in sprintcars are safer with wings is one of the main reasons that theres no nonwinged minisprint racing around here. The insurance companys wont cover weekly nonwinged 1000cc cars. This isnt second hand info i got it right from a few promoters mouths. Halo, no halo whatever works for you, but I hate people messing with the perfect racecar. Wings do nothing but promote follow the leader racing, where high dollar motors and a endless supply of tires and driveline parts are required.

If you all want to see a good halo design on a cage, dig up pictures on Charlie Fisher's last sprint car he built. The top and sides were built so that a wheel could not come through the opening. I believe there was a write up on it in Open Wheel.

BEST DAM QUOTE I'VE SEEN IN A WHILE!!!...wtg backitin