[65 Push Truck]

Originally Posted by 4wheelsinthekoosh DRC's have been built the same way since there first car in 03' 04'. It's not about weight bob. Atleast the most important front and rear cage uprights at .095. Can't say that about some of the others.

So you are saying no DRC has been checked by USAC or any other sanctioning body and found out of spec for standards set forth by rules regarding wall thickness? Or has USAC never checked wall thickness?

[Charles Nungester]

I didn't take Rob's post as complaining other than to say a rule that a team got caught not following in another division is no longer a rule.

He also said his old chassis held up well with the slightly lighter tubing.

Yeah, I see USAC's delima mid season. Suddenly you have to tell almost half of Indiana sprints they can no longer race. No brainer. Still isn't right the rule wasn't enforced to begin with.

[DRC II]

It seems like nobody except Rob Hoffman knows when the World of Outlaw's Rules were inserted in the USAC Rule Book. No one now in the USAC office were aware of the rule change. No one that used to work there will own up to changing the rules. No one on the Sprint Competition Committee were aware of any discussion or possible rule change. No one on the sprint tech crew were aware of any rule change that they needed to check. No manufacturers were ever notified of any rule change. There was no date specified when this rule would be required on any new construction and there was no provision for grandfathering the over 200 sprint cars currently competing.

There has never been any incident where safety concerns might prompt a change. In my opinion and experience it is much more important to have a .095 front upright for the roll cage than a .095 bottom rail on non wing cars.

In the end this was just a mistake by someone in the USAC office who thought they were doing the right thing by blindly adopting the WOO Rules and not being aware of what was happening in the series they were getting paid to supervise.

Mike Devin

[4wheelsinthekoosh]

Not just DRC's. There is a hell of a lot of cars out there that do not follow the rules or the rules that appear out of nowhere. Every year usac would publish a rule book do they still? If they do when was the rule changed. And for you car owners out there, has USAC checked your car this year or any year?? I am betting is a big No. You would think that this would have been brought up at the comp meetings. I mean the car builder in question does go to thoses. He does ask questions. Hell he goes to lengths to make sure his cars are safer. Have you seen the cockpits and cages on his sprint cars and expecially his crown cars. He almost refused to sell me a car cause I didn't want an arm bar on the left side. The uprights are made of thicker wall tubing than what is "suggested" for the main reason of just pure driver safety. So why the ball busting over a car that is not woo legal i didnt know usac took the woo rulebook and "copy and pasted it". The car that won the championship and 14 usac races last year has .095 bottom rails. It's not like .083 is that huge advantage. If usac says .083 is okay for a motor plate upright it's damn sure good enough for a bottom rail. While my time at beast I did learn alot and I also saw rules made to fit cars and bodys not the other way around. No one has noticed a difference for 13 years now are we just supposed to make 13 years of cars illegal. Not going to happen. If you want to run a Woo race let Joe know I'm sure it will fit the rulebook of whatever series you want to run.

[4wheelsinthekoosh]

Well Mike beat me to it. Hahahaha

[Panama]

A. All cars must have a roll cage, which is integral with the frame anddoes not encroach upon an imaginary cylinder, 20 inches in diameter, extending through the top cockpit opening directly above the seat. The roll cage should extend four (4) inches above the driver’s helmet when seated in the driving position.

How many cars ran Gas City last night that couldn't pass this rule if checked?
"does not encroach upon an imaginary cylinder, 20 inches in diameter, extending through the top cockpit opening directly above the seat"

I looked at the pictures I shot at Bloomington's USAC race, and I have pictures of 7 cars that ran the Bloomington show, that could not pass this rule if enforced to the letter.

I don't get it.

[jaythorne]

Might be a good idea to just read the rulebook once in a while.... Pretty clear to me..

[Panama]

Originally Posted by jaythorne Might be a good idea to just read the rulebook once in a while.... Pretty clear to me..

Nice reply from a 7 post genius.

I was looking for a clarification from somebody with USAC, on what appears to be a new rule (since the original post from USAC says, "Date Effective: May 19, 2016") that basically seems to outlaw HALO bars. Below, is why I ask for clarification.

And since we are coming up on the Josh Burton Memorial this Friday at Bloomington Speedway, it's probably a good time to repost this too.

Here is an article I wrote at the request of Darlene Burton, Josh Burton's mother. It was published in Flat Out magazine’s 2015 February issue.

It is a plea for HALO bars, from a mother.
__________________________________________________ ______________

Those of us that have lost loved ones inevitably ask ourselves the same question, “could I have done anything to prevent it”.

The answer to that question is a resounding and emphatic, NO, at least 99.999% of the time!

Sadly, in our sport that seems to be how we learn the short comings of our designs, and also, how to improve them.
It is the same at every level in racing including Indy, NASCAR, World of Outlaw’s, USAC and every in racing sanction of every type.

I will not try and cite every example where safety improvements were made following a fatal accident.
However, the most of the widely known examples that instantly come to mind are probably, Dale Earnhardt Sr and Dan Wheldon.Seemingly and sadly, it takes a tragic loss in far too many cases to show us how and where we can improve on safety.

Which brings me to a recent phone call I received from Darlene Burton.Darlene is a dear friend, and the proud mother of Josh Burton.

Josh was lost in what can only be described as a tragic freak accident in May of 2013 at Bloomington Speedway.Since Josh’s death, Darlene has taken it upon herself, to attempt to try and help prevent another mother from having to go through the same heartbreaking loss of a child that she has endured for the past year and a half, and will endure forever.
Something that only those that have suffered this type of loss, can even begin to understand.

Josh’s accident in all honesty, just did not look to be any worse than your average sprint car flip. But the chain of events of his accident would prove to be fatal for Josh.
All because, as Josh’s car flipped, it rolled over on it’s side, exposing the top of his roll cage to oncoming race traffic.
Through absolutely no fault of his own, another driver’s front end came in contact with the top of Josh’s roll cage, and at such an angle, that the left front torsion bar tube and torsion arm, made an intrusion into the cage, far enough to make contact with Josh’s helmet, resulting in a fatal brain injury.

At any point, in the entire chain of events of the accident, had the timing played out any differently, even for just a split second, the outcome would likely have been no more than a damaged race car, and a driver walking unhappily back to the pit area to rebuild and race once again.

However, as is in most cases, we have no control of the timing in the chain of events of any accident. But there is one other thing that “might” have saved Josh Burton’s life that night.

Since the accident, Darlene has been on a one mother crusade, to convince drivers to install “HALO” bars in the tops of their roll cages.

A “HALO” bar simply fills in the wide open area directly above the drivers head, while still allowing plenty of room for entry, or a rapid escape if a need be. Most Chassis builders offer a “HALO" bar kit that you can install yourself, or you can have them welded in place by your chassis builder.Different chassis company’s have differing designs as far as height and length of the bars themselves.

Can anyone say with 100% certainty a “HALO” bar would have saved Josh Burton’s life, truthfully, no.But we can say if Josh had a “HALO” bar, his chances would have been far greater of climbing out of relatively otherwise intact sprint car, to repair it and race again.

Darlene herself, has offered to pay for the installation of “HALO” bars in some of her son’s friends and fellow racers sprint cars, with proceeds out of the The Josh Burton Memorial Fund. However, while some drivers did install the “HALO” bars, not one of them took her up on her offer to pay for them.

She has also tried to convince others to install a “HALO” bars, and honestly, she has meet with stiff resistance from some drivers, even though they fully understand her reasoning behind her heartfelt request.

She has also contacted USAC to speak directly to them about the pro’s and con’s of “HALO” bars, especially since USAC is strictly a non wing sanction.That meeting, has yet to take place at the time of this writing.

Darlene fully understands that not everyone is in agreement, that the “HALO” bars are for everyone. However, all that she is asking, is that you take a long hard look at what is at stake, and then make an educated decision for yourself.

There is a mighty big opening in the roll cages on some of today's sprint car frames. What are the chances that you could one day find yourself with the top of your roll cage exposed, facing oncoming race traffic, a fence post, or any other object, that might in a freak accident, find it’s way into your cockpit through that big opening above your head?

Who knows? But is it a chance you are willing to take?

Darlene Burton is simply asking you to consider the installation of a “HALO” bar, and at the small cost of $150.00-$250.00 is it really worth it to take that chance?

One thing I do know for a fact, there is no price on God’s green earth, that Darlene would not have gladly payed in hindsight, had anyone known before hand, what a 'HALO” bar might have been able to prevent.


Chris Judah

[jaythorne]

First off I don't want to get into a passing match with you, buti wasn't referring to the the halo bar.. I was referring to the lower frame rail... As it states in the 2016 rule book

MUST BE CONSTRUCTED OF 4130 NORMALIZED TUBING
TOP RAILS 1 ½” x .095”, BOTTOM RAILS 1 3/8” x .095” or 1 ½” x .083”, ROLL CAGE UPRIGHTS 1 3/8” x .083”
ROLL CAGE CROSSMEMBER 1 ½” x .095” UPPER RAILS 1 3/8” X .083”
REAR END SAFETY BAR HIGHLY SUGGESTED 1” x .083
Seems the rules were changed to suit a chassis builder to me...
As I said read the rules....