Some two years ago I had an unfortunate mishap by slightly touching the right containment wall at the Curacao International Raceway. Even though this accident was but a minor one, it made me think about what else could go wrong, and boy was I in for a wake-up call. The more research I did, the more I realized that accidents are more common in the top flights of drag racing than I had thought.
 |
| Doing a 180 at about 180 mph. |
Almost every pro driver has put the car on its roof at least once in his/her career. Jason Line, the previous driver of my old car, recounted his first mishap to me when I looked him up at the Winternationals last year in Pomona.
"It was my first race in pro stock and we were competing at our main sponsors event, when on my very first elimination run the car got away from me and my race ended in a spectacular accident," said Line. "I thought for sure that then and there I had lost my ride [would not be allowed to drive again]. Instead, I was told that these things happen and that you will do much better at the next race."
 |
| Deploying the chute doesn't always help |
Naturally nobody wants to see someone crash, especially not at the amateur level. However, every time we go out there we run the risk of some mishap. The fact that each pass we make takes only 6.5 seconds, means that everything happens quite fast and that reacting just a millisecond late can have disastrous consequences.
The video below is a compilation made by ADRL and it is shown here not as a celebration, but as a normal part of racing.
See you at the races, and if you are behind the steering wheel, always think "safety first".
The pictures on the right side are just an example of what can go wrong during a pass.
Thanks for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment