Event Coverage Awesome Time at the Meltdown Drags in Byron Ill

Oh my, what a wonderful day for the Byron Drag Strip Meltdown Drags...
I got there early so had a perfect spot for my chair about mid track on the hill side...
Really is awesome to see these "Older"machines roaring down that 1/4 mile track...
Unfortunately this afternoon there was a very scary incident with a front engine dragster hitting the wall.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the gentleman that was driving it.
Out of respect to him, I will not post any pictures of he incident until I find out if he is going to be OK.
Here are some of the other pictures I took, both of cars running on the track as well as the car show area...
On a side note...this is a very well run professional event, in every way...

 

More Pictures:

 

I was sitting right where the accident happened . Was a scarey situation, hope he is ok haven't heard anything yet. Nice pics and was a great day for the races

 

Ya, I left after it happened, (I was sitting directly across from it on the hill) when they had him out of the dragster,and before the ambulance left with him. I drove firetruck and ambulance south of Chicago for (7) years, and just didn't want to see any more of it.
I stopped on the HWY 20 overpass on Meridian Road (near Rockford) to gas up, and the Bryon ambulance went by on the way to a Rockford Hospital.
I talked to my Brother in Law, who was running his car on the phone after I saw that, and he said he had heard..and I emphasize HEARD....as in NOT necessarily fact, that the fellow passed out which caused the rapid reverse deal, then the forward crash into the wall with the throttle sticking wide open...
Again, prayers are with this fellow...

 

they said later he broke 3 ribs but is OK

 

My grandson Nick and I were there selling in the swap area. Very impressed with the way things were run all day. It was Nick's first trip to see the nostalgia drags, and he was very excited and can't wait to go again.

 

Great news on only three broken ribs...
Actually my Brother in Law called me a bit ago and said that they had announced that also !
So with that good news, here are a few pictures of it.
Basically he did a long burn out, sat there several seconds before putting it in reverse...must have been on high idle, as he lurched backward and almost hit the wall on the south side (I think) and hit his head, knocking him out as well as somehow him putting it in forward gear, where he took off and hit the north wall, and then the engine went into full revs and stayed there for a long time...
The pictures show the burning rubber. It never did catch fire.
Fortunately someone with a fire extinguisher started spraying it into the intake area, and it eventually killed the engine...
Here are some pics:

 

I can see me self in you last picture


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I so wish I was there damm next year

 

I spent the whole day at the track until about 6:30pm. What a great time!!! I don't think I've ever seen so many tri-5 Chevys or Willys gassers in one place before. I just wish I had the time and money to go again tomorrow.

Doc

 

Great as always. Lots of dedicated race cars represented. The Meltdown guys did a spectacular job once again.

 

I was very impressed by the track crews keeping the action level high even after the incidences.

I plan on attending the next one as well as the "Hunnert Car Heads Up" as these were the cars I grew up watching as a kid!

 

Totally Agree on the Tri-5 and Willys gassers....
Also was impressed with the number of what appeared to be totally stock cars, like those beautiful '57 Fords....
And when that "Old" Dragster (the first pic in my second post) ran in the mid 6's that really pumped me up !
I am (69) years old, and it was like an old dream !!

 

Getting ready for day 2....record number of cars on site....great people, great cars...
Very pleased the track responded so quickly and took care of the rail driver.

Beautiful Day nice drive come on down and check it out!

Thank you to all who attended yesterday!

 

Hey Paul... the weather and the air density is going to be perfect... you'll probably have to completely re-tune your fuel injection!

Expect pretty fast times today.

Enjoy and Cheers!

 

Some videos from Saturday, had a ball guys and will be back next year....hats off to the fugitives for another job well done!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UGlEStoCLM&feature=c4-overview&list=UUgfYay9Mx4jrg5S8LTbHc6Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SilHn-DsESs&feature=c4-overview&list=UUgfYay9Mx4jrg5S8LTbHc6Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcBy_cH73lg&feature=c4-overview&list=UUgfYay9Mx4jrg5S8LTbHc6Q

Ill add more later!

 

A video of the FED crash. Ouch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czuG0zgcK4Q&feature=player_embedded

 

that scared the hell out of me! as a father who has built and raced cars with his son for over 17 years now ,,,its definatly a wakeup call that things can go bad real bad real fast in this sport,,, my

 

Nice pics.

 

The Fugatives no longer put on the Meltdown Drags. The M.D.A. (Meltdown Drags Association) puts it on now.

Meltdown Drags 2013 July 19-21

 

I stand corrected!

 

What time did the rain show up?

 

On Saturday, not until all racing was over I'm sure. We left the track and racing was done and it had not started raining!

 

No rain on Saturday. The rain did not show up until I got into Wi, and I got to Waukesha co. than the engine started spitting and sputtering all the rain soaked my wires I pull to the side of the road and called AAA. Time for new wires and get the defrost fan working

 

Did the rail have an emergency kill switch on the rear of the car?

A similar incident happened to me in 2000. Hit the wall head-on, hit so hard I got knocked silly and my vision "whited out", even tho I couldn't see I realized the car was headed back toward the starting line with the throttle stuck and no steering and about to hit about 700 people standing around the burnout box. Fortunately I had an emergency kill switch both inside the car and outside and I was able to stab it and the car ground to a halt.

Wheeeeew. Fractured two vertebrae, but nobody else got hurt.

The car is now rebuilt, see "The Last Logghe" .

 

i cant see one in the vid but i was wondering that too,,, does anyone know if its required by any of the sactioning bodies,,to have both a kill in the cockpit and one at the back on a rail

 

If I had to bet on weather there was a kill switch on the back of the dragster, I would say yes. The person trying to find it on the back of the car was getting pelted with all kinds of hot flying debris from the slicks spinning at a very high speed. With all the smoke, he was lucky to see anything at all. I give that man big props for having the guts to get that close to the wreck with it still blazing the tires. The whole thing could have gotten way worse if the motor let go or the car came dislodged at some point.

 

As I mentioned in my original post, I was sitting pretty much directly across from this when it happened.
One person "Appeared" to be trying to get to the back end, but was repelled by the rubber burning, or other things...
I cannot tell for sure, but never saw anyone else trying or paying any attention to the back of the rail...
Of course, just because I remember it that way does not make it fact...

 

Not only rubber....the tires were digging their way to china...there is a 4inch hole in the track....it was like trying to stick your face into a sandblaster pointed at you...
boiling rubber concrete and asphalt spraying your face....NO WAY to shut it off with it doing what it was doing.....the aluminum rim melted and twisted from the heat....I was there once it was off...and the heat coming off it was INTENSE

 

The dragster used a remote battery to start the car (vid of a person jumping over the car with cable) so a remote rear shutoff is not required. At that point if he was running Nitro the only way to kill it would be hitting the injection with a fire exting. or sombody hitting the fuel shutoff. Either way by just getting off the trans brake button would put the car in neutral. Reverse to high gear thru neutral requires a separate lockout mech and the change happened too quick to have one.It also appears in the vid that the throttle was sticking. Idle was high after the burn out, maybe after he got it into reverse and gave it some throttle, then he remembered that the button had to be depressed in order to back up. The rpm caught him and the wheels flopped over from the reverse jerk, spun him. Might have had his hand on the shifter and reverse lockout lever and some shifters have the button on the shift nob, pulled thru neutral into high (or low depending on valve body)and his hand came off the button and the car went foward along with the throttle hence slaming into wall WOT