Nostalgia FED driver passes out from heat stroke.

Some facts--the car was a new build by an experienced racer and was to current NT/F specs. The builder has built several fast cars, has crash tested his own and was strapped into his own car back in the staging lanes. The driver is new and was making his third license run The driver was sitting high in the car because he had added a cushion under his butt. He is a diabetic and that combined with the heat is most likely what caused him to black out at some point during the incident--he can only remember doing the burnout. The car had an ongoing problem with the injector not letting it drop back to idle RPM's. The car also had a hand brake in close proximity to the shifter. (not by the builders choice).
Most likely scenario---Driver does burnout, selects reverse and starts to back up, high idle means that he is going too fast so he goes to grab the brake and instead gets the shifter and pulls it into a forward gear, wheels are laid over so the car heads for the wall. The impact is not terribly oblique so possibly he blacks out rather than banging his head on the cage. The rest is obvious--he is unconscious, foot on the gas/stuck throttle, tires smoking etc.
This entire thread is a typical internet scenario--lots of opinions and assumptions and not too many confirmed facts along with a know it all loudmouth.

Roo

 

That's just how I roll dude, like me or not. I will always tell you the truth as I see it. Most people don't understand me, so I don't expect you to either.

 

I am in div7 and as I build-update-repair mine and customer cars.I have had inspectors come over to the shop, I have taken bare chassis to Glendora, and have had them done at the track, I have gone thru at least 15 inspectors over the years. Not once have they asked for driver fitment even with Danny Gracia there filling out the paperwork.

 

duplicate post. please remove.

 

........

 

Bruce is correct in that SFI chassis certification does not require the driver to be in the car. I have had lots of cars certified without the owner/driver being present at my shop.
Tech certification at the track is another matter and and that is dependent on the track's/ sanctioning body's requirements (and work ethic).

Side bar design is spelled out in basic form in the relevant SFI spec and calls for it to be between the drivers shoulder and elbow and for anyone who has built cars or has as much history of inspection of cars as you claim it is pretty basic stuff unless you have the Jolly Green Giant or Tom Thumb driving the car. BTW the side bar is not to keep the driver in the car if the belt fails it is to keep outside objects (the other car, guard rails etc from getting to the driver in an incident. If the belt fails the driver is in more shit than the early settlers.

Roo

 

I worked for Danny many years ago, but was trained by Dave Danish before Danny showed up. Things change over time.

 

I'm telling it as it was taught to me and that is that the side bar is in place to prevent the driver exiting the car in an incident.
An intelligent fellow like yourself knows damned well that there are some spooky looking side bars out there that fail to pass the driver between the elbow and the shoulder. I've seen dozens of bars that would be ineffective in an incident.

 

You know it was an automatic transmission with a trans-brake do you?
When my altered is in reverse it won't backup until I push the button.If I release the button the transmission goes to neutral.
Being a Fueler it may have an in-out gearbox with a clutch

 

Fridaynightdrags I still want to see your car or project that your working on so we can all see HOW a real car is suppose to be setup.

 

I don't have any current cars or projects or tools (except simple hand tools and a small box) or even a garage to work in. I'm driving a bone-stock '97 Ford pickup, the only vehicle I own. I'm an old guy, retired, living simply and just trying to pass on some knowledge to a few young fellows, before I croak, who might not have the opportunity to learn some of these things anywhere else.

I have had the usual rounds of experience that other fellows who were born in my timeframe have experienced. Flatheads, Y-blocks, 265-400 Chevies, small block Fords, big block Fords, Cadillacs, Studebakers, etc., etc. I've done dozens of engine swaps, clip swaps and complete frame swaps. I even managed to design and build a complete independent front suspension after soaking up Carroll Smith's Tune-To-Win.

I only tell the truth as I see it. Nothing is embellished and I have no axe to grind for any reason whatsoever.

Many people down through history have been ridiculed for their ideas or for what they said, because it was not a popular view at the time. I am no different. I simply tell what I believe to be the right thing, no matter whose fur it bristles. You just happened to be in the line of fire today.

 

I just find it funny that without being there first hand, you therefore put everyone of us "Nostalgia" drag car guys in one big group. Guilty by association, I guess.

 

I find it funny that even with all you guys that do know what you are talking about telling him he is wrong that it wont get through to him that he is WRONG!

side note to zettle, mopar means "move over, pontiac approaching rapidly"

 

I like your way of thinking.

 

do you play the bass guitar?

 

Search is you friend, here is or was 1 of his projects, I don't think it was ever finished. As you can see he had safty in mind using the 2" X 6" mild steel tubing for the frame!

 

And the "E" bar that was added later to the #25-1 spec is to stop the driver from slipping out under the side bar? They are anti intrusion bars and if you have relied on the NHRA to teach you everything about race cars you are in a bunch of trouble.

Roo

 

I was there as a spectator. I've been shaking my head over all the speculation regarding this incident.

Many thanks to Rooman for gathering the facts and setting the record straight.

 

Yes you have! Most recently over at Hotrodders.com Similar posts here from you as everywhere you've gone, so at least you're consistent.
And believe it or not, not everyone here is at this forum to watch and observe. Many of us are here because we love the traditional cars in their truest form. Will they meet 2013 NHRA tech? No, but we love them for the history they represent, and the period they are from, or emulate.

 

DING, DING, DING......we have a winner.....
Thank you for that observation, I can appreciate your position and I wish you the best.

We should all have the courage of our convictions.

 

And you still aren't done...

Amazing.

We see some bizarre behavior, at times.

And that makes you wonder what triggers it.

Like with our man Friday...


Could it be that all his boastful self importance is just a front for the frustration of no longer being part of the process?

And his wish to keep racers from the track just a desire to reduce them to spectators like himself?


But then again...

I understand cars a lot better than I understand people, and somebody more knowledgeable will probably be along soon to disprove all my little armchair theories.

I kinda hope so.

Cause the picture I painted makes for one sad existence...

 

tis a sad picture indeed, i see the same thing you do

 

Sometimes you just can't get that little dog to stop humping your leg.

 

I figure that as long as you continue to assassinate my character instead of focusing on the subject of this thread, I should have the right of rebuttal. You would want the same rights, would you not?

The bottom line here is that I have stepped on some toes and hurt some feelings by bringing out the fact that some of those POS cars you guys are campaigning are, as Nader put it, unsafe at any speed. If you've never teched an event, then you have no idea what I'm talking about, so you cannot speak for me. Nevertheless, your feelings are hurt and I understand that. You're just being human beings.

I can only hope that some younguns reading this will begin to question the construction of some of these cars and ask if they couldn't be made safer while still retaining a nostalgic theme.

 

...he's got one friend in his profile.

 

In the interest of full disclosure,

Actually, I have...

 

I think it's not about stepping on toes when you use language like "POS cars", and call everyone who owns one a "slacker". If anyone is a slacker it's the guy who sits by criticizing, but isn't out there building. There's a right way and a wrong way to state a fact, and the facts are these cars might be built to older NHRA rules, or might be leftover race cars from the earlier rules, but that doesn't make them POS cars.
You make quotes like Nader's that just aren't true. I wont generalize and say all these cars are safe or unsafe, but to use a quote like "unsafe at any speed" is ridiculous, and you're old enough to know it. Many of these cars campaigned for decades safely, and can still run as safely today as they once did. And those newer cars built to emulate the 60's are just as safe, and the fact that there are Nostalgia events today, and people aren't getting killed in them tells me your Nader quote doesn't hold water any more for these cars than it did for the Corvair that Nader successfully got off the road. If we looked at things your way, we'd park all the Corvairs, and all the Nostalgia hotrods, and everybody would be driving newer pickup trucks like you are.

 

I yield to your argument. Well said.

 

Well said, indeed.

 

Any guess on what year this car was built?