Event Coverage Welcome to the 2017 Meltdown Drags

I heard you helped some.
I should of said....... your car.
I hope to have a little more space and the tubing bender set up by Fall.

 

Ok my little hand held practice tree has a setting for roll out. Have clue what this does other than subtract from the .400 pro tree time - still can't cut a good light

 

Tony.. the roll out is a total of human and race car reaction time that ends when the front wheels leave the staged beam. In other words. The amount of time it takes you to see the amber, your brain to tell your leg to start letting out the clutch, the clutch linkage to relax and start letting the pressure plate grab the clutch, the drive train slack between the clutch disc and the rear tire, the wind up in the rear side walls, and the front tire to move either forward or upward and turn out the stage beam. I would start with .32 as a roll out in your practice tree and see how that compares to your actual reaction times. If you are quicker on the practice tree than in the car, add roll out to your tree until they are similar. Then practice from there.

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Any of you guys making it to the meltdown


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"Back to Byron" Evil Twin Shirts AVAILABLE!

 

None of us have helmets - so the plan is to just spectate. Me, Gabriel, Travis (Boogie Time), @3dnsouth and some other dude I'm forgetting are rolling in the camper and playing cards.

 

Alright!! My son would love to meet Gabriel and talk building race cars at a young age. We have a 64 Ranchero.


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I'll be all day Saturday and Sunday morning, observing !

 

Scott, I don't know how your helmet search is going, but I learned that the major manufacturers (Bell, G-Force) are mostly back-ordered. Your best bet might be one of the aftermarket distributors. Summit Racing located one for me in its Nevada warehouse that will arrive here tomorrow (Bell 7 3/4 open face). If you are unable to score anything you are welcome to use mine. (We gotta see that Mustang kick-ass with full passes)

 

What? You guys run as fast as you do and you don't have legal helmets?

 

I also just learned that the guys from Brothers Automotive who have a spot set up just west of the west side bleachers are going to have some harnesses and helmets should anybody run into a bind.

 

Just poking a little anti establishment - we didn't plan to pull our cars up because of the gas money - my camper gets about 5MPG when towing and Gabriel's gets about 7MPG. Going to Lyons and back and then back up was a lot of gas money. We just decided to pile into one camper and split the gas money and watch instead of working on broken race cars all weekend for once .

But seriously this was the first I heard of the helmet deal. I bought a nice Bell for Christmas 2 years back. Never even thought it wasn't certified. It was $449 !! Last night I pulled all my helmets down and looked at them - must be 10. Only 1 of them has a 2005 cert sticker. They are all Bell and not junkers. Are these certs invented to sell helmets ? Not trying to stir up anything - its seriously news to me that my helmet is unsafe.

 

DOT helmet won't cut it if under 13.99 E.T.
My buddy Nathan has a full face XL one for sale.
We will bring it

 

I just converted the car from street to strip so that means the diaper went on. I took a few pics to show what i believe should be on any car regardless how fast it is. The first pic shows the pads that snap in place. Should your car be on the rag leaking something these glorified kotex pads will suck it up. They are replaceable. The second shot shows it in place. The hardware and straps allow it to be removed in seconds. This diaper attatches to the frame rail because i have a tube chassis. Stock frame cars can get one that attatches via the header bolts. The only other info you need when ordering is to know what side the starter is on. A cheap diaper costs a little over 100 dollars. Mine costs about 200 dollars. The difference in price comes from the pads and better hardware. Its also sfi rated. I hope to see more of these on cars in the future. Its very cheap insurance. The last shot speaks for itself. I think we are ready.

 

Safe equipment cannot be stress too much. When I was running my B dragster I bought a -20 suit used, when it was recert it went to a -15. Chutes, helmets, and belts have to be up dated. If a inspector let you slide on a date ,and there was a wreck it would fall to the tracks responsibilities.

 

So I had to jump on the last minute helmet chasing bandwagon as mine was out of cert as well. Honestly hard to find a helmet these days (at least one in stock). I did finally find a Bell that I liked and it was Snell 2015, Which is apparently about the only thing I read too closely about. I had to pay a bit more for it than I wanted but it was the only style in stock and ready to ship. It just showed up and it has a radio system built in to it (had no idea). Probably paid more money for the radio than the Snell Cert....AND NOW I have to get a radio for it! LOL

 

The helmet stickers have been around along time. If you dont see a sticker pull out the inner padding. Alot of times its under there. When it comes time to purchase a helmet ask how much more it is to get a nomex liner inside instead of nylon. In case of a fire you really dont want nylon on your head. Open face helmets are all fading away. Dont buy one. Only the slowest classes can use them. I forgot the cut off. Look for hans device attatchments. Its common on new helmets to have them. Not only will they be required soon its just a smart idea to wear one.
The hemets materials break down over time reducing their effectiveness. If the helmet is dropped or involved in a accident it should be replaced. After surviving a crash with a certified helmet on and getting a massive concussion i cant imagine what the results would have been without good protection. Guys that have limped away from a crash are easy to spot. They are the guys with all the safety gear and their belts pulled tight. Dont think it cant happen to you.

 

As usual,you are a stand-up guy Finn.
I'm calling summit in a few minutes to try to get one,if not,I may have to take you up on that offer.

Scott


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Be very careful buying a helmet. The great deals are ussually for out of date helmets. E bay is full of them. Always ask about the date in the helmet being purchased. It can be new and expired.

 

Dang now I will have to get one so I can listen in.

 

You know that gas is the cheapest it has been in 12 years? ha-ha

Nobody said those helmets are unsafe...they just won't pass tech inspection. I won't name the company, but I used to work for a company that had an industry group that set regulations and guidelines for their products and you bet that one of those guidelines was related to date codes on products that needed to be replaced. All of the testing in the world indicated that it would be safe beyond the date, but it certainly would get people to have to buy new ones.

As I plan to start racing at some other events it was time for me to make sure I meet all of the NHRA requirements. My new helmet should arrive today and I have to say that I look pretty damn dapper in my new jacket.

 

Fresh from the alignment shop aaaaaaaand now we have a leaking wheel cylinder.lol!
I'm gonna pull the trans and change out the clutch too.
Right after I test out the new alignment job on the "street dyno" to make sure it cured our handling nightmares....

Scott


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This is what most new helmets have and what you should look for. Its the head restraint attatching points. Also pictured is the necks gen device. The prices are half what they were a few years ago.

 

Brian,
I never put much stock in those "Hans" type devices.....Til a few years ago.
I had a pretty bad get-off while ice racing,and the bike chased,and caught me.
The problems I have with my neck now prevent me from turning my head more than a few degrees either way,and have prevented me from getting a decent night's sleep for years.
Those restraints are probably money well spent.

Scott


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Isn't it interesting that as racers we won't balk at buying shit to make us go faster. Now to buy stuff that makes us safer when we go faster!? That's crazy talk! Something wrong with us


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You may look dapper in the new jacket but crispy legs and hands would ruin the look. crispy legs belong in a kfc bucket not in a race car. Fire wont just go after your arms and chest. There is still time to get pants gloves and shoes. Lets both lead by example.

 

How will ever be able to drive?

 

Is that like a HANS but a different manufacturer? Or is it better than a HANS?

 

scott i to still suffer from neck and memory issues two years after the crash. i have often wondered how things may have gone if i would have had a neck restraint on. its funny how everyone gets concerned about safety a week before the event. like they are coming to grips with the idea they could be seriously maimed or killed racing a car. we should be concerned all the time not just once a year.

 

We are just ignorant about the helmet thing. We have been to some tracks this year with the new set up and hasn't been an issue. We had no clue that Snell and DOT were not the same. It's not a good excuse at all. We just wanna have fun. Now we gotta have fun and try and stay safe so we can continue to do so.


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