Culture|Garage

I’m about as sure of the sun rising tomorrow as I am of the date of the apocalypse- and perhaps it has already come, in light of this news. In a shocking statement issued today, the NHRA has mandated that Top Fuel and Funny Car classes will now be run to the 1,000 foot mark in all NHRA-sanctioned events. I know, I know, my heart stopped for a second when I read that, too.

The NHRA’s reasoning for the change in race length comes from the death of Funny Car driver Scot Kalitta. Although little discussion has been made about Kalitta’s death, HOW he died is actually a real point of contention, as it seems the NHRA is willing to blame the amount of space Kalitta’s car had to slow down post-explosion for his death. Not the initial blast that sent hot metal careening through the driver’s position, and certainly not the fire that resulted from said explosion, but the impact on the far wall. Although I am saddened by the loss to the sport, does it really warrant such a drastic change? For example, would you mandate a shorter football field if a running back died on his way to the endzone? Would you make rally courses held only in areas with no trees if a rally driver crashed into one and perished? Would you take grass out of a baseball field if a player slipped and broke his neck during a game? Thus, I have a bit of a theory in regards to this most recent development in the NHRA.

I’m typically not one to call BS over something that a sanctioning body does, but come ON! Funny Cars and Top Fuel rails are only in operation for about four seconds- which is already tough to sit through as a fan. Chopping off that additional 320 feet will make run times shorter, and only gurantees that cars will reach terminal speeds in a shorter distance, as per gearing and torque allows. If this was truly a safety issue, water traps, aircraft carrier nets and even longer strip run-offs could be built into NHRA tracks for future racing. Speeds will not slow, drivers will still be hurt (say, did anyone mandate a guardrail in the middle of the track after lane-crossers smashed into each other? Of course not!) and drag racing will remain dangerous. I personally believe that this has more to do with “shaking up” the field for the fans more than anything else. I understand that, as watching Tony Schumacher and the Force Family dominate week after week is a bit tiresome- but does it warrant a rule change? Not without other circumstances to act as a convenient conduit to make the change. Thus, a driver passes, and the NHRA have their window. When Dale Earnhardt crashed and died, the HANS device became standard issue in NASCAR- a simple, reasonable and smart change. NASCAR didn’t have an upper line put in to restrict drivers from running high, nor did they mandate a 65 MPH speed limit on all oval courses. The bottom line is- when you make a change, you change the equipment, and possibly some of the rules, but not the game itself. Hockey wouldn’t be as good if there were only four guys on the ice- football would suck if no tackling were allowed and I shudder to think what would happen if Rugby were somehow sanitized from it’s typically bloodthirsty nature. Drag racing is often won or lost in that final 320 feet. That could be enough for intake valves to open, a big gulp of fresh air and fuel to be forced into the cylinders, compression to take place, and an additional few horsepower applied at the top end to make up the difference between winning or losing. I have seen it happen, folks.

Look, I think adding additional safety barriers is a good idea, but what about making the cars more interesting? Forcing them to run production bodies, or at least have a certain percentage of OEM parts on their vehicles? You know, make the things CARS again? Make them have realistic amounts of horsepower from OEM engines? Cause teams to run cars in brackets that are slower- but more entertaining for the folks that pay for the tickets, the fans? But no, 1,000 feet- that’s all we need. Thanks NHRA, I’m sure somewhere, Wally is weeping.

via: Auto Week, Quarter Milestones

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