How Important Is Safety To You?

[NO COMPROMISE 50]

Occasionally members post about safety equipment - a cage, or rollbar, or helmet or gloves, shoes, balaclava ect. asking if they are required or really necessary. A lot of safety rules were developed based on preventing injuries suffered by racers in the past.

At the small tire event at SGMP this fall the large payout saw people pushing their cars to the limit and there were several incidents. Unfortunately one was Lyle Barnett who suffered severe injuries. Had he been wearing all the proper correct safety gear ( I have no direct knowledge he was not) perhaps some of the injuries could have been mitigated to an extent.

If you read his experience hopefully you will realize that safety is not a place to save money or try to cut corners.

http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1530938&highlight=lyle

http://livestream.com/MotorManiaTV/2015NoMercyVI/videos/100182703

[El Diablo 75]

Glad to hear he's doing better Jim. Have they determined what actually caused the fire?

[NO COMPROMISE 50]

When at the event a friend of Lyle's told me secondhand they thought it was an injector failure but not sure the final reason has been determined and released to the public. However there were posts on YB. I have no direct knowledge though.

"I saw a screen shot of someone's Facebook post describing what happened. If my memory serves me correctly it said the car threw a rod which cut through the firewall and 1 of the 2 injectors on that cylinder continued dumping fuel which brought the fire through the hole into the car. The heat then shrunk the Trans tunnel. It said he has 15 boots on which were not enough and burnt which left his feet in bad shape and I think it said his foot had to be pulled out of the shoe to get out of the car. Carbon Simpson helmet burnt along with visor allowing fire into lungs and had no head sock allowing fire into respratory system. It said his fire suit largely did its job well as well as cage/Hans etc as he sustained no injury from the crash portion just the fire. It said the car did have a fire suppression system but it was not pulled.

This is by no means exact but I have been following the situation and I remember this information from a day or 2 ago. It was from someone close, I don't claim it to be 100% but the information seems to describe what I saw happening pretty well."

And another YB post

"Metal fire wall and fire burn thru carbon tunnel. The car is still covered in our trailer once Lyle is getting better then we will look into what failed on car and drivers protection but please do not speculate and put bad information out. We will be completely honest with all details when that time comes but it will not come while Until lyles condition is better. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers"

[Apps 12]

I've been following the updates on Lyle that Duck is forwarding out....hands, feet and face issue along with the repertory issues from inhalation. ...multiple skin grafts and lots of pain but he is doing really well.

From some of the stuff I've read, it really brings to light picking the proper safety gear for your rig...there are a bunch of different fire rating shoes and gloves and suits and which to choose and why....it's an often overlooked side of racing but very necessary...

[srt5939 160]

scary

[Jerseyboy 62]

Chris Cadattos Ram caught fire just after this. It appears his front mounted fuel tank ruptured and sprayed fuel all over the engine at the top of the pass. Truck was running in the 4.16s just before this pass. Cant stress enough the importance of safety gear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjUaBFkG9ic

J

[NO COMPROMISE 50]

Here is a still of Chris' truck on fire still moving.

[AvantSrt8 34]

Thread makes you think, which is an excellent idea.

[monty1269 29]

Cage already scheduled.

[Tout 60]

Both looked like no fire systems, the tech in these events is almost nothing, a shame just to go that fraction faster.

[NO COMPROMISE 50]

Safety is each drivers own responsibility - you get to choose if what is required is sufficient or you want to do more.

Here is some food for thought:

[OsO 34]

Im worried about growing old and being broke and needing others to do stuff for me, so i am hoping to go out in a crash that gives people nightmares and makes rescue workers puke and clean up crews use a dusters and a water hose to remove me from the road way. That or a gun battle due to the race war that's coming . Now if i can afford to hire 18 year old strippers to wipe my ass at 80 disregard what i said.

[Cam 158]

Everyone thinks it'll never happen to them. An excellent topic Jim as apathy run rampant around most of our events. If I remember right, mike smiths car was running low 9's before he even stuck a cage in it. and as we all saw, it was only a matter of time before that car got wrapped up into the wall.

[OsO 34]

Everyone thinks it'll never happen to them. An excellent topic Jim as apathy run rampant around most of our events. If I remember right, mike smiths car was running low 9's before he even stuck a cage in it. and as we all saw, it was only a matter of time before that car got wrapped up into the wall.

On that topic has anyone twisted up a car with one of the bolt in cages and how did it hold up?

[Cam 158]

Not that I know of. I've seen a few street cars do a 90 at mid track and pull a header into the wall. The four times I've seen it the driver walked away but killed the car. A terrible call to make to mom and dad.

Fuck I hate TnT days at Fontana. Can we get back to 18yr olds whipping our asses.

[NO COMPROMISE 50]

Part of my motivation starting this thread was general awareness that might motivate some members here to up their safety precautions and perhaps spend some money or add weight they would rather not. As I switch from turbo's to nitrous on my car I remain vigilant about these dangers. ALWAYS safety first ! Seeing a nitrous fire is not a pleasant experience.

The following video is Mike Oldham, a friend and one of the group of racers I attend a lot of races with. We still talk about that event and safety. Several of us are running Outlaw 632 (or will be soon) which is basically a nitrous class so we are always concerned about safety. Cory Voss of Voss Racing Engines never hesitated to rush to assist Mike during the inferno.

I'm friends with a crew member of Ken Cruz' ProMod car. Their first pass after building a new body his throttle stuck on an 1/8 mile pass. He crossed the stripe in 4.00 seconds at 187 mph and just kept on accelerating. Scary to watch but luckily he walked away with just bruises. Cars can be fixed - not so easy with the human body.

This winter is a good time to find one area where you can improve your safety at the track.

Myself, I am adding two 1/4 turn ball valves (one for each bottle) within the drivers reach that prevents nitrous from entering the engine in case of a solenoid leak or in the event of a crash. They are attached approx. 18" from each nitrous bottle. They also allow starting the engine without nitrous pressure to the solenoids.

I also installed a kill switch that works via Smartwire to shut down all electric output from Smartwire with the flip of a toggle switch overhead.

[BuckeyeGuy 90]

I have a ball valve right next to the shifter to shut down the nitrous to the engine immediately, as well as a kill switch right in the same area for the controller. I also thoroughly inspect the car front to back after each event. Not saying something cant happen but I am cutting down the odds as much as possible.

[turbofreek 30]

big reasons why i dont run nitrous, wont run a front mounted fuel cell, have a hans device, buy the best fire suit i can, have a steel floor and firewall, have a cable operated fuel shut off to a cable operated fuel pump, boxed fuel lines, boxed trans lines, carbon fiber drive shaft, 25.3 cage, sfi cased trans and pan, dry cell battery, and much more. cuz if shit is gonna go bad. i want minimal consequences happening to me first, the car second, and the car first if it means me first as well.

however the biggest part of my safety is my head. i will look over the car and driver every single time im going to be making a pass. i want to make sure im not racing an idiot whos had a beer, car thats a piece of shit and unsafe or a dumbass here hold my beer watch this attitude dumbfuck. i have no pride when it comes to my safety. i will walk away from a million dollar pass if anything appears unsafe no matter what. it will never be worth it to me. there will always be another day to race after that one but that one could be my last if i chose to risk it. i will not chance my life or my car for an idiot.

[Renfrick1 151]

I just bought a fire jacket and snell helmet at atco.

Thank you for this thread

[srt5939 160]

big reasons why i dont run nitrous, wont run a front mounted fuel cell, have a hans device, buy the best fire suit i can, have a steel floor and firewall, have a cable operated fuel shut off to a cable operated fuel pump, boxed fuel lines, boxed trans lines, carbon fiber drive shaft, 25.3 cage, sfi cased trans and pan, dry cell battery, and much more. cuz if shit is gonna go bad. i want minimal consequences happening to me first, the car second, and the car first if it means me first as well.

however the biggest part of my safety is my head. i will look over the car and driver every single time im going to be making a pass. i want to make sure im not racing an idiot whos had a beer, car thats a piece of shit and unsafe or a dumbass here hold my beer watch this attitude dumbfuck. i have no pride when it comes to my safety. i will walk away from a million dollar pass if anything appears unsafe no matter what. it will never be worth it to me. there will always be another day to race after that one but that one could be my last if i chose to risk it. i will not chance my life or my car for an idiot.

Yesterday they were drying the track in Atco and the pitts were cover with 3" deep puddles. I put my car on the trailer and left. No fucking way I'm driving my car down a greasey track. Some people gave me a hard time for leaving. I just fucking laughed at them. Thank god nobody ran a big power car down the track before they called it. I like living with all my skin and all my limbs.

[srt5939 160]

Safety is each drivers own responsibility - you get to choose if what is required is sufficient or you want to do more.

Here is some food for thought:

great advice, thanks for posting Jim.

[toofart 160]

however the biggest part of my safety is my head. i will look over the car and driver every single time im going to be making a pass. i want to make sure im not racing an idiot whos had a beer, car thats a piece of shit and unsafe or a dumbass here hold my beer watch this attitude dumbfuck. i have no pride when it comes to my safety. i will walk away from a million dollar pass if anything appears unsafe no matter what. it will never be worth it to me. there will always be another day to race after that one but that one could be my last if i chose to risk it. i will not chance my life or my car for an idiot.

Excellent point. I like a nice cold beer as much as anyone but I won't drink till the day is done.

[Renfrick1 151]

I couldn't believe they were announcing the bar being open at atco for lunch.

[turbofreek 30]

Excellent point. I like a nice cold beer as much as anyone but I won't drink till the day is done.

i dont drink. i used to and i know its effects very very well. the off and the after just as important. im a data person. i cant spell to save my life but i can observe all the details in a flash and know the answer before the flash is done. i also couldnt teach it or tell it but i see it.

[NO COMPROMISE 50]

IMO we cannot think about safety too much. As I am about to start running a car significantly faster than anything I ever drove everyone keeps emphasizing how important safety is. Lyle Barnett who had the terrible crash at SGMP last September shares his views on safety in this video.