NHRA opts for shorter runs for Top Fuel and Funny Car

Interim step taken as Scott Kalitta's fatal crash is examined

DAVID POOLE

The Charlotte Observer

Thursday, Jul. 03, 2008

The National Hot Rod Association will shorten races in its two fastest classes from a quarter-mile to 1,000 feet while analysis of driver Scott Kalitta's fatal crash on June 21 at Englishtown, N.J., continues.

The interim step for Top Fuel and Funny Cars begins with the PowerAde Series’ next event, the Mopar Mile High Nationals scheduled for July 11-13 in Denver.

The NHRA's investigation of Kalitta's crash found that an explosion in the car near the end of the run left most of the car's body separated from its chassis. Its parachutes did not open fully and the car went through the shutdown area and off the top end of the strip. It hit a pole holding up a catch net and then hit a television camera crane parked beyond a sand trap.

In its preliminary report, the NHRA said it would look at what might be done in shutdown areas to help slow a runaway vehicle and at whether the cars should be slowed overall and by what method that might best be accomplished.

"They're in a tough situation," said Doug Herbert, whose Top Fuel team is based in Lincolnton, N.C. "We're running at tracks that were designed and built 30 years ago when cars weren't running 300 mph."

Herbert's dragster reached 311.70 mph at the end of the quarter-mile when he defeated Brandon Bernstein in Sunday's final at Norwalk, Ohio.

The NHRA records for top speed are 336.15 mph for Top Fuel and 333.66 mph for Funny Car. The Top Fuel mark was set in 2005 and the Funny Car record came in 2006. Before this season, the NHRA added weight to both classes in an effort to slow them down somewhat.

"Some of the tracks are too short for speeds we're running," Herbert said. "At some of the new tracks it may be not as big an issue, but at probably 70 percent of tracks we go to it is an issue. I applaud them for making a decision."

It is not yet clear whether the shorter distance will still be in effect when the NHRA pays its first visit to the Charlotte area for the inaugural Carolina Nationals at the new zMAX Dragway @ Concord on Sept. 11-14.

"The NHRA's primary concern with this move is safety, and we applaud them for that," said Scott Cooper, vice president of communications for Lowe's Motor Speedway. "We'll continue to work with them as zMAX Dragway nears completion and, hopefully, by our national event in September the Top Fuel and Funny Car teams will be running the quarter-mile again."

The $60 million drag strip being built at Concord will have an all-concrete quarter-mile racing surface with more than 2,500 feet of asphalt track beyond the finish line for a shutdown area. It also will have two catch nets and wider sand trap than is found at most older facilities.

Herbert said the downside he sees with the change announced Wednesday is the tradition behind the quarter-mile distance.

Driver Kenny Bernstein, president of the Professional Racers Owners Organization, also acknowledged that's a major step.

"It is not lost on any of us that this constitutes a change in our history ... but it's the most immediate adjustment we can make in the interest of safety, which is foremost on everyone's mind," Bernstein said. "This may be a temporary change and we recognize it is not the total answer. We will continue to work hand in hand with NHRA to evaluate other methods of making…competition safer."

Chris Powell, president of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where NHRA cars compete at a dragway known as The Strip, said he applauds what he called the "bold step."

"The racing to the 1,000-foot mark will be every bit as exciting as it is to the quarter-mile," Powell said. "As an additional benefit, this should limit the amount of downtime during the events because most oil-downs seem to happen in the final 320 feet. And reaction time should become even more important for the drivers because they'll have less time to make up the difference on the track."

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