Why I won't race at a track with armco.....
Discussion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ2ovdTp794
and another......
damn good job it only hit the barrier in the same lane instead of from accross the other side....
Otherwise the armco would have been a great launch ramp into the pits....
and another......
damn good job it only hit the barrier in the same lane instead of from accross the other side....
Otherwise the armco would have been a great launch ramp into the pits....
Billy_rfc said:
In both those clips, spectators would have been killed if not for the barrier slowing the car in the first clip and deflecting the the car in the second.
Possibly but the idea of barriers is to contain, not just to slow the car down before it hits spectators. That's why I would never race on a track with armco.
Billy may not be aware that when we talk about tracks without armco, that means concrete retaining walls instead. By far the safest way of deflecting the kind of glancing blows Drag Racers tend to inflict. Tim Grose had a really bad incident about twenty years ago where his funny car got on top of Armco and the top of the rail actually cut through his firesuit. Concrete is by far the safest option. Also the damage to the guardrail in the second clip would almost certainly have ended the racing that day.
Without getting too technical - 'armco' is a highway barrier designed to act in tension and deflect in order to arrest vehicles without stopping them dead. Thus the support posts are quite flimsy. The stuff you see at drag strips uses the same corrugated barrier but any manner of post systems. It is also invariably the cheaper, weaker version. The stronger type is more of a box section (a square C section actually), which you usually see on bridge approaches and the like. It was developed when cars had bumpers and no crumple zones. It has saved a lot of lives as you don't need much deflection to make a huge reduction in the energy felt by car occupants in a given impact. It has a limited number of components so can easily be reinstated after an incident (not quick enough for racing though obviously).
Problem with concrete is its good at containment but doesn't deflect so in a head on hit with stiff chassis you would get a big load on the drivers body - not good. The saving grace is that most impacts are not head on so the forces are dramatically reduced. Also - there are plenty of incidences of cars flying over concrete barriers on Utube! Best solution woul be a couple of metres of smooth faced cellular flexible stuff against the wall to allow some deflection. Ain't gonig to happen though.
My 2 pence worth.
Cheers
Problem with concrete is its good at containment but doesn't deflect so in a head on hit with stiff chassis you would get a big load on the drivers body - not good. The saving grace is that most impacts are not head on so the forces are dramatically reduced. Also - there are plenty of incidences of cars flying over concrete barriers on Utube! Best solution woul be a couple of metres of smooth faced cellular flexible stuff against the wall to allow some deflection. Ain't gonig to happen though.
My 2 pence worth.
Cheers
But concrete is a far safer option. Armco has caused a lot of deaths in drag racing over the years, through not stopping the car, folding and going into the car (Blaine Johnson's tragic and untimely death at the hands of armco in 1996 at the US Nationals was the trigger for an almost instant ban on armco in NHRA tracks.) Armco deflects and allows the car to get airbourne or bounce off and further continue the accident (see John Wright's crash in Chaos at Shakey) whereas concrete stops the car and at the worst carries on sliding but cruically in its own lane (see Robert Joosten's pro mod at the Pod).
MotorPsycho said:
Bootsie for one, think where that man could have gone......a true legend of British Drag Racing.
My old man and Brian Cross jumped over the barrier to try to put that fire out, little did they know a piece of the barrier had wormed its way through all the carnage and killed him outright. Dad was gutted, then was told off by the marshal's for jumping over to help...you can imagine his reply!
Burndown said:
The way I read jonermart's proposal was a concrete wall AND some sort of armco in front of it to absorb/reduce impact.
That sounds reasonably sensible to me, I see concrete walls with tyres in front at other motor sports.
Terrible idea That sounds reasonably sensible to me, I see concrete walls with tyres in front at other motor sports.
armoco comes apart and as in the cases of Bootsie and Blaine Johnson gets inside the car...... don't think tyres would work either, a glancing blow would dig in and spin the car roundI'm not sure if a concrete wall would keep a jet car on the track. I knew Mark Woodley & was actually driving up the return road when Bootsie crashed. I don't recall a fire with the Bootsie accident as the fuel tank went passed me on the strip.Also the barrier beyond the finish line was in a pretty bad state. I think you'll find that both Mark & Bootsie died because metalwork went through the roll cage.
Also earlier today I learned of the passing of Brian Cross who I used to Crew Chief for in the Deadly Messiah days. 62 is too young R.I.P Brian
Also earlier today I learned of the passing of Brian Cross who I used to Crew Chief for in the Deadly Messiah days. 62 is too young R.I.P Brian
My memories of Bootsie's crash (Nov 1983) was that his jet car turned hard left into the barrier at the top end and went under it with one of the bars decapitating him. They didn't have 'Armco' back then just steel post and rail.
Photo below shows the Santa Pod barrier back then. The car is not relevant.
Photo below shows the Santa Pod barrier back then. The car is not relevant.
stevebroad said:
My memories of Bootsie's crash (Nov 1983) was that his jet car turned hard left into the barrier at the top end and went under it with one of the bars decapitating him. They didn't have 'Armco' back then just steel post and rail.
Photo below shows the Santa Pod barrier back then. The car is not relevant.
He was not decapitated.Photo below shows the Santa Pod barrier back then. The car is not relevant.
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