Thread: Scott Kalitta crash

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You probably know that NHRA has tried putting all kinds of limits on the cars, to reduce speeds, and that clearly is not working. Limiting the length makes more sense. You may be able to find more horsepower...but you would still be limited by traction and distance. It's more foolproof way of accomplishing the goal.

I am one of many who suggested this "shorter race distance" to NHRA. I grew up going to the 1/8th mile drags. They were every bit as exciting as the 1/4 mile events! One thing I never liked about the longer track was that once the cars were downtrack, it was too hard to see who was ahead, any way! Beside that, the last 300 feet is only a fraction of a second, at those speeds.

This would give a longer shut off area, reduce breakage, pull the speeds down to about 300, and just makes sense. I did not however suggest 1/8th mile, as this would limit the speeds that NHRA wants fans to talk about. I suggested 1000 feet, or 1/5th mile (1056).

I think that once you go to one of these races, you will not see much difference in the racing. The experience of watching these monsters is much more than 4 seconds. There is the hype from the announcer, the fireup, burnout, staging, starting line game, then the race, and the talk afterward. I for one will not miss that fraction of a second, and maybe one of my favorite drivers will live longer.