Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Danny Detrich tweeted that Knoxville has backed off the front axle tether requirement earlier today.

When I go to Knoxville's website http://www.knoxvilleraceway.com/Files/Rules and look at the 2014 rules, (page 8) - they say theare are required.

Hopefully this gets cleared up sooner rather than later.....

Danny has been pretty vocal about some of the new requirements.  He seems to feel they're just bandaiding problems and not really addressing and trying to fix the actual causes.  Some of the requirements may even lead to potentially worse problems.  I agree with him on some of it.

As a fan in the stands, I can tell you that doing something is better than doing nothing. 

Maybe the cars need to be built with stronger tubing.  However, what do you do about the chassis that are already being used that are 4-5 years old?  Do you make everyone buy new ones and basically kill the sport (not everyone can afford a new frame every year).

Seems to me like Knoxville did their homework on the axle tether (over the last 3 years).

Detrich seems opposed to the torsion bar fix as well from what i have listened to and read on his twitter....

Knoxville are using these rules to try making racing safer..So they have my backing..The torsion bar and arm retainers and the axle tethers may only save one persons life ..But thats worth the effort..If Derich cant see the amount of help that Knoxville give thier competitors.. Then maby he should stay in P A 

No matter what a new safety rule is someone will be against it.  When drivers were required to have a lap seat belt some would unfasten them because they thought if car got on fire they wanted to be thrown from the car.  When roll cages started to be used a driver of a sprint car was required to un bolt his roll cage to race at a track.  He got killed that night in a crash and for what reason?  Some do not like the safety seat because they think it limits side vision.  The people that do not like axel tether rule think of the very worst thing in thier mind that could happen .  They think the axel may swing around and hit the driver of the car.  They do not consider that a loose axel on the track can hit another cars drivers cockpit or can be flung into granstands or pits.  Crash helmets at one time were optimal, crash helmets then were not real good but were better than nothing.

The info is not conflicting.  Here's a tweet, in reply to Danny Dietrich.

@dannydietrich That is false information. Front axle tethers are mandated. See rules posted on our website."

Like i stated previously on this very topic, is, , the correct thing to do is make them a probationary period. some owners might run them given some incentive, test the device thru trial and error, lord knows Knox will have its share of testimony, Heck since PA is a hub of action maybe start testing there too.. lets see if this becomes a helpfull item or a nuesence..I remember as a kid a rolloverfund would be started in the stands for a particular driver to start rebuilding his car, whats wrong with a driver recieving a certificate for products if he is competing with the teather and is involved in a recordable dillema,  besides its up to the driver and owner to deem its worthieness on thier car, its thier option and maybe some will take the bait and help test this.  some sort of incentive from the manufacture needs to be instated, and a close report of its function needs to be recorded....I know im proubly in a dream world, but if manufactures are sure of thier product they will not mind a little marketing to prove it.   facts are facts, if it leans towards one side of the fence or the other make it manditory in 2015 or a option, OR not allowed.. me personally I dont remember seeing any this past season.. I truely think to mandate this were just picking at stars..

I still have my WOO mandated Wolfie valve..Don Martin agreed to pay half......was not their best idea....John...

I am ignorant on this. What is a wolfie valve and its story. I get the wolfgang part.

please explain what the wolfie valve is gentleman, sounds interesting.

http://gph.is/XMLGff

I think the Wolfie valve was a automatic feul shut off if car caught on fire.  Valve would shut off feul from inside tank.  There was a spring loaded valve on top of feul tank.  When this got hot in a fire a plasic piece would melt and the valve would close.  The idea was OK, but they just needed a little more work.  Only thing I saw wrong was alcohol could cause valve to stick, so you had to keep it loosened up and crud cleaned out.

If I remember correctly, that was a reactionary rule trying to stave off the lawsuit (instead of addressing the fact that the track had no fire extenguishers and an improperly trained fire crew, the thought was make the fuel shut off automatically so we don't have to worry about firefighters/safety personnel).

The tethers make a TON of sense to me.  Heck, in the youtube video announcing the MavTV deal on the raceway's youtube channel, you see an axle flying out of the frame during a wreck (and that's not even any of the ones I remember seeing).  It happens far too often (at a lot of tracks), the tether is a good start if stronger tubes isn't an option (and they probably aren't as you lose the "crush zone" in the chassis that absorbs a majority of the energy in a wreck).

Cant remember the year but i was sitting in the backstretch at the nationals and saw a complete axle with wheels attatched fly down the front stretch ! 92 or 93 i think somewhere in there give or take a few brain cells. Couldnt see the crash for the sign boards but seeing the axle got the point across.. it was bad.

Thanks, I kind of figured it would be something with fuel shut off but I just wasn't sure.

http://gph.is/XMLGff

I believe the Wolfie valve is operated off of oil pressure from the motor? No oil pressure= valve closed, no fuel flow. 

Can one of you guys asking for "Stonger Tubes" please explain to me how that will do any good at all? Axles don't come out of cars because the frame was too weak or because the axle was too thin... axles come out when the radius rods that connect them to the frame break... and you couldn't possibly build radius rods heavy enough to not break...they need to break when they take a hard hit... and if you did build radius rods out of 3 inch solid steel to keep em from breaking they would just tear the chassis in half when they took a hit.

If you want to keep a component in the car a tether is the way to go... stronger tubes aren't going to accomplish anything.

Loose is when you hit the wall with the rear of the
car, tight is when you hit the wall with the front of
the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and
torque is how far you move the wall.

The tethers could be ok, but the one that is approved will not be on my car. It is the perfect length to come in the cage. If a proper one is approved it could be beneficial. As for the torsion bar retainers get rid of the ti bolts put good old grade 8's and tighten them. I have bought the retainers but do feel they are not needed. 

So what is proper tether design.  What is wrong with Ti bolts?

It's pretty ignorant to be a against a simple front axle tether. They don't cost anything. They have already been running a similar Gobrecht strap on drag links for years now. Why not the front axle too? There have already been several near misses with front axles flying over catch fences over the years. One has already landed in the stands at the Grove, luckily where no one was sitting. One flies into an Outlaw crowd and it will cost million$ and they will instantly be mandated nationwide anyway. Why not just save everyone the grief? They probably ought to strap it to the motor though. A lot of times when the front axle goes flying it is because the whole front clip is missing.

 
 
 
They don't even know how to spell sprint car 
much less chromoly...http://www.ycmco.com

only way an axle can come is by the frame breaking or the axle tube breaking into 2 pieces.  an unbroken axle cant come out of an unbroken frame cuz the wheels and tires wont fit through the frame rails.