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

I am told that in the accident at Beaver Dam that the car flipped, lost its top wing then went cage first into cement wall.  Unless you work with a sprint car you would be real surprised on how little there is to hold a top wing on in an accident.  The front top wing posts often have just a roll pin, a half moon key way or a short piece of 1/4 inch rod to connect and hold wing in place.  Down force hold the wing on till you get in a wreck,  then there is not alot to hold front of top wing on.  I think wing manuf. should make a tether to  HELP keep wing on car in a wreck.  I do not know of why anyone would be against this.

I have always wondered why there's no safety straps attached so the wings don't go into the stands.

If they had straps attached in 2 spots the wing would have a good chance of staying with the car longer ,and slow crash speeds down. 

I understand it's a lot of aluminum , but you should know that when you bolt 1 on.

I can't think of a spot on the wings that has enough structural integrity to fasten a tether to.  I could be wrong, but even the internal braces, which are as thick as anything in or on the wing seem like they would just rip apart upon any impact.  Add some centrifugal force to that, and there's no telling where pieces are going to fly.  The proverbial chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, and in this case, even the strong links are weak.

I don't think I've ever seen a wing held on with a "half moon key" (aka "woodruff key").

This is my "96" Maxim, I made a number of of performance upgrades but also a few safety ones also. I added the arm bars but also what I call my "cranium cradle" as i was concerned about belt stretch and body extension, these upgrades were done over a decade ago when sprint seats were not near as safe as the full containment seats of today. Also none of that helps in non wing racing. Not a great fan of thethering more parts to my car but could see room for stronger or better front mount to keep wing attached 

Also I i am saddened at the loss of another open-wheel brother and send my prayers to the drivers family and friends. 

Yes, a key or something like it is welded to top of post and it slips in a groovr just like all others.  HRP are like this

As you probably know your top wing mount is no longer used.  They now use  internal runners.  The old style like yours is probably stronger but they do not use them any more for aero reasons.

What Chassis was he in? I know of someone who had a simular incident and the wing came off, thankfully they were shaken up and sore for awhile, but as far as I know that was about it after landing HARD on the cage. Needless to say he made some modifications to the next Chassis he ran the next week. Im just curious if it was the same, although every wreck is different and might or might not have had the same mounts, and circumstances.  

Actually the asphalt racers in the area use external runner wings for the added strength. No wing should be considered as a safety component, the fact that they help in a winged car crash is because they are there and that will not help in the 30-40% of classes without wings. Your first line of defense of safety is your chassis-roll cage and in no way should a driver depend on the "wing" to save their life. We all put ourselves at some risk every time we strap into a sprint car and the fact that this tradgedy happened in hot laps proves that. The average sprint chassis haven't changed much in 30 years but I have seen a frame made with a containment area that looks like it was taken from some of the tractor pull rigs but can't find a pic of it. Also If you look at the top of my cage you can see that hoop extends above the rail of main cage so that it would ride or skate along on that before contacting the main cage and reduces the size of opening in top to help in an "Opperman" type wreck. 

Hey linbob how do you hold the wing on your sprint car??

Hey KPW, how are you doing?  Haven't seen you guys for a while.

I can't imagine a way to keep Sprint Car wings on the cars.  There really isn't much to them to grab onto with a teather or anything.  If a person looks at one after it's torn up in a wreck it's pretty much fly weight material.

Stan Meissner

Here's a shot of a Sprint Car with the wing securely fastened.  This one was taken back in 1999.  I believe this was up in Brainerd. 

Stan Meissner

Hi Stan!!  Have not seen you for awhile. Yes I just dont understand the tether talk every time something flys off one of these sprint cars!! If it was only that simple. I think I know that guy in the pic you got up there. Would love to hop back in one sometime. Might have to make that happen before the 23w retires. Would like to bang wheels with Scott a few times before we quit too.

Alot (most) of the time, don't the wing front mounts fail? (which allows the rest to twist off)..........Drilling and pinning (with a simple hood pin type device) rather than just the clamping of the tube,  might help hold the front tubes into the mounts welded onto the chassis......I know of some drivers that have modified their front mounts to that effect after losing the wings in the earlier part of violent flips.......seems to work so far.........just a suggestion.......SC

HRP wing is held on just like all the others  but would like to see something better.

Did one of the wing mount pieces cause him to his life? 

do it in the dirt

Well after reading this post. I did a Google Map search of Beaver Dam Raceway. It came up as stock car track. Yep looking at the fencing it is. No chain link fencing over the cement on the turns, ok for stock car who never flip off the ground no good for Sprint Cars. This is back to the saying if you run Sprint Cars need a fence all the way around if you have cement wall any where. Jersey Barrier or a cement wall needs a fence on it if running Sprint Cars. That sharp corner goes right through a cage of a Sprint Car. Wing staying on car with walls like this help some but still eat a roll cage.

Hey guys,

I was at the facility when this happened. Unfortunately this was a freak accident that pitted an absolute worst case scenario. Every single sprint car chassis has its weak spots, and that will never change. When you are carrying that much speed and the top of a chassis goes into a wall this can unfortunately be the result (I believe there is a video on YouTube showing this). The track was still greasy and the speeds were not that high yet, but that should prove the absolute worst case scenario here. Drivers, crews and fans understand the risks involved in this sport. This is something they agree to every time they strap into a car. As far as the wing staying on, it is my honest opinion that would have not made a difference. I dont believe having adding bars on the halo would have made a difference either in this exact case. 

In any case, a good man lost his life doing what he loved. I understand the concern for safety after situations like this, but this is racing. It will never be full proof safe. Lets just keep the family in our thoughts and prayers at this time. They are great people and they are forced to go through this difficult time. There is a fund set up online to help them out. If you would like to help out at all, that would be the place to start

Real race cars don't have fenders...

These types of accidents are happening more frequently.  I know at Wilmot Mike Decker crashed hard at the entrance of turn 3 onto the top of the concrete barrier and hurt himself enough to be out for the year.  It is obvious that they are dangerous and something should be done, remove them, or at least fence them in flush as has been stated on this or another post addressing this issue. I know it's getting a little old that these guys, who are entertaining us dangerously, keep getting seriously hurt or??? by what they hit, and not the wreck itself.

More needs to be done besides just what is around race tracks and what kind of barriers are being used. I have personally seen some equipment flaws that are very worrisome this year. Balog had welds on a front axle break at Superior. At Plymouth, Wayne Wodjeski had something very similar happen but not break all the way through. Luckily they caught it before he went back out on the track again. I am seeing car equipment start to fail more than track safety equipment. The fact is, the insurance complanies deem these facilities safe to race at, otherwise the series' would not be running at them. Does something need to be addresses with concrete barriers? Absolutely. But that has not stopped others from strapping in and going out to race. 25+ drivers will strap into their cars this weekend with the IRA and go do battle. It takes a very special breed to strap into these things, get out there, go fast and take the kinds of risks they do. I am sure safety barriers will be something that is addresses this offseason. But the simple fact is, there will never be a 100% completely safe race track to run on, ever. 

Real race cars don't have fenders...