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

Drops the mic !! PA POW !!! LOL

In a sprint?  A midget? A B-mod? What?

Larson stated the same thing on the Rip The Fence podcast earlier this year. When asked about finding a non-wing sprint car ride for the 4 Crown, he shied away from the idea and stated that it's hard to get comfortable in one of those cars as it always feels like the left rear wheel is trying to bike up and flip you over. 

Ask Frank

Which had the hardest hit? Sprint with wing because of speed or midget because of no wing to cushion blow , or silver crown because of weight?

Happened almost directly in front of me that night. Was watching in the infield that night and happened to be in 1 & 2 when it happened. Could see it happening almost in slow motion and I don't think I have ever had a more sickening feeling throughout my body than when I saw the second car hit him in the cage. Was very relieved when I saw him get out of the car.

Getting back to the quote, I'm sure all the drivers have their own ratings as to how much more dangerous one form is over the other. Probably a good arguement for each class being dangerous and most drivers admit they all have some sort of screw loose to be doing this. I appreciate all of them willing to do it and always hope for a race with low attrition for the safety of them.

Heard a pretty popular say one time that you don't have to crazy to drive sprint car but it helps.

What was your hardest hit...the one where you fell into a fire and got crispy arm.. I thought you only drank during the weekends.. lol

Murphy you must be lawyer....and just like that a discrepancy is found in the wording in the fact that I did not specify in my answer that yes or no it was or was not a sprint car or midget. It was a ump modified, an A- mod. I absolutely understand that even though I was doing about 110 mph on a big track and covered about 250 feet with a vicious flip I have no business voicing my opinion in this matter. Please disregard any comment i have made and i will exit this post and not return. Lmao

tenter now remember if there is a post on here about a racetrack, a race, a driver etc, you must have been to that track, been to that race, or know the driver personally to have any sort of opinion I'll be asking because I have to know so be ready

    Thanks. I live on the upper plains. A modified around here is low-profile, kinda like a late model without front fenders. I thought UMP modifieds were more upright, higher profile cars. 

The night Dawley and Larson were fataly injured at Knoxville was basically the end of non wing 410 racing there. There have been some wing deaths since but the wings do cushion the impact .

Actually, I don't even like thinking of it.  I think When Gary Scott lost his life on the front stretch it was the end.  His arm restraints failed and it was a terrible thing to see.  He was Scott Bonar's favorite driver and unfortunately Scott was with me when it happened.

I thought it was a legit question?

I believe this is right.   The Larson/Dawley accident happened in 1979 I think?   Gary Scott in 1981?    After that Knoxville made wings mandatory.   

Ask Mack McClellen or Danny Drinan if Midgets can be scary!!

Larson/Dawley was in July of '79 and Scott was in May of '82.  After the Scott tragedy, some owners (including Bob Trostle) said they're not bringing their cars back unless they mandate wings.  That was pretty much it.  That was a tough time for traditional sprints on half miles.  The speed of the cars had FAR exceeded the safety equipment.  The safety equipment has come a long ways since then (HANS, belts, restraints, full containment seats, extra bars in the chassis, etc) ... but nonwing sprint cars on half miles are still not incredibly safe.  I don't have the balls to do it... but enjoy watching those that do!

Dan Drinan flipped the crap out of his car on the Springfield  one mile track.  His Drinan midget frame held up and a picture of bare frame after crash showed no evidence of such a hard crash.  He told me crash did not scare him because he has no memory at all of crash.

The harder you drive it in the car takes a set from all the air over top and hitting the side panel. You can feel that set in your seat and you just smash the pedal thru the corner.  You don't get that feeling with a wingless car, a wingless car doesn't take a set and because you set a wingless car up so much different if you bump or hit a rut or cushion wrong, well you've witnessed the rest of that story. It's the seat of the pants feel you just don't get without the wing. My feelings, midgets don't belong on 1/2 mile tracks. I drove a wingless car one time. Hot lapped it, that SOB was like a dog in a cage just waiting to hurt me. Thankfully we got rained out. I never accepted a sprint car wingless right after that. Are wing cars safer ? In most roll overs yes, but if your in a nasty one that wing is usually gone after the first hit anyhow. So does it really matter ? I don't think so. 

In the Sprint Car and Midget article, Justin Grant did not say he was talking about winged sprint cars or midgets or Silver Crown cars.  There was a large picture of him in a silver crown car and another smaller picture of him in a winged sprint car.  He does drive non-winged sprint cars most of the time.  

 Lawlessness and liberalism equals Hell.  NY City, 
Detroit, Seattle, Chicago, Minnepolis, etc. We saw it. 
Burning hundreds of buildings, a thousand assaults and 
dozens of murders. Getting worser and worser.

Well Donny Schatz said the exact opposite a few years back with us on Beerhill Gang TV. When we asked him about running the chili bowl, he said he did it, but felt no need to do it again as being in a midget scared the crap out of him. He didn;t feel safe in them and while the driver in him wanted to do it, he just was good crossing the experience off his bucket list and moving on from it