Untethering the debacle in Somona

     This past weekend, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag racing series made its annual stop in Sonoma California, race number 2 in the Western Swing, The Sonoma Nationals. What started out as an exciting event for all drag racing fans and officials, quickly turned into one sore subject, overiding one of the most competitive weekends in the sport.

     On friday night qualifying, 2011 Funny Car Champ Matt Hagan, ran the 3rd quickest elapsed time to 1000 feet in funny car history, a 3.986 over 320 MPH. But Saturday afternoon in Sonoma, would paint an entirely different picture.

     Let's go back to April at the Z-Max 4-Wide Nationals. During Saturday qualifying, Robert Hight's Mustang Bodied Funny Car's engine exploded, sending the fiberglass body flying into the grandstands. Thankfully, no one in the crowd was injured. The NHRA then designed a tether system,  to keep the body atop the frame rails. Though it was well intended, the consequences of it were something that no one saw coming.

     In the final qualifying session, Bob Tasca III ran against Robert Hight.  Both ran nearly identical elapsed times, with the edge to Hight (4.076 to Tasca's 4.078). Just as both cars crossed the finish line, the burst panel on Tasca's Mustang exploded into the air as flames began to erupt from underneath the fiberglass body. As the Rhode Island Native exited his car, he motioned to the Safety Safari for a fire extinguisher and to lift the body from the chassis. Needless to say, it was a rather harrowing experience for the Motorcraft/Quicklane driver.

     Sunday during the second round of funny car eliminations, Pitch Energy driver Johnny Gray faced off with 15x Champ John Force in the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. As both cars reached 1/2 track, Gray's engine exploded, as Force went on to capture the win. The firewall of the Pitch Energy Dodge blocked Johnny's view as he safely brought the car to a stop just passed the finish line.  Here is video of the incident below courtesy of the NHRA and ESPN:

     Johnny Gray Engine Explosion

     Ive long been a fan of making the sport of racing, be it Drag Racing, Nascar or any form of auto racing. Of course, safety is paramount, but making knee jerk reactions when it comes to keeping a funny car body on the chassis and the Safety safari cant figure out how to lift it? A better design must be made, or training on how to quickly unlatch the new system must take place immediately.

     Both Bob Tasca III, Johnny Gray and crews were right in voicing their displeasure in the new tethering system. If there were to be an engine explosion with the body being contained by the tether system, then not being able to lift the body in time, drivers lives' could be in serious danger. Greater care must be taken in devising a way to quickly unlatch the new body fasteners on the front of these funny cars.

     First and foremost, Take care of the drivers properly, then the racing wil, take care of itself