Category: Videos

 By David G. Firestone

Editor’s Note, I was going to run an article on driver suits as a marketing tool, but I shelved that for now. I wasn’t happy with the way it was turning out so I decidied to run this instead. DF

Drag racing has been a popular form of auto racing, both to watch and participate. The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series is the top of the mountain in drag racing. Four classes compete in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, top fuel, funny car, pro stock, and pro stock motorcycle. Each has their own unique uniform quirks.

Let’s start with top fuel. Top fuel dragsters are 25 feet long, nitromethane powered and run 10,000 horsepower. While they are traditionally open cockpit, in recent years canopies, introduced by Tony Schumacher have come into style. Schumacher said that when he drives, he wears a 5-layer suit, with two layers underneath that. As the fuel tank is at the front of the car, and the engine directly behind the driver, this style of suit is very necessary. He also wears the older sunglasses style visor, as does TJ Zizzo. I bought this visor from TJ and asked him why he has as much of it blacked out as he does.  He explained that when he is in the car, he needs to focus as much on the track as possible, and it’s easy to get distracted. This visor style helps create tunnel vision, and helps keep him focused. He also said that he blacks out more of the visor, so it looks like this now.

Funny cars are the next category. The name came about when drivers would take a regular car, move the front and rear wheelbases forward, and add large tires on the back wheels. Fran Hernandez, who at the time was head of Mercury’s racing program is credited as the first person to call them funny cars, doing so in 1965. Funny cars are, like top fuel dragsters, nitromethane powered, but these cars are only 8,000 horsepower. The driver suits and helmets are identical in design to top fuel driver suits. Older helmets, such as this Cruz Pedregon model from 2011 have respirators built into them. Since the engine is in front of the driver, breathing in fumes is a concern. However with the new modifications to the cars, these respirators have all but disappeared from the sport.

Pro stocks are next. Pro stocks are 1,300 horsepower, the engine has to be made in the same place as the engine, and use 118 octaine racing gas, instead of nitromethane. Because no forced induction can be used in pro stock, such as turbo charges, superchargers, or nitrous oxide, the cars are very technical. While pro stock drivers tend to wear the same basic driver suits, many drivers choose to wear two-piece suits instead of one-piece suits. I’ve never seen that in NASCAR, IndyCar, or F1.

The last class we will cover is pro stock motorcycle. Pro stock motorcycles are rated at around 375 horsepower, are designed to look like their street counterparts, and the handlebars can’t be used to turn the bike. These uniforms are unlike any other uniform in drag racing, in that fire protection is not their major design function. If something goes wrong in pro stock motorcycle, the rider will most likely be thrown from the bike. As such, the riders wear traditional motorcycle leathers, so that if the worst case scenario happens, the rider won’t be skinned alive.

As with all auto racing classes, safety is fluid, it’s constantly changing. After Scott Kalitta was tragically killed in Englishtown in 2008, a controversial decision was made that due to the power and speed that top fuel and funny cars create, they would lessen the length of the race from a quarter mile, or 1,320 feet to 1000 feet. This hasn’t sat well with fans, but has saved lives in the long run. One of the most critical safety features led to the current safety culture. All top fuel and funny car drivers use t-shaped parachutes. These were invented by Bill Simpson after a drag racing accident. This led to him working with NASA as a parachute consultant. As fate would have it, he ran into Pete Conrad, who was a racer when he wasn’t an astronaut. Conrad introduced Simpson to a material used for parachutes called Nomex. Conrad suggested that it would be a great material for driver suits. Simpson agreed, and the rest is history.

By David G. Firestone

Just a real quick one this week. I’ve said it before, but I hate winter. The cold can be almost unbearable, the snow gets annoying quickly. I hate waiting for buses in this weather. I’m seeing spring products in stores, and the racing seasons are starting. Spring training indicates that spring has started, but I have yet to see it. This part of winter is my least favorite part of my least favorite season. I want the weather to get warm, but it isn’t. The waiting really is the hardest part. As I write this, it is 24 degrees outside, the high is projected to be 48 degrees. Waiting for the warmth to start really sucks.

My two big indicators that spring is on the way are the beginning of the racing seasons and Spring Training in baseball. Spring Training is awesome because it’s baseball, but more relaxed. The record is irrelevant, and the final rosters haven’t been set yet. I watch a lot of Spring Training. The teams and fans are much more relaxed, they know that the best part of the year is on the way as well. I don’t have the time or resources, but some day, I want to just go to Arizona and spend 2 or 3 weeks just at Spring Training games. That would rule. Maybe someday, who knows?

From everyone living in places where it gets cold in the winter, I speak for all of us when I ask Spring to HURRY THE HELL UP!

By David G. Firestone

Had some great racing in NASCAR this week, but the best story didn’t come from Atlanta Motor Speedway, but rather who DIDN’T make to Atlanta, specifically Team Xtreme Racing. Specifically, they had their car stolen…their RACE CAR stolen. How did that happen?

Bad weather hit Charlotte last week, and the main hauler with pit crew and other racing equipment was sent earlier to avoid it. The car however wasn’t ready, and was transported via pickup with a trailer on the back. The trailer arrived at a hotel in Morrow Georgia, roughly 16 or so miles from Atlanta Motor Speedway. The driver met up with the team, and bunked down. During the night, thieves stole the truck, trailer and all from the hotel parking lot. The car was later found in Snellville, Georgia, roughly 36 miles, as was the pickup truck, though the trailer, which had $125,000 worth of racing equipment is, as of this writing, still missing.

It’s easy to understand why it would get stolen. Neither the truck or trailer had any team or sponsor logos printed on it, and the thieves probably thought it was construction equipment, maybe lawn equipment, and thought they could steal and fence the goods. When they realized what they stole, they dumped it on the side of the road. I even understand why the team transported the hauler and car separate from each other. What I don’t get is why Team Xtreme didn’t at least have a backup car. At the very least, you might have have to pull out if you wreck your car in practice, but at least you have SOMETHING. Team Xtreme has said they will have a backup car for Las Vegas this week…glad it took the primary car getting stolen to make that happen.

Some other news and notes from this week…

For the second time in as many races, a driver has hit an unprotected concrete wall during a race. Jeff Gordon was the unlucky driver this time. NASCAR has stated repeatedly that adding SAFR barriers is a top priority, but one has to wonder why this hasn’t been completed as of yet, especially with the safety culture being what it is.

NASCAR has implemented a new rule in the wake of the Jeff Gordon/Brad Keselowski brawl that took place at Texas last year. This new rule is specifically designed to reduce the threat of a brawl by reducing the number of crew members that can come on pit road around a car after a race.

Miller and Penske announced this week that Brad Keselowski will run a throwback scheme at some point this season. The choices are Rusty Wallace’s MGD scheme or Bobby Allison’s Miller High Life scheme. Fans can vote on which scheme they would like to see raced. I would love the gold Miller High Life scheme myself…

Landon Cassill finished both Daytona and Atlanta in last place, becoming the first driver since Glenn Dunaway in 1949 to sweep the first two races of the season in last place. Let’s see if he can pull off the hat trick at Las Vegas next week.

Kurt Busch has agreed to the terms and conditions dictated by NASCAR that he must complete to get reinstated. Busch is currently suspended from NASCAR due to the ruling by a Delaware court that he committed an act of domestic abuse. There is, as of yet, no timetable for his return, or if he will even return in 2015.

Kyle Busch was released from the hospital this week, after his crash at Daytona left him with a badly broken leg. David Ragan moved from Front Row Motorsports to fill in for Busch in his absence. The driver of the #34 CSX Ford for Las Vegas has yet to be determined.

Finally, Nickelodeon has announced that the Kansas race on May 9 will be known as the SpongeBob SquarePants 400.

For Season 13, the first Amtrak series, we will feature the first of four “mish-mosh” editions, this one is a general edition, this one features some sports and non sports memorabilia.

Union College in Schenectady, New York has a football tradition that extends back to 1886. The Union College Dutchman have been playing football for 126 seasons. They did not play in 1906 due to the death of Harold Moore. It was this moment, in a game against New York University in late 1905 that Moore died, due to a kick in the head. That kick created a cerebral hemorrhage, which killed him. As fate would have it, Teddy Roosevelt was already actively campaigning for changes in rules in football due to his son playing at Harvard. After Moore’s death, Roosevelt helped create the NCAA, which implemented many rule changes, and has saved countless lives over the years.

10 years before the series of events which would change the game of football forever, the Union College Dutchmen were coached by E.M. Church, and their captain was J.G. Beckwith. They played a total of 9 games, and were 4-4-1. In preparation for the season, Beckwith and Church laid out the plays, and created a series of hand gestures that would be used to communicate the play from the coach to the player. This document is fascinating for many reasons. I love stuff like this, that makes sense to the people who create it, but is designed to be nonsensical to anyone else. This is also an example of how simple sports really were back then.First off, I love really old handwriting. My hand writing is awful, and the handwriting from the late 19th century looks astounding. For a document that is as old as it is, it is in great shape. It’s also interesting because if you look at it carefully, it is designed to make sense only to the people who are looking at it. To me, the words are written in such a way that if someone who isn’t a football player is reading it, they won’t understand.