I have seen some drag videos where the car crash after the finishline. Spinn, simply. What is the problem? Is it the driver release the gaspedal too fast, or is the rear end jammed, or is the trac is too slippy after finish?Or something else? Thanks!
I suppose there are lots of reasons (numerous potential mechanical failures). The one's I've personally seen and know the reasons why: * Down-shifted to 1st instead of 3rd (yes, it happens). Sent car in a tail spin. No damage. * Tire blowout (too many passes on slicks). Hit left wall. Needed new fender/door/1/4 panel to repair * Freeze plug popped out at finish line dumping water on rear tires. Slammed into left wall. Totaled (my buddy walked away) * Simply not enough track to stop, causing hard braking then skid. I've personally seen this at least 5 times. * Braking hard to make the first (of two or three) turn-offs. Your mileage may vary.
i have been told by a few people... when the race is over.. do not slam on the brakes... the speed and the track having less traction near the finish line will cause the car to fish tail and possibly slide out of control... also you have to remember.. less work is done at the end of the track .. and oil and water droplets could be built up more so at the end... and i rarely see any body cleaning the finish line.... slick track + braking too hard = problems
another cause is those racers who want to put their powerglide (or other trans; pg is most common) into neutral to either check plug readings, or go easy on the aluminum rods. sometimes they tickle reverse because maybe their linkage isnt quite right. thats the reason for the transbrakes that require pressing the button to activate reverse. used to be a common problem in the old days. really fun to watch. both rears lock up and if they cant manage to keep it straight, they often roll the car a couple of times.
I've seen drivers bump reverse as Dave stated. Seen a few engines push oil out of the valve covers and end up on the tires. Majority of top end wrecks I've seen are drivers who jam the brakes and lock up a brake caliper. I prefer to take the last turnoff, thank you.
majority that i have seen have been someone hitting the brakes too hard to keep from breaking out. one wheels brake locks up. also as mentioned taking it out of gear after the finish line and going into reverse. i had one friend that had a spindle break at 135 mph and another one rain was starting but only at the top end. he touched the breaks and went sideways and into the wall, totaled his 10 second car. i just take my foot off the gas at the finish line. hard to screw up that way but i'm sure some day i'll find a way.
I have told many people that the scariest part of my run is when I lift off the gas. Everything is set-up so loose, that when the weight transfer start to shift, it get really loosie-goosie. Between that an as low-air-pressure as possible on those soft side walls, it will dance all over the place, it can be a handful getting it to stop, must be real smooth with the brake and the wheel. I have had a couple times my bung-hole puckered tighter than normal when slowing down. I can imagine some of the really fast cars must incounter the same thing.
top ten reasons: poorly set up car downshifting dumping too hard at the stripe improper brake bias (especially with small tire cars) driveshaft takes a hike, leaks oil all over motor grenades, leaks oil (been there done that!!) tire failure, front OR rear steering mechanism flex/breakage...also can be due to chassis flex junk on track driver error...not paying attention Poorly set up 4 links or ladder bars can be a problem. Whatever you do to get the car to launch straight at the starting line causes an exact opposite at the finish line. If for instance you add preload to the right rear to get the car to quit launching to the right, when you let off the gas at the other end, it'll generally go left. Downshifting is a no-no. Yeah, it's a little hard on the motor to be spinning max RPM with no load, but it's a lot safer to let the engine compression brake than it is to downshift to reverse & go on your top at 140+. When a driveshaft breaks, 99% of the time it's because it is not up to par...when it is spinning 7000 RPM and has any bend to it whatsoever, it is more inclined to break at max RPM than it is at the launch pad. I've seen steering shafts come apart at the finish line too....they weren't properly fastened or improperly designed from the get-go and when you let off, all that chassis flex goes in the opposite direction, sometimes it's so severe that it rips stuff apart...like steering linkages, 4 link rod ends, ladder bar rod ends, etc. I'd say the #1 reason is due to downshifting. #2 goes to mechanical failure, either engine or trans, causing a leak.
Thanks to everybody! In my country drag race is wery young motorsport, this year was the first official championships season. All together 4 Races. I have one race win in the bracet class and now it is going worse, I like racing :evilsmile My question about crash, is beacause I plan to go to the traction bars and slicks in next season(other mods to), we have here some know-how, but sometimes you do'nt get answeres to your questions I'v allready read the race tips in forum... Thanks!
congratulations on your win. how many cars do you get? and are they seperated into different classes? do you follow nhra or ihra rules?
Thank you! We are have our own BHRA(baltic HRA), so the rules rules. On 2005 season without bracet class 111 competitors have points, in bracet class participate usually some 20-30 drivers. We have A;B;C;D;F;G class, last two classis is motorcicles. + bracet class. Our "own" best ET is 9,2/237 km/h, but best ET on our aerfields is high 7, top speed 302 km/h . Last summer some fanatics and me to visit our neighbour country Finland. They have 30 year experience in drag race. I watched EU championships and the top fuel dragster's to... So, thats the story.
evry once in a while the magazines here show some of the cars from finland. they really have some nice cars there. maybe soon we''ll see some from estonia.
