I've never seen anything go so wrong and turn out so well. From fully crossed up sideways to straightened out without even touching the walls. Nice Save!!
Interesting bit of engineering to be learned from the slow mo. the body mounts need to seperate with lower forces... it created quite an amount of lift on a 2400 lb dragster before finally breaking away. And Todd, amazing corrections. You and your parachutes made that look easy.
That is truly an amazing piece of driving by Todd. Those reflexes were faster than instant. And the engineers that built that. After that massive explosion, everything that gave, gave. Everything that was to remain solid, remained solid.
+Joshua Gathright No driving, he's a passenger at that speed ( over 200 mph) By the time you can react and turn the wheel the car has gone 200- 300 feet and is doing something else other than it was a second ago when you reacted. The car is completely sideways 90 degrees before the wheel even begins to turn. No human can react quick enough with the right amount of steering to actually "control" the car going that fast He felt the back of the car go to the left so he turned the wheel to the left. How far is just a guess. These cars will straighten out at that speed because the rear tires are so wide they don't tend to roll in that situation. At 300 mph it's a different story.
that slo mo tells the truth here...my god all the events that took place from the time the body blew off till the car straighten back up...hats off to the driver..great job!
The reflexes of these drivers is truly commendable. Watch the slow-mo @ 0:29... now keep watching till about 0:45 and if u look closely you'll notice the front tires are already starting to turn left to compensate.... unreal how fast these guys are trained to react. The driver ends up hitting an almost 90 degree angle and STILL steers his dragster straight and saves it from hitting the wall.
I was there and those close to the fence were ready to run...I was in shock...GLAD NOTHING serious happened to Todd... being right near it was quite an eye opener...heart dropping...overall an exciting day, since Cruz Pedregon won :)
Just wanted to add...you watch drags and think "so what? Line her up and drive", but it is WAAAAY more than that when you start to learn what forces, skills and sheer power are involved.
After seeing this in super slow motion, I'm ready to nominate you for driver of the year. Todd you have to stop these wrecks there are other ways to get TV face time.
Many ignorant people say "I could do that" but those arm chair drivers truly have no idea of the huge amount of bravery it actually takes to drive a top fuel funny car.. I especially respect those brave women top fuel drivers who put there lives on the line every weekend at tracks around the country . There's absolutely no crying allowed when it comes down to "Tipping The Nitro Can"...
+PRE CBS STRATOCASTER'S I was one of those people back in my youth. Then i went to one of the summer nationals events. Omg they shake the ground, the stands shook. these cars go straight only because the drives are very good at what they do, very good. I love NHRA events but yeah I wouldn't want to try it anytime soon lol.
The body flying off is supposed to happen during an explosion. It is a safety feature designed by John Force. Without it, the driver would be trapped in the fire.
1:24 you can see his visor lift up then fall down at 1.37 I've seen many videos where it looks like the driver makes no effort to lock the visor in the down position. They just seem to close it, without snapping it in a locked position. If there had been a fireball/hot fluids/sparks at the time his visor was up, he could have easily have lost his eyesight.
I agree that. Todd has really driven really great. and still kept the cars on the road and still came without getting hurt badly...Just really shook up...But Todd is a very honest person and great person...Hope he gets out while he is still enjoying life.
WHAT AN AMAZING DRIVER!!! Unbelievable reaction speed. The corrections were in milleseconds and they were PRECISE! Talk about Balls-Of-Steel! I have got to meet that guy some day.
I agree with you 100%...Todd better get out while he can cause Jim has lost his mind. But even with that, Todd is one hell of a driver for the way he handled that situation. Even when the car went airborne he was still trying to drive out of it.
In the slow mo, it's good, then header flames disappear. Looks like combustion is still happening though as it isn't dumping raw fuel. It blows, but the supercharger is still attached. It looks like the engine is still running. There's fuel spurting from a few places, but exhaust is still coming from the tailpipes. I'm going to guess one of the coils failed? Wish I could see the racepak data.
Solution must be found to prevent supercharger blowout, John Force has big issue with this lately..SC, engine and body still large bill even without chassis damage..big safety risk also.
There was some DRIVING going on all thru the incident. It would have been cool to see exactly what was going on in the doghouse, but that guy was steering his ass off. What the slo-mo showed was maybe a bit of luck, but a TON of skill.
Chassis looks like it is made from jelly. It's not skill which saved the rollover; it was the pipes stopping the car from flipping! Driver even turned the wheels the wrong way at the start of the incident.
Similar has happened already. Not long ago a tire went in the stands and killed a lady. But engine parts have "left" the block before and badly injured people.
david webb but tethers wouldn't help. The body is bolted to the frame and latched in front...think about that. It'll rip through anything you put infront of it
As a direct result of Kalitta's death, a solution was sought to eliminate engine backfire, the cause of the spectacular engine fires often associated with Nitro burners. A solution was developed by Dave Lahey of Electromotion in Columbus, Ohio with the help of 15 time Funny Car Champion John Force, former Funny Car and Top Fuel Champion Kenny Bernstein, and seven time Top Fuel Champion Tony Schumacher: they developed a sensor that in the event of an engine backfire will automatically shut down the fuel pump and deploy the parachutes. Although several NHRA drivers have expressed their displeasure at the introduction of the new sensor, they admit that it should reduce, if not eliminate the circumstances that led to Kalitta's death. The device was made a mandatory safety requirement in 2009.
