NHRA racers stress safety

Wednesday, April 4, 2001 | 10:18 a.m.

At first glance, it might seem that NHRA Winston Drag Racing -- in which the Nitro Top Fuel and Funny Cars reach speeds in excess of 300 mph -- is the most hazardous form of motor sports.

In reality, Mopar Parts Funny Car driver Dean Skuza said, most drag racers feel safer in their 6,000-horsepower vehicles than they do in their passenger cars.

"NHRA is the safest (motor) sport in the world -- no matter how you look at it," Skuza said as he prepared for this weekend's SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "NHRA has touted itself as the safest motor sport in the world and if it wasn't, I wouldn't participate because I'm far from a thrill-seeker.

"I wouldn't even participate in it if it were dangerous; I get more nervous driving down the streets at 55 miles per hour -- and for good reason."

The NHRA has suffered only one pro driver fatality in a national event in the past decade; Top Fuel driver Blaine Johnson was killed in an accident at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis in 1996.

Although the issue of safety in motor sports has been in the spotlight following the Feb. 18 death of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Skuza said the NHRA has been a leader in safety almost since its inception in 1951.

"I think a lot of sanctioning bodies over the years have used NHRA as a gauge for safety," Skuza said. "A lot of times you're in the heat of battle and you may compromise safety unconsciously but NHRA is there to say you can't do that.

"We have been an overkill type of organization in many ways -- safety included -- with things like having to get your seatbelts looked at every year. A lot of the racers complain about it because it's tedious but I feel kind of good doing it even though, a lot of times, it seems like it may be a waste of time."

John Force, a 10-time NHRA Winston Funny Car champion, said safety always has been a priority in the NHRA.

"Safety has gone up tremendously, and I am one of the leading campaigners in terms of safety," Force said. "I tend to ask my crew chief instead of fixing the car after a crash, let's make the car safer to keep the driver alive.

"(The NHRA has implemented safety) elements like a structure around the driver; direct fire over the driver's head; oxygen on-board so the driver can breathe; double header walls; roof hatch so drivers can get out from the roof if the side windows burn off; push-button fire triggers; and little wheels under the car so if the big tires burn off, you can still steer the car with those."

Several drivers in both the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories have begun using the HANS (head and neck support) device; Larry Dixon not only wears the HANS device but has switched from the traditional five-point safety harness to a six-point system.

Top Fuel driver Gary Scelzi has been instrumental in the development of an inflatable Driver Protection System (DPS) which is being developed by the David Clark Company of Worcester, Mass.

The DPS inflates upon impact and is designed to support the driver's head, neck and torso within the driver's seat during a crash.

But Skuza said development in the ways Top Fuel and Funny Cars are designed and constructed is the primary reason drag racing it at the forefront in safety.

"Top Fuel cars are designed to break apart on impact and that's the safest way to do that," Skuza said. "Our cars, I've seen some pretty bad impacts and the way they're designed, you can hit a brick wall at 200-plus and you may have a sore neck or something, but at least you can survive.

"When I'm in my car, I never feel like 'God, I hope I don't hit anything.' I always feel like this is the safest thing I've ever sat in in my life -- and it is."

Although Skuza places a premium on safety, he admitted he has not yet worn the HANS device during competition.

"In our particular category (Funny Car), the way the cockpits are configured and the way our escape hatches are, it's not real user-friendly yet but I'm hoping we can come up with something that will work," he said.

"There are Funny Car drivers who wear it now so I'm not saying it can't be done but for me, personally, it has to be perfect. It's something that I just don't feel 100 percent comfortable with yet."