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Will shortening the races spoil the show?
“I think the fans aren’t even going to notice, if you want to know the truth,” Worsham said. “We run 4.7 seconds, 4.8 seconds. Now we’re going to run 4.1 seconds. It’s the very end of the run. It’s past the grandstands. The action’s going to be the smell, the smoke, ground’s going to be shaking when they come by ’em. They’re still going to be going 300 miles an hour. I don’t think anybody’s even going to notice, other than the times are going to be a little different.”
Light said the NHRA has already been in contact with other racing organizations, including Formula One, the FIA, NASCAR and the IRL, as well as the University of Nebraska, which developed the SAFER Barriers used to absorb energy in crashes on oval tracks, to discuss possible new safety measures on the cars and at the tracks.
“We’re just really reaching out to all areas to find out what is better, what’s out there, what’s available,” he said. “We want to know what will work for our sport. And some things may not. What’s designed for a NASCAR stock car going 180 miles an hour in circles may not necessarily apply to a lighter-bodied car going in a straight line. But there’s things that we can learn and things that we can adapt.”
Light said the sanctioning body intends to scrutinize every aspect of Kalitta’s crash, including what caused the explosion and how could it have been prevented, why the parachutes deployed but didn’t blossom and why his brakes were ineffective in slowing or stopping the car.
“Beyond the technical things, we’re looking at the facilities, shutdown areas, restraint devices, sand pits, all of those things,” Light explained. “It won’t happen overnight, but we will come up with safer race cars and safer racetracks.”
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