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chasis broke and impaled him on steel tubing.
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His chutes came off the car when he pulled them.Seems like a bad mistake was made.
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His chutes came off the car when he pulled them.Seems like a bad mistake was made.
That's what I was thinking. Maybe a pin was left off the strap mounting point or the bracket broke.
I've raced Mark before. RIP 
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What a tragedy!!! Too many deaths in the last couple of years!!
They shortened the track to slow the cars down and they still have safety issues. Was teh cute an item on a checklist? Was the car built correctly? After all, they say he built all of his own cars
NHRA in general, they need to review the tech inspection procedures of the cars, the tracks themselves, the speed rating of tires, chassis fabrication quality, etc...
The rules are there but as is in any competive sport, people will cut corners to save money or weight or whatever and compromise safety.
I'm not saying that is what happened here but an overall opinion of what I have personally witnessed as inconsistent tech inspections and people knowingly violating safety rules.
Prayers to his family and friends for their loss
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Anyone questioning whether the car was built properly or not, Paul Page included, need to put their own foot in their mouth. Contrary to the belief of those that can't fabricate, your name doesn't have to be Hadman to be able to build a safe and competitive car. I don't know Mark, but I have no doubt he was fully capable. It's entirely possible a mistake was made in the attachment of the chutes between rounds, but that's nothing more than guessing at this point. Sounds to me like he was a real racers racer, and had the true hot rodder spirit, unlike most nowadays who write a check.
Quote:A lot of chutes are reloaded on stands rather than on the car.....gets things out of the way..then they re-install them back on the car.Not sure if his set up was like that or not.
it really is sad i always have a lot more respect for people like that actually build the cars they race. there's a lot of difference between writing a check and spending hours on end fabbing, welding and building a car. imho you get a lot more personal satisfaction from the whole thing as well. from the "stands" it sure looks like the chutes weren't anchored. not like anything failed but just weren't anchored to begin with. not being familiar with the between rounds activity on a car like that is there any reason the chute anchoring point would have been disconnected as part of a standard procedure?
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not being familiar with the between rounds activity on a car like that is there any reason the chute anchoring point would have been disconnected as part of a standard procedure?
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Mark Niver knew how to build a race car and did it for several years. Sometimes I'm not sure who the dummy is, Paul Page for saying the things he does, or the people that hired him and told him to say it. There are nights the wife and I sit in the TV room and make bets how long it will take him to screw up. It doesn't take long.
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look directly at NHRA for this. The chutes came off the car-- it happens. The driver was able to slow the car down, drove across the sand and right into the center of the net, exactly as he should have.
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I heard on another web site the shorten the shut down area by almost half to put in a Cart track...Is this true...They said it just went in a month or so ago?
Can anyone confirm this??