Dart on fire and no one to put it out

Thats simply just amazing to watch. I cant believe what I am witnessing there. Some of you know, some dont I am sure, but I am the Chairman of the Board for a 50 year plus running dragstrip here in New York. Due to a State Supreme Court order, ( and a bunch of liberal home owners) we are only able to race on Sundays at our track do to local ordinances. As you can imagine, that puts quite a bit of financial pressure on us. The money a track makes is all in the test and tunes, fun nights etc. Race days with all the expenses are NOT the money makers contrary to what people believe. That being said, with our one day a week income, we still have a fully prepped 200 gallon foam equipped fire truck, seperate EMT vehicle, and a full staff of EMTs and personnel that are trained in using the fire truck. We also have extinguishers on the starting line, and observation man at 1/4 mile, and 2 EMTs in the fire truck at the turn off along with at least 4 fire extinguishers, and one large one at the early turn off. Witnessing what I did on this video is incredibly disturbing. There is no answer other than the owner simply NOT CARING.

And for all the golf cart vultures and ambulance chasers....STAY OUT OF THE WAY! All you do is impede the saftey staff and rescue personnel...and quite simply...get in the way!. There is nothing you can do unless you are trained EMT or rescue person...and in fact..you make things worse.Please...please....stay out of the way.

Race tracks right now are having a very difficult time surviving in itself. I would never suggest suing a race track, as it could easily close the only place many people have to race. I WOULD in this case request a meeting with the owner, bring the video, and start some dialogue. Agin, this is a total lack of saftey and certainly concern for his racers. If you choose to race at a facility like this, then shame on you.

I'm glad the driver is ok...thats what is important at the moment.

Hate it for Donald he is a very nice guy

That's scary stuff. Anyone know if it was a total loss? Can he save any of it?

that hurt just to see.seriously there should be a #¤¤-*/& safetycrew at the top of the track there is no ifs,buts or whys about it.without that you may just as well race on the street. have had three underhoodfires so far in my life and have fortunaly been able to put them out on my own,at the track there should be people at the topend that can help out.

That is horrible!! Made me sick just watching it. I am glad the driver is ok...And yes...where was the safety crew?

Atleast Donald is OK.. That's the most important thing...

Did this happen at Motor Mile Dragway??

Glad he's okay, the car can be fixed. Shame on that track for not having the support equpiment to respond to that. But, on the other hand...

Anyone who has that much money in that fast of a car and DOESN'T have on board fire suppresion gets some (if not most) of the blame. Sorry but it had to be said. You cannot depend 100% on the track for YOUR OWN safety, period.

You know those waivers we all sign entering a track that mitigates their responsibility? Here's why. The track won't do anything for this poor guy...he signed that away in order to compete that day.

It is really a damn shame that this had to happen. Hopefully HE and those reading will take a lesson and protect YOURSELF.

Rant over...

I wanna cry, and it aint my car,
Freaking idiots

Damm i've always like that car,glad he OK hope the car can be repaired.

Neither of those cars racing had a fire extinguisher in them?? I have one mounted right next to my shifter in my car... I thought you were required to have one???

Very sad that this happened. Glad everyone is ok

Its comforting to see some driving their carts 2mph just to check it out. In the way and not even in a hurry enough to jump out and RUN up to be of some kind of assistance.

Sad sad sad all across the board, this makes 3 cars ive seen burn down due to lack of.....

Yes.....without that you may just as well race on the street.

So Im a street racer, with an onboard fire system, 1.5 years ago I found myself stuck wot on spray on the streets, got the fire out and I tnt within 1000ft of a real fire station.

The lack of real fire people and the proper eq. in the vids ive seen from the track of these cars burning down is senseless, as mentioned why go if its not safe???

One thing ive noticed in some of the recent vids is it looks like pumps are still running providing raw fuel to burn....not saying thats the case here.... but where is the master "master switch in the car".

Yes when things go wrong things happen very quickly but it is also easy to get complaicent in a good running smooth car, I did and got bit....Now every run I go through a "what if" checklist.

Again, glad to see the driver walk away and sad to see a nice well known car jacked...I think it was easy to see the drivers frustration with his car burning and no one doing dick about it.

Now dog me all people wish for street racing, but I can say my street ride is safer then most track cars in almost everyway.

I have to agree with Competion Wedge and CudaDoug, good luck getting anybody to pay for that but, it is a sad testament to the safety of some tracks. Can you still buy key on insurance for a race car?

In addition to this car, I watched a really nice Camaro (I know) on youtube burn to the ground because the only extinguishers that track had were filled with....... WATER!!

I've never had an extinguisher in my car, so shame on me, I've been lucky and probably got away with something.

However.... If not properly mounted (and even if they are) extinguishers can become lethal projectiles inside a car during a crash or rollover. In Roger Burgess's pro mod crash, BOTH his fire bottles went shooting down the track and in the grass upon the cars impact, obviously not helping at that point.

Point is, even if it's a good idea to have fire bottles in the car, it's inexcusable for a track to not be prepared for such a common occurance. And parking an unmanned, inoperable "safety" truck at the top end for appearence is just low rent.

Hope you guys can rebuild it. Hated watching that!

Master switches are fine and dandy, but, the fuel pump should be wired through an oil pressure switch.

Interesting, although when I was stuck at wot on spray with no place to go the master on my panal is what shut everything down, currently the only thing not through my master is the arm switch for the prog controller, and the under hood fire system is on a pull switch hooked to a hood pin lanyard coming out of my dash with a loop, just pull and pray.


But overall thats not a bad idea, maybe a good thing as a redundent? system, but I think everyone argees you just cant be too safe.

over on the bullit i think someone is setting up a pay pal acc. if anyone wants to throw a little cash that way so they can fix the car. brad

This is why im adding a fire system to the fish(2 nozzles under hood and one for driver)and a lokar in car power cut off switch...Mike and Donald,so sorry for your lose and if there's anything i can do let me know.....

Uknow what really bites on this deal. This track does an awesome job prepping the track. They seem to be one of the better facilities. I fealt that they were on top of things. Man, a desperate hope of a fire truck. No one there. Hey I can start it and use it myself. Nope don't run. Probably no water on it either.

This track has taken collections up for people in bad accidents. I'm sure no collections for blowed motors or trannies. But, there is no question the damage could have been minimized if the track had been better prepared. Something failed on this car. It is part of racing but, like said, if there is not going to be anyone to aid in your personal safety why have belts cages or anything. Screw it just take the chance. Looks like the track did.

Everyone talks fire extinguisher or fire system. Halon would have cut the blaze. Providing there was no heat and gas to fire up again that is a fix. A fire extinguisher if found and used quick enough may have saved some material. Once that glass hood was on fire neither would have put it out. Just too hot. Nothing would have beat a man in a working fire truck to meet you at the turn and very possibly save your life.

Donald is furious as everyone would be. The first thing he did was thank God for saving his life and helping him keep his cool and not killing anyone that was trying to film his car burning. I always liked Donald from the first time I met him in 94' when he towed my wifes car for us early one morning. I'm sure he will get through this. Mike also had a lot in this car. These guys really took a hard blow. We all suffer with racing from time to time. Sure hope they can get through this one.

Leon

Man, that was hard to watch. That's a tough deal, for sure. Glad he's alright.

Donald I'am truly sorry about the Dart.Mike I know we dont see eye to eye but man that is really a bad deal.If you guys need anything let me know! I have some Dart parts that I will gladly give to the rebuild.Watching that made me want to never run my Dart again!!!!

That really sucks to see. I've always carried an extinguisher in the car, but i doubt halon would have put it out.
Here's the original thread on yb, there were people talking about setting up a paypal or something of that nature.
http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=408145&page=9

Thanks for all of the sympathy and well wishes.

I don't want to say to much as we don't where this may go legally.

As I said in my post on YB, yes we should have had a fire system on the car and there WILL be one on the Dart or any other guy I have anything to do with in the future. However I do not think a 5 pound Halon nor a small extinguisher mounted somewhere in the car would have done any good. A 10-15 pound foam system maybe.

Also, Donald killed the power to everything on the overhead switch panel as he went across the finish line. He was out of the throttle at 4.82 seconds according to the Racepak and then killed the master cutoff switch at the back of the car when he got out.

With all of the damage we may never know what started the fire. I will tell you it got hot enough to melt the front bowl off of the carb as well as the boosters & squirters out of the carb.

Mike Gray

I can't recall any of the tracks I raced at when living in the Dakotas that had ANYONE at the top end of the track. Most of the time we were lucky to have any emt/fire personell at all. Now running Vegas is a different story. They have dressed safety crews at the line, and top end ready to go. I'm sure the car is too far gone to know what failed, but please tell me it didn't run one of these:

Thanks for all the kind words and support, Mike and myself appreciate it. The car made a move toward the center line just before the mph cone and I had to lift, as I took my eyes off the tach I noticed the flames at the carb. I lifted at 4.8 sec into the run and shut off everything at approx 5.5 that included ignition, fuel pump, fan and water pump. I cranked the starter trying to suck out the flames, I then noticed it looked like the flames were coming over the front of the carb instead. I slowed the car and turned toward the fire truck while reaching for the fastener tool to remove the hood. As I came to a stop the flames immediately came up over the windshield and roof blacking the windshield, at this time the smoke became unbearable and I abandoned the thought of removing the hood and got out as fast as possible. I agree I should have had a extingsher although I probably would not have had time to remove it and I don't think it would have done any good unless the hood was off and I could have gotten to the source of the blaze. The 25lb NOS bottle is empty and that I feel was fueling the blaze.

Donald

First off, glad you are ok...how bad is the car hurt?

That is just terrible! Yet another reason NOT to have a cowl induction hood though...

Donald, Mike, I'm terribly sorry to see this happen, really does make me sick to watch that video. If we can help in any way please don't hesitate to ask.

wow, this is horrible man...I can't imagine how it must have felt to be helpless and not be able to do anything, and have the track do nothing too...Hopefully you get it all sorted out and get some sort of reimbursement from the track

this video also just confirms my already burning hate for all the stupid useless lazy people riding golf carts and pit vehicles..if you aint towing a car, get lost!

Pretty much everything under the hood wiring, plumbing, carb, windshield, vinyl top and melted the headliner. The interior is full of extinguisher residue.
If not for the cowl hood I probably would not have seen the flames in time and might have been a different story. JMO

Donald

This sickens me. Mike and Donald, I feel for you, and wish there was some way I could help. Hopefully the loss doesn't keep you down long.
Andrew

Sorry to see that happen. FWIW I have seen the same thing happen at Infineon Raceway so it is not just small tracks that have issues like this, even the big corporate tracks do.

That s a shame, one of my favorite cars

omg! what and why the he-- is a track like that still open?thank god he,s ok.sorry about your awesome car gearjammer...

I hate seeing fires like that... I used to part of the saftey crew for the UDRA before it shut down, we ran pro mod, alcohol funny cars, and alcohol dragsters. I was part of the crew on the top end, and we had to pull a couple of guys out of some pretty bad fires over the years. I'm glad the driver is ok, but I agree with everyone here, there is no excuse for the track to not have AT LEAST a couple of people, one with a fire suit and a couple of extinguishers on the top end...

That is such a shame! The track should have been better prepared for this. Everytime ive raced @ RT66 there was a fully loaded and occupied firetruck at the top end.

Oh-- that makes me sick.

There are lots of tracks that do not have personell on top end. We all race them anyway. Until something like this happens we generally don't even question it. My issue with Motor Mile is they really seem to have it together. All the way up to having a parked fire truck on top end. You really feel like you are racing somewhere when you race this track. WHAT A HORRIBLE DISSAPOINTMENT!!!

Nitrous alone will not burn. Whatever was burning will burn better with the help of nitrous. This also adds to the small fire system or fire extinguisher would not stop the fire. I guess hindsite 20/20 cut the bottle off while you are cutting electricity.

I also carefully watched the starting line. Although Mike's bird legs distracted my view(had to say it because I got em too) there was nothing I could see leaking from the car. Something most have broke. Like a nozzle or fuel line. I assume the nitrous line comes up from the firewall and not the front of the engine. If I remember correctly the fuel is regulated at the front of the engine on this car. Was there a recent tuning change on the nitrous? The engine bay in this car was always imaculate. So I am as surpised as anyone that a fire got started. After all the heat the fittings are all loose. Just can't see a loose fitting pre the solenoids causing this as the car did not drip a drop. Possibly loose nuts on the fogger nozzle. Seen this many times with no fire. I guess anything could cause enough spark to start the fire.

Hey guys look at it this way lifted at around 4.8 seconds. Maybe a looze nozzle and the car still ran 5.27 in terrible air. Just do a big fist pump and say it was on a pass. Be reasonable with the track and maybe get free admission for life and some help. Be glad you are still healthy and alive. And maybe Motor Mile will realize they dodged a huge bullit. No one is dead because of their neglegence and they will be better prepared in the future. I feel they owe you something. As far as legal action the lawyers will be the only winners.

There is no doubt the fire truck was misleading. Don't see how they can weazle around that one.

Leon

Makes me sick and brought back memories of a fire I had in 1982 .Car caught fire from a sight plug coming out and on the S.B you know where the fuel goes.
I used my fire exstinisher and the guy I raced also .They drove from the starting line and says OH your still on fire back to the starting line .

1st The safety truck with no one in it is gross negligance .
2nd The ambulance should be at top end or 1st turnoff not at starting line .Forward motion
3rd Their should be fire extingishers and MARKED where they are .
4th I carry a Fire extingisher in my trailer for a pit fire the safety crew is watching the race not me at that time .
Hope the damage is fixable and he is ok .
DR

Very sorry to see this happen and I hope the track would help you in some way. You would think that the track would have functional safety precautions in place. I gotta wonder if the track cut back on its resources to remain profitable? It just costs so much to operate a facility. I've heard people complaining about exspensive 30-35 dollar test and tunes. Obsurd! For me it wouldn't be worth doing business if it meant I had to compromise safety for profit. Again, I am sorry for the damages.

Any chance of sorting out why it happened? from the way its described possibly a needle/seat issue or a fuel reg let the carb overflow...I bring this up as it was mentioned the boosters were also melted...

My issue that now clearly tells me how lucky my bad day went, only melted my carbs (boosters all six),hoodscoop,ect...one top of a stuck micro switch I feel I jack up the fp too much in a rush and this also was a factor.

Just sucks to see such a nice car and what seems to be geat guys have an issue that probably could of been mimimized? by the track crew.

that really sucks
let me know if i can help you guys out
Bob