DESPITE TAFC CONTROVERSY, ELECTRIMOTION LARGELY SUPPORTED
Recently some Top Alcohol Funny Car and Dragster competitors have voiced their concerns about the effectiveness of the Electrimotion Shut-off Receiver, Electrimotion Shut-off Transmitter and Electrimotion Safety Shut-off Box.
The Electrimotion Shut-off Receiver, when used in conjunction with the Electrimotion Shut-off Transmitter and Electrimotion Safety Shut-off Box, will automatically shut off fuel and ignition as well as deploy the parachutes once the driver has passed the finish line if the driver has not done so already. The system will activate when the car passes a wall-mounted transmitter at 1450 and 1700 feet.
The Electrimotion Safety Shut-off Box was made mandatory in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car in 2010 and the Electrimotion Shut-off Receiver became mandatory in 2011.
Dave Leahy owns Electrimotion, the company based in Delaware, Ohio, which manufactures these safety devices.
Recently some Top Alcohol Funny Car and Dragster competitors have voiced their concerns about the effectiveness of the Electrimotion Shut-off Receiver, Electrimotion Shut-off Transmitter and Electrimotion Safety Shut-off Box.
The Electrimotion Shut-off Receiver, when used in conjunction with the Electrimotion Shut-off Transmitter and Electrimotion Safety Shut-off Box, will automatically shut off fuel and ignition as well as deploy the parachutes once the driver has passed the finish line if the driver has not done so already. The system will activate when the car passes a wall-mounted transmitter at 1450 and 1700 feet.
The Electrimotion Safety Shut-off Box was made mandatory in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car in 2010 and the Electrimotion Shut-off Receiver became mandatory in 2011.
Dave Leahy owns Electrimotion, the company based in Delaware, Ohio, which manufactures these safety devices.
In 2010, NHRA, in a safety measure, required all participants in the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes to use an Electrimotion Shut-off Receiver.
NHRA mandated drivers in Top Fuel and Funny Cars use the Electrimotion Safety Shut-off Box beginning in late 2008.
Robert Hight, the 2009 Funny Car world champion, praised the Electrimotion safety devices.
“Everything that they have done since Scott Kalitta’s accident is definitely a step in the right direction,” Hight said. “We have to be proactive not reactive. We can’t forget about these things that have happened. Time heals a lot of things, but you can’t have the attitude that you are going to wait for the next accident to figure out what you are going to do to fix it, we have to head it off and be proactive about it. People get things all mixed up (about Electrimotion safety devices). These aren’t in place of the driver doing different functions to shut the car off. The driver ought to be able to beat that shutoff. I can. I have never had that thing pull the chutes for me or shut the fuel off. I have beat it every single time. But, if I’m incapacitated, I want it doing it for me.”
When Top Alcohol Dragster driver Monroe Guest blew both rear tires sending him into the dragster of Brandon Greco during eliminations June 4, 2011, at the SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J., Greco was happy he had the Electrimotion safety devices on his dragster.
“The safety equipment definitely worked,” Greco said. “I got the chutes out, but the thing was when it (the dragster) reached the finish line, I didn’t actually shut the ignition off and shut the fuel off and it (the safety devices) shut off the ignition and fuel for me. Even if I didn’t pull out the chutes, it would have done that as well. A lot of people have a lot of troubles with it (Electrimotion safety devices), but I’m all for it. It could have done more damage if the motor was still running and all that. I believe in it (Electrimotion safety devices). Some people are having some problems and anything electronic, you are always going to have some problems.”
The use of the Electrimotion Safety Shut-off Box was implemented shortly after Scott Kalitta, a two-time NHRA world champion, died on June 21, 2008, during qualifying at Englistown, N.J.
Scott Kalitta's Funny Car, traveling about 300 mph, burst into flames and crashed at the end of the track during final qualifying for the Lucas Oil SuperNationals Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J. Kalitta, 46, died a short time after being taken to the Old Bridge Division of Raritan Bay Medical Center in Englishtown, N.J.
Since Kalitta’s tragic wreck, the NHRA also has had both Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars race to 1000-feet, instead of the traditional quarter-mile (1,320 feet).
Hight, who drives for John Force Racing, thinks Electrimotion safety devices get unfairly criticized by some competitors.
“I believe that most of these problems are caused by the teams themselves,” Hight said. “If the wire, if people do not keep good track of it, and take good care of it, the wire (could) get chafed or cut by the motor or something (else) happens, then it could ground out or short out and activate everything. We have all of mine (wiring) in my race car running through plastic tubing to where it has an extra barrier all the way around it. Scott Kalitta’s deal, if it (his Funny Car) would have had it (Electrimotion safety devices), he would have had a lot better chance because the first thing that would have happened when it blew up is those chutes would have come out. Yes, they (the chutes) might have burned off eventually, but it would have cut the initial speed way, way down. Every scenario is different, but his (Kalitta’s) would not have been worse, I can tell you that.”
