First a 5 point bar is required from 11.49-10.00, then a cage is required for 9.99 and quicker. You really don't think a 5 or 6 point is necessary? Wait till you or your driver gets drilled broadside at 130 plus and then post how you did not need safety equipment. As for the bike racers, you fall, you slide, and most times the bike is away from you. Just because it has not happened yet in this community does not mean it won't.

 

Who are you referring to?

 

A 6pt cage is a waste of time.. If your going to put a cage might as well do it right and do a 10pt with a hoop that actually does something.. Running low 9's with a roll bar is a false sense of security.. Might as well run no bar at all IMO..

Mike

 

Interesting concept on the bike racing. Let's go back 21 years, the year was 1988, my dad had a new Buick turbo Type. Car was running 13.90's. It was a Wednesday night my brother was driving the car. Bracket racing. Motorcycle in the left lane. The bike got to the end first and grabbed the brake to keep from braking out. Layed the bike down, the bike went to the left and the rider went to the right. My brother locked up the brakes to try to keep from hitting the guy but the guy went under the front of the car and out underneath the drivers side rear tire.

I guess we are back to square one on the theory about the bikes and how that works.

Life flight took the rider out of the track with a dislocated hip after being run over by a 3600 pound Buick.

I'll take my chances with my complete street car and air bags/seat belts over falling off a motorcycle and getting run over! NHRA/IHRA have their heads up their back sides.

Mike I think a 5/6 point bar would have one advantage and that is in the case of an actual roll over, the driver would be more protected than without it. Beyond an actual roll over though I am with you on the 5 or 6 point being a waste and I will add to that (for the 100th time) that it makes a street car a death trap. A low speed collision in a street car with a cage can quickly turn into you being dead from your head or worse your passengers head hitting the bar. STUPID for a street car.

 

Just making a statment to clarify the actual rules.

 

I agree. Good thing most tracks dont pair up cars and bikes anymore

 

here in vegas on the midnight mayhem nights they dont even require helmuts. havent ever noticed bikes geting paired up with cars though. they aren't even really strict on the 11.49 number. they might kick you out that night, but the next even they'll let you make one pass again until you bust out. there is even a guy running mid 9's no cage and they let him make a pass. ( I'm pretty sure there isn't a cage since he only gets one pass )

 

i have never seen them pair bikes with cars at all anymore...

 

Ill give you something more to ponder on.. The odds of dying or being seriously injured in a drag race at the track with paramedics on Scene must be 100,000:1 vs. EVeryday city street driving deaths w/ Motorcycle and Car or Truck.. We dont sign waivers to drive our cars every day.. I dont see why you cant race at the track at your own risk by signing the waiver.. Even better yet, the did away with the motorcycle helmets in FL.. DO you know how many more fatal accidents there have been since then?? Once again, riding at your own risk.. nobody else is anymore danger by you not having a roll cage in your car..

Mike

 

They still pair up bikes and cars at every track I go to on a regular basis.

 

Well said.

 

Humans are fragile when it comes to impacts. The chances of a bad outcome may be small, but cars on the street don't have 100+MPH speeds to magnify the effects and energy loads.

Like any activity, there are some relatively inexpensive safety steps that can improve your chances. Tracks and sanctioning bodies mandate them for people who don't think for themselves, and to protect the others who may be affected by crashes. Reverse Darwinism, if you will. Also saves the track from adverse publicity that occurs when the newspaper reports that someone got killed at the track this weekend...

 

All very good points but what about the guy that doesn't run 9's but quicker than 11.50 shouldn't he at least put a 5/6 point in to still be able to have fun at the drag strip legally???

 

The 11.50 rule is GARBAGE!! Ill tell you why.. the ONLY cars i ever see snagged at the track for running faster than 11.5 are Honda's, Evos and cars that run 14's stock etc..

Try to tell a guy with an 80k vette, 100k Skyline, 100k BMW M5, 300k Murcielago, that he is going to have to cut his car up and put a cage.. ITS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN.. I watch these cars on a weekly basis run 10's and are NEVER EVER stopped.. I had a customer run a 11.1 in an Evo and they snagged him same night.. I ran 10.5@130 all day and all night at 2 Events in my M5 and they never even questioned me..

Its not 1985 anymore.. cars fromt he factory run quicker than 11.5 now.. Cars are quite a bit safer now than in the 80's so they need to start thinking about rewriting the rules.. just my .02

Mike

 

Ya i totally agree with you there Mike guess i have to spend nearly 100K to have them turn their heads the other way Not gunna happen lol.

Sux that the only tracks we have here are getting much more strict everyday so i gotta have something to keep them happy but i def don't wana put a 10point in at this point.