Month: May 2020

By David G. Firestone

Most people associate parachutes with skydiving, para sailing, or military operations, but they have been critical over the course of auto racing as well. For those who follow drag racing or land speed records, parachutes being deployed at the end of the run is a common, and reassuring sight. Dragsters and funny cars can go from zero to 320 MPH in 3.87 seconds. There is no way these cars could stop as effectively without perfect parachute design. Most people also don’t realize that there are two very distinct designs used in drag racing, the Simpson design, and the Stroud design.

The Stroud design came from necessity. The cross-form has been proven effective in the faster cars, namely top fuel, and funny car in the professional classes, as well as top alcohol and top alcohol funny cars in the amateur classes. These are great at stopping cars over 200 MPH. However, there are a number of categories in drag racing where the cars run under 200 MPH and the cross-form deploys too roughly, and would drag the car up. This problem was confirmed by Bill Simpson himself. When he first tested the cross-form at 100 MPH the car took off, and he was hospitalized and arrested. Bob Stroud, who is an engineer who has made a number of designs to airborne parachutes worked on the problem, and came up with the current design in the 1980’s. While Stroud developed the chute, many companies have made design changes.

For a time, these designs were relegated to the amateur classes of the NHRA. It was in May of 1990, at the AC-Delco Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway that the Stroud design came to the professional leagues, stopping Warren Johnson at the end of his races. It should also be noted that at that time, many drivers simply didn’t deploy their chutes at the end of a run. While their design has evolved over time, it still remains the standard for cars that race up to 205 MPH. This example comes from Pro Stock legend Warren Johnson’s post 2009 career. It shows a decent amount of wear. The chute canopy has an opening in the very center, for air to go through. The pilot chute is attached here as well. Pilot chutes are universally used to deploy parachutes. When the cords are pulled, and the chute is released, the pilot chute deploys, which catches air and pulls the primary chute behind it. The parachute has a tag from the Stroud Company stating is was made in 01/09.The chutes are strapped to a bar at the back of the car, the straps pre-covered in Nomex to prevent fire damage, then packed into a bag, before the race. These parachutes and pilot chutes are massive, but are packed into a bag which measures 9 inches square. There are two designs that are used to launch a parachute. There is the empty box design, which mounts to the back of the car, and is opened by pulling the cable. The second is a pneumatic launcher, used with smaller cross form, and most Stroud chutes. Drag racing parachutes are almost always packed by the drivers themselves. As one driver so elegantly phrased it, “If doesn’t work, I have nobody to blame but myself.” How do drivers pack their own chutes? I’ll let driver Rickie Jones explain that:

Next week, the Pedregon Family is profiled again.

By David G. Firestone

As I said last week, the mere word “paperwork” will make any person groan. Nobody likes paperwork. It is just awful. Yet it’s become a necessary evil. It permeates every aspect of life, even in auto racing.

Drag racing has a unique form of paperwork, as compared to other classes of auto racing. After every quarter mile run, a slip of paper is issued to the drivers giving their speed and elapsed time. This is used by the drivers and teams to figure out what their times were, so that adjustments in both car and strategy can be made. Nowadays these slips look like store receipts, but for many years, they were custom designed for the track, or even the specific event. I have a few examples of the variations of these slips. For being as old as they are, they are in great condition.

These first ones are from ATCO Dragway at Atco, NJ. These are slightly larger than a standard business card. These white examples come from the Cayuga International Dragway Park in Cayuga, Ontario. They are similar in size to the ATCO slips. This slightly smaller slip is from the NHRA Springnationals at Columbus, Ohio. The slip is cream colored. It is customized for the event, and is a piece of advertising for Chrondek, a company specializing in drag racing timing systems.These small thin paper slips come from Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey. One of these slips has “white Vette” as opposed to the car number. A picture of said Corvette was included with these slips.  This slip is from Maple Grove Dragway, and it not only lists Chrondek, but also has an add for SW Race Cars and Components, Inc. on the reverse. New York National Speedway was located in Center Moriches, New York, and existed from 1966 to 1980. These series of small slips are from New York National. Another photo of the white Corvette at the track is included with this set of slips. The reverse has advertisements for Musclecars Performance Centers. York US30 Dragway operated out of York Airport in Thomasville, Pennsylvania. It operated from 1965 to 1979. These slips are from that long gone track. The reverse has advertisements for Hartman Automotive Racing Engines. The last slip is from Great Lakes Dragaway. This is from 1990, and unlike the others, this one has more specific information, such as reaction time, and more complete speed. This slip was signed by “Dyno” Don Nicholson.

Next week, the drag racing theme continues with a parachute.

By David G. Firestone

The mere word “paperwork” will make any person groan. Nobody likes paperwork. It is just awful. Yet it’s become a necessary evil. It permeates every aspect of life, even in auto racing.

NASCAR and almost all racing sanctioning bodies issue “competitor licenses.” Competitor licenses are significantly harder to obtain than a standard driver’s license, and the sanctioning bodies make the rules for obtaining them difficult on purpose, so that the average Joe can’t buy a race car on eBay, and drive it in a race. As you get higher and higher in the racing ranks, the requirements become stricter, and harder to obtain.

This is not a new phenomenon. This goes back to the 1960’s. As time has worn on, the need for such regulation has become paramount, as auto racing has grown in popularity over the last 30 years. Many fans would love to race with their favorite drivers, but the fact is that due to their lack of experience and skill, this could cause a lot of problems. Race car drivers have skills capabilities that the average joe could only dream of having, and the competitor license makes sure that those who can do, and those who can’t watch.

John “Shorty” Miller was a NASCAR and ARCA competitor in the 1960’s and 1970’s. He was one of the founders of the Dayton Auto Racing Fan Club, or DARF, and is in the DARF Hall of Fame. In 1976, he was involved with ARCA, and was issued this license. For documents as old as they are, they are in good condition. It also comes with a copy of the 1976 ARCA Rule Book, which contains 12 pages of rules, which covers a lot of ground, but leaves so much open, it’s not funny. Center Line was founded as the Center Line Tool Corporation in 1970 by Ray Lipper. Lipper saw the need for a good performance rim, and soon the company started focusing only on wheels. Lipper was also an avid racer, and raced in SCCA, and CART. His time in CART was not successful, with a DNS at the Phoenix race, and was one of 47 drivers not to qualify for the 1982 Indianapolis 500. He was elected to the SEMA Hall of Fame in 2002. I recently purchased some of his racing memorabilia, including some paperwork.

A small, orange Snell Sport Vinyl folder is included in the lot, and the contents of which are very interesting. This is a paper race result from the 1980 SCCA Formula Super Vee USA Robert Bosch/Valvoline Championship. One of the Gold Cup race took place at Watkins Glen on July 5, 1980. Lipper finished 16th, driving a Super Vee. He won $250 for his efforts.In preparation for a race at what is now Sonoma Raceway, Lipper hand drew this map of the track, and added notes as to what he should do in the car while driving in that area.This is Lipper’s map of Watkins Glen, both the track, and the way to the track. It shows a lot of wear. In addition to racing in the United States, Lipper also raced in New Zealand. This is Lipper’s Motorsports Association of New Zealand(MANZ) license. The Manawatu Car Club is New Zealand’s oldest car club. Lipper was a part of it in 1982, and this is his member ticket.

There is another aspect of auto racing paperwork that I will discuss last week.