NHRA News: Safety improvements top Schumacher's Christmas list (12/15/2000)

Safety improvements top Schumacher's Christmas list

By Rob Geiger, NHRA.com
12/15/2000

"I owe my life to the drivers of the past and the people that worked hard after every wreck to make the cars and the sport safer."
-- Tony Schumacher

Former NHRA Winston Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher has a different agenda this off-season. Certainly, he and his team are doing everything they can to prepare for a concerted run at regaining their title and sorting out the state of the team's second dragster, which has been constant grist for the rumor mill. But after the horrific wreck Schumacher suffered just two months ago in Memphis, Tenn., which effectively ended his season with a compound fracture of his left leg, Schumacher and his associates are also leaning heavily on improving safety.

This is a continuing theme in drag racing. Every time a driver has an accident the cause is sought out, injuries are analyzed, and improvements are made to avoid a similar catastrophe from happening again in the future. Schumacher's wreck, and the one fellow Top Fuel pilot Larry Dixon experienced one day later, which left him in similar condition, has set off an interesting and comforting chain of events that should drastically improve driver's safety in the future.

Safety always No. 1 concern
"A lot came out of the crash; first of all, me, which is real good in my opinion," he joked. "Seriously, the accidents of the past have helped Top Fuel cars advance to the point where I could go through a crash as terrible-looking as mine and come out of it with just a broken leg. Come on, that's insane when you look at that crash on tape.

"Once I finally sat down and watched the tape, which I didn't even want to do right away, I began to understand why everyone was so amazed that I was basically okay. I owe my life to the drivers of the past and the people who worked hard after every wreck to make the cars and the sport safer."

Schumacher was quick to credit his Murf McKinney chassis as the major reason he escaped his wild, 315-mph ride with relatively minor injuries. He was also pleased to note that McKinney already has made several changes to his design as a result of the accident in an all-out attempt to make drag racing safer still.

"I just came from McKinney's shop," Schumacher said. "I was being fitted to a brand new car they're making for me. It's kind of like the model I was driving when I wrecked. It's pretty obvious that car was a nice piece. The numbers we were posting before the crash speak for themselves.

The best car yet
"Still, McKinney's guys wanted to take the next step and make a car that not only performed better than the last one but was also a lot safer. This is the next generation McKinney. Cory Mac (McClenathan) started driving one like it at the end of the year and he won two races in a row. The car has a nice bit of flex to it that helps it get down the track real easy, even if it's bumpy.

"Safety-wise, the cage around the driver is very different. For one, all of the edges of the section the driver sits in are rounded off. There are no blunt ends. If you watch my wreck, which I have several times now, you notice that once the front and back ends broke away, the driver's cage flipped like crazy several times until it just ran out of momentum. The tube pieces that connect to the other sections were sticking straight out and they would just dig in the ground and cause the cage to flip real violently. I got beat up in there.

"If the same wreck happened, God forbid, with this new car, I don't think I would have been hurt much at all. I definitely wouldn't have broken my leg."

A safety zone
In Schumacher's opinion one of the problems with the old design was a cross member in the chromoly tubing that impacted his leg exactly where it was broken. He believes the same problem affected Larry Dixon in a similar fashion.

"I used to climb in that car and look at that bar and think, 'That doesn't seem right,' " Schumacher said. "Murf has removed the problem now."

The new design calls for an entirely enclosed cockpit made with a titanium exterior and a heavily padded interior.

"It's impossible now for any part of the driver's body to get outside the cage in any way," Schumacher said. "Plus, we're padded on the inside so the driver won't get as banged up.

"Trust me, it won't be long before everyone has this pod system or at least some sort of webbing. Why chance your legs sticking out during a crash?" Other changes

Schumacher's wreck was due in large part to the fact his rear wing detached from the car. The sudden loss of an estimated 8,000 pounds of downforce left him helpless in a 315-mph land rocket, which in turn has prompted even more changes.

"Dixon has already gone to a device that automatically pulls the parachutes if the wing comes off," Schumacher said. "It's kind of like the Funny Car deal where the 'chutes come out if the body comes off. I've seen a lot of bad wrecks avoided in Funny Car just because of that feature. A lot of times those guys are knocked out for a second but the 'chutes come out and they end up coming stop a safe stop. Plus it will help keep the car straight and on the ground."

Another sweeping change crossing all the professional boundaries is the use of a molded mouthpiece. Dixon had one in during his wreck and suffered no damage to his teeth. Schumacher had no mouthpiece and broke several of his teeth during his accident. "That was the most painful part of the whole deal," he said.

Still a racer
The 31-year-old Schumacher is obviously pleased with his safer machine. He is also as determined as ever to get back in the chase for the Winston Championship.

"I've got a little more healing to do," Schumacher said. "But I can't wait to get in the car and make a lap. I do feel like we gave something away and I hated to see our championship defense end the way it did. Take nothing from Gary (Scelzi). Jeez, the guy won nine races. That's awesome. But we had a chance at catching him and I think we could have.

"It was setting up to be a dream ending. You know the dreams you had when you were a kid? You never thought about winning by a mile. You'd always dream about winning at the last possible second. Like making a basket at the buzzer. That's the kind of finish I was expecting.

"The year I won the championship I'd wake up every day and say, 'Man, this is crazy.' It was so exciting because nobody knew what would happen. I think next year will be just like that. You've got our team, Gary's team, Mike Dunn, a guy I've always admired, looking very strong, Kenny Bernstein will be going all out because he might retire, Larry Dixon, my teammate Melanie Troxel, Doug Kalitta, the list goes on and on. We always say there are no easy races and that'll definitely be true next year. I can't wait."

Schumacher also took a moment to squelch some of the many rumors surrounding his father's team.

"We don't have a title deal in place for Melanie and we're all a little worried about that," he said. "We really want to make her a permanent part of the team. We need two cars. It helped so much and it's obvious to see Dan (Olson, crew chief) was closing in on something unbelievably huge at the end of the year. I mean I was going 315 mph and still posted a 4.60 through the lights in Memphis and I was on my head.

"Everyone out there has talked to Cory Mac. I don't know that his deal with MBNA is something he would want to bring over here. That's a question Cory and his people would have to answer. He's obviously one of the best drivers ever.

"We have a great pool of talent here. Dan's on top of his game, Tim and Kim Richards are ready to get after it, Jimmy Prock has joined us, those are three lethal crew chief combinations. This team can be very powerful. I hope it all works out for everyone and I'm sure it will. We all just want to get out there and race."

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