Speed News Vol. 1 Issue 3 : Page 57
overboard on safety.” So they inspect every weld on the cage carefully. Just because tubes are close together and joints are in a hard-to-reach place doesn’t mean you get a pass on welding the tube all the Driver’s harnesses come way around. NASA inspec-equipped with date tags for tors look specifi cally at these a reason. The belts in one of spots to ensure that the welds the cars were manufactured are 360 degrees. Any hole or in January 2010. The car was unfi nished weld will be a fail. inspected in February 2012. “I couldn’t get to that spot” is Who cares? NASA does. In the not an acceptable excuse. Club Rules and Regulations In fact, you may have to cut (CCRs), Competition Section, off your roof to fi nish some Rule 15.5 Driver Restraint welding. Don’t worry though; System, subsection 10-A, it Tom at 7s Only Racing will be says that all belts should meet more than happy to fi nish “SFI specifi cation 16.1 or 16.5 welding the cage for you. Just and shall bear a dated label bring your credit card. of no more than two (2) years old.” or the relevant FIA specs. The belts in this car were SFI rated and expired, therefore NASA requires that all race-the log book would not be cars have either a right-side signed and the car didn’t pass net or a seat equipped with a inspection. Whoops. Maybe head restraint feature. Both we should have read the of these will help restrain a rulebook again before we driver in their seat and limit towed the car all the way to head movement during a side Buttonwillow. Epic fail! impact. Although the seat mounted devices are fairly straightforward, the place-ment of the right-side net has Because the 7s Only shop caused a lot of confusion for is located at Buttonwillow some drivers. Bette says the Raceway Park, Tom and Bette key to having the net correctly Dragoun are there to see what installed is to place it so that happens on a race track when it not only keeps the driver’s things don’t go right. “We head from moving to the right take a look at the cars out but also captures the driver’s here after they have been in shoulder. Section 15.17.9 of an accident,” said Bette. the NASA CCR has a great “Because of what we’ve diagram that illustrates where seen over the years, we go the net should be placed. things that come up during an annual inspection and a couple of tips to ensure your car is legal for the series and as safe as possible. Harnesses Cage Inspection -Bette Dragoun of 7s Only Racing inspects each weld on a racecar’s cage. Side Net Side Net -The proper placement of the right side net is so that it not only keeps the driver’s head from moving to the right, but also the driver’s shoulder. Kill Switch Kill switches are recom-mended for all racecars and required in some NASA series. The important thing to know about these switches is that there are two types. The two-post negative battery cable switches that are common on most drag racing cars do not satisfy the rules in the NASA regulations. Because of the vehicle’s alternator, once the engine is running, if you switch off a two-post negative 57 Cage
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