PHOTO : JAMES SISK |
and when not to lift . You ’ ll see a lot of drivers that just don ’ t get in trouble and they ’ re off the throttle quick enough , where the other guy is repeatedly in trouble .
Where does the onus lie in making sure safety keeps up with performance , especially when it ’ s coming at such a dramatic pace in the drag radial world ?
LB : It ’ s nobody ’ s fault , but as a radial community , which has grown exponentially over the past five years , we don ’ t really have a sanctioning body that polices that . There ’ s really good tech at the big races . I think Donald ( Long ) does a good job with John Sears and those guys , and I think there ’ s really good tech at the big races – Tyler ’ s ( Crossnoe ) race , there was a pretty rigorous tech there , the same thing at Bradenton . But it ’ s tough .
I think there should be some gray area and some lines in the sand , but if you ’ re running alcohol on a boosted setup , if you don ’ t have a ( SFI ) 15 on , you ’ re not racing . Or if you ’ re not running alcohol and you ’ ve got a nitrous setup and you don ’ t have at least a ( SFI ) 10 , there should be some hard lines on it . If you come up and you don ’ t have the right stuff , tough luck , bud . And I know a lot of people have done that , but I definitely
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think there should be some hard lines drawn . You either have it and if you don ’ t , tough luck .
Ultimately , what ’ s the key to continuing to advance performance without throwing caution to the wind with safety ?
LB : The biggest thing is you have to self-police . I get the pleasure of driving Jason Digby ’ s car and we ’ ve done really well . I wear big nitro boots , a headsock , big ( SFI ) 20 gloves , ( SFI ) 20 suit . But at some point , these guys aren ’ t out there to hold your hand . At some point , you ’ ve got to be a big boy and take it upon yourself and realize you ’ ve
“ At some point , you ’ ve got to be a big boy and take it upon yourself and realize you ’ ve got to wear what you need to be racing ,” Barnett said .
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got to wear what you need to be racing . A lot of these guys have wives and kids , and at some point you have to realize you have to make sure to go home to them . At some point , you just have to quit skimping by and stop bouncing around in the gray area and do it yourself .
AB : Just in tuning the cars , one of the biggest things I work on in terms of being safe , is spending a lot of time with the driver . Some listen , some don ’ t . Some learn , some don ’ t , but at the end of the day you ’ re not out there to do anything for me . That thing shakes or does anything , or gets out of the groove , you need to get off the throttle and bring the car back . Don ’ t go out there being a hero because once or twice that will be fine , but the odds are it will be a poor return on that investment . We talk about that quite a bit . I try to make sure that the guys I help are clear that you need to lift . Some don ’ t . A lot of them , you get through to them eventually and they change slowly . But that ’ s really important to me . I ’ m not driving because I ’ ve gotten in a couple wrecks , but they do happen and I always try to be careful in the car . Parts failures are parts failures , but at the end of the day I don ’ t want anyone that I ’ m tuning to get hurt . DI
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May 2017 |
DragIllustrated . com | Drag Illustrated | 97 |