Junior Dragster...

Man you guys are right up my alley. It's all a matter of safety really. The pull ropes are for the slower lower compression motor and in some of the classes must be sealed and rebuilt only by motor techs certified (ya right) to do the job. The one you see with hand starters does a couple of things. Like I said, safety. The driver and the crew chief have different kinds of kill switches available to them. The driver has a manual kill lever that grounds out the spark plug and the crew chief has the electric kill and can also hit the manual kill at the spark plug. By not having a starter on board you eliminate the chance for the driver to accidentally start the car at the wrong time. Driver must be in the car. You also eliminate some unnecessary weight and a spark source - the battery.

I'll share a couple of mishap stories with you guys if your interested some time.