dodge demon blows trans during burnout at dragstrip fire and attitudes get in the way

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4spdragtop said:
If that was my car I sure as heck wouldnt put ALL my faith/trust in track crew and just stand there snackin n jackin.
Arent they usually volunteers?
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They should be getting paid. I work with a guy who has been a track official for probably 15 years at one of our local strips and it's been interesting to get his perspective on working around the public in the hobby. Racers are not always the easiest to get along with and I will leave it at that but he must enjoy it at some level or he wouldn't do it because the pay is nothing over the top, trust me....

JW
 
Plastic race cars. If NHRA sees this and had the balls to do something about it they could make a few simple safety updates.
 
Guy probably had no skin in that car 'cept the credit card he swiped for all the stuff on it. He took it pretty calmly as it was burning..just walking away from it....still a tool.
 
pishta said:
Guy probably had no skin in that car 'cept the credit card he swiped for all the stuff on it. He took it pretty calmly as it was burning..just walking away from it....still a tool.
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until his insurance company finds out how it was damaged. this guys only hope is collecting from the race track's insurance company. can you get those on a lease? would love to see him try to return it and argue about the damage waiver :lol:
 
Bottom line is that nothing matters/ I do NOT care if the owner had attitude, the workers should have IMMEDIATELY gotten the owner out of the car, popped the hood (might have needed owner's help) and put out the fire. Some or all of the workers could have been volunteers, but that does not matter. If this took place at a track / event with paid workers, the owner has a good reason to sue over the workers refusal to put out fire.
 
Whats he gonna claim? The other guy states that "it aint covered under insurance on the track!" Is he going to sue the track for negligence/dereliction for watching the thing burn? I dont think its their job to put out burning cars, but maybe to assist? (Could be completely wrong in this) And assist is a 2 party process. Safety is paramount and if the guys thought a running car was a danger, they are probably instructed to keep clear. A burned car is maybe 100K, but a burned worker could be millions...
here is a generic drag strip waiver you sign...YMMV:
"..2. [UNDERSIGNED] HEREBY RELEASES, WAIVES, DISCHARGES AND COVENANTS NOT TO SUE the promoters, participants, racing associations, sanctioning organizations or any affiliated entities thereof, track operators, track owners, officials, vehicle owners, builders and designers, drivers, crews, rescue personnel, and persons in any RESTRICTED AREA, promoters, sponsors, equipment and parts manufacturers and suppliers, … all for the purposes herein referred to as “RELEASEES” FROM ALL LIABILITY TO THE UNDERSIGNED … FOR ANY AND ALL LOSS OR DAMAGE, AND ANY CLAIM OR DEMANDS THEREFORE ON ACCOUNT OF INJURY … ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE EVENT(S), WHETHER CAUSED BY THE NEGLIGENCE OF ANY RELEASEE(S) OR OTHERWISE."

even race insurance has exclusions..."Loss or damage to any Insured Car or parts caused by or arising from explosion, mechanical or electrical breakdown, failure, breakage, derangement..."

How much liability the track has for putting out a fire caused by your car is something a courtroom needs to consider. I think the guy is SOL, and I think the track is going to take a beating on social media as well as the dismissal of the fireman.
 
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"if the guys thought a running car was a danger, they are probably instructed to keep clear."

you got that right, the first thing the track workers asked was to get the motor turned off.
Apparently there was no external kill switch for the track workers to click off, so it becomes the
car driver-owner responsibility to disable the car so it can be acted on responsibly by the track personel.

I have no issue with the track or the track workers, I would run there, but I have a clearly marked kill switch that will shut the engine down. If that was my car, hit the kill switch, motor goes off, track safety persons do their work. End of story.

There is a lesson here,
you need to take care of your own stuff, and that includes caring about the safety of the folks that are there to help you when your stuff needs help.
 
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The fact of the matter is those track workers are there for safety. Doesn't matter what the driver said or did, his job is the safety of the people on and around the track, period. His jackhole attitude of "let it burn" could have gottin really ugly. If someone would have been injured or killed then he and the track owners would be looking at lawsuits and he could be looking at criminal negligence charges.
One hell of a lot of stupid going on there.
 
Also from what I’m seeing it doesn’t appear that the track is equipped to put out Fires that these Modern Cars produce... a lot of the parts are Magnesium and require a different type of extinguisher that smoothers the Fire. They’re very lucky that when they hit it with water that it didn’t explode! I’m guessing the only reason it didn’t is because the Fire was minimal, even though it was flaming pretty good at times, had not begun to melt anything Magnesium related!

Being an insurance adjuster myself, I see this video being used by both parties involved in a court battle in the future! Will be real interesting to see how this plays out.
 
What cars possibly on fire? Lemme just go ahead and sit in it lol. There should be more training on the drivers part, if you see track officials running over with fire extinguishers im sure most people would shut the car off and pop the hood to investigate and provide a direct point to extinguish the fire, i wouldnt run any car at the track without a fire extinguisher, hell i have one in my demon and its just a street car. The only thing i was disappointed in was to see the use of a chemical fire extinguisher.
 
moparmarks said:
The fact of the matter is those track workers are there for safety. Doesn't matter what the driver said or did, his job is the safety of the people on and around the track, period. His jackhole attitude of "let it burn" could have gottin really ugly. If someone would have been injured or killed then he and the track owners would be looking at lawsuits and he could be looking at criminal negligence charges.
One hell of a lot of stupid going on there.
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The moment he picked up the extinguishers and walked them back to the line was the end of any road for the track in defense of his actions. That is straight up negligent.

Any commentary on his part to "let it burn" only puts more nails in the coffin. The rest of the keystone fire department standing around fpllpwing his lead, shameful!

The owner of the car should know what to do if the vehicle requires a complete shutdown. Many issues arise in these computer controlled cars that older cars don't have. Someone mentioned that the button needs to be depressed for 5 seconds to shut it down. Would that occur if the computers thought the car was still in gear? Who knows...
 
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I think the track crew thought the blue tape meant "fireproof". I bet the driver didnt even put that on lol.
 
Either way i thought a car had to have a external power shut off switch, does this apply to new vehicles as well?
 
71DodgeDemon340 said:
Either way i thought a car had to have a external power shut off switch, does this apply to new vehicles as well?
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No, cars with the factory battery location are not required to have a cut off switch.

There may be a 9.99 requirement that all vehicles have one. Hard to enforce sometimes with new cars that show up.
 
I did not see fire/rescue personnel in the video at all. There is no way a track worker dressed in sneakers, shorts and a t-shirt is legally bound to fight an under hood or under car fire, period. If the promoters insurance or event permit did not require qualified safety crews on the property then it is on the participants to assume the responsibility. This looked like street racing without the police getting involved.
I was involved in a dirt track team for 35 years or so. Every venue we raced had certified fire rescue teams on track and in the pits. Also there were 2 ambulances on sight with paramedics ready to respond. The fire personnel wore full turnout gear with nomex gloves, helmets and face shields. I have seen fire/rescue dive through the window of a modified with an engine fire to unbuckle a disoriented driver and pull him from the car.
Everyone who races knows how valuable add space is on the race car for sponsors and local advertising. Our cars always had free space to thank the safety crews for their time.
Jerry
 
They were actually trying to save the dudes motor. If that **** gets sprayed the car will injest it and smoke, haha no pun, the motor. Perfect Storm!!! A lot of track guys have attitudes or are trolls that true too! Think about all the douches that show up and can't even line up! IMO the owner is the root cause.
 
Just so I'm clear...Dodge thinks a prudent shut off solution is to sit in a burning car holding down a button for 5 seconds?????:(
 
Kmrumedy said:
Just so I'm clear...Dodge thinks a prudent shut off solution is to sit in a burning car holding down a button for 5 seconds?????:(
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Looked to me like the driver stayed in the car way longer than 5 seconds anyway !
He sat there like stupid for a few ------------------
 
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