The IRL’s Junky Chassis Could Ruin Junky’s CCWS Season
Written by Scott Keller · May 30, 2005
There’s a reason Paul Tracy calls them “crapwagons”.
Newman-Haas made their return to Indy this year, and did it in wonderful form. They have two trashed racecars, and Junqueira has two broken vertebrae. It begs the question, especially since Michael Andretti’s team won the race, that maybe it isn’t the Andretti curse, but is it the Newman/Haas curse?
So Carl Haas put his guys in those death-traps called IRL chassis, and it could have ended Bruno’s career. He’s lucky to walk away from that without a more serious injury. It also highlights the major flaw that the IRL safety people haven’t fixed, and that is a huge amount of back injuries in the IRL. It is almost a given that if a guy backs into the “safer” barrier at Indy, that he is going to be headed to Methodist hospital to get his back fixed. This shouldn’t be normal! I remember when Rick Mears demolished his Penske in turn one in 1991, but didn’t break his back. Sure, he was hurt and soldiered to victory, but the CART cars in 1991 had better safety than today’s IRL cars.
The injury to Junky changes the face of the Champ Car season in a major way. He is currently leading points, and will surely fall out of the lead due to this injury. I have yet to find any reports on how long he will be sidelined.
Until this all developed, I admit that I was a bit excited to hear about unification talks going on between CCWS and the IRL. I am as tired as anyone of the split, and the fact that Indy is a washed up race. However, today I am against any unification until the IRL shows that they are serious about safety. The back injuries are far too frequent, and too many careers have been ended in the short life of the IRL.
Fortunately it’s only Junky’s season that’s going to be ruined, and not his life.
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The current thought is that Bruno will be out for two months.
Yet it’s interesting the Sam Schmit elects to go racing in the IRL…I don’t get it either. Davey Hamilton can barely walk, the list is pretty long of those who have been messed up in IRL cars.
Scott: “I am as tired as anyone of the split, and the fact that Indy is a washed up race.” im not sure what race you watched sunday but it must not have been the indy 500 as viewership was up like 45% to near alltime high levels.
for the back injuries when a car hits the wall straight on from the rear it hits the graebox 1st that is bolted to the engine that is bolted to the chasis on the same panel the drivers seat is positioned against and the driver is buckeled in tight to that thin seat. so there isnt much to disapate the energy its cared straight thru to the drivers spine.
there is a dif between hitting the tire barrier at a 60 degree angle at 80 mph on a road corse and straight back into a solid wall at 200mph. indy only has the safer system in the turns.
What happened when Ralph Schumacher backed into the walll at Indy in the exact same manner that the IRL cars did? oh he broke his back just like the IRL drivers. But im sure that Formula 1 runs “JUNKY” cars just like the IRL. If only Folmula 1 and the rest of the racing world listened to what champ car has to say, all the other series might have the same fate as CC.
You’ve got a point there Viper. Ralph did have just about the same injury. But he did miss the safer barrier too. The transaxle is a pretty hard point to hit - 5 inches of foam on it isn’t going to make a very big difference at 170mph.
i can kinda see why tracks dont install it coming out of turns 2 and 4. so the drivers can drift a few feet more and still not hit the wall. but it should be installed the entire way down the front and rear strech inside and out. and i would take the extra step to make it line the entire track for the safty of the drivers. if it takes a bit of room form the racing line than the drivers simply go into the corner a bit slower and all is fine. the speeds at indy are getting a bit to fast again anyway.
The IRL chassis are the safest open wheel cars ever built. Had Junqueira had this accident in a Champ car, He’d be DEAD. Had he had this accident as few as ten years ago, he’d be DEAD! F1 spends BILLIONS on their cars and technogy, yet even their cars inflict the same injury. It is the laws of physics which are to blame, so I guess you have to blame God, seeing that you obviously feel a need to blame someone!
One more note; Junqueira got what he asked for, repeatedly. He made a bonzais move diving in under Foyt as AJ entered the corner, then tried to ‘ride’ him up into the marbles. Sam Hornish had Bordais do the same thing to him, and Sam wrecked trying to avoid Bordais. Bordais then wrecked himself when he tried to block Buddy Lazier and cut his tire on Buddy’s wing.
Ralf missed the SAFER barrier because F1 runs the track in the opposite direction. You can’t call the hits equivalent.
One problem is that the cars all slide in rear-first. Knowing this, you have to allow more room for the rear of the car to crumple and absorb the energy. This is not something impossible to correct in the next design.
The thing to not do is to put your fingers in your ears and shout over and over that “IRL cars are the safest cars in the world. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.”
The Wright brothers’ plane was once the “fastest airplane in the world.” Yet, it was still improved upon. So, I’m sure that even the holy and not-to-be blasphemed IRL
slkrr; the safer barrier ends at the same place at both the start and end of both ends of the track.
ralf hit the wall the same distance out of the turn as the irl cars did. and the results are the same.
since your not one of us “trolls”, give us the answer to fix the problem since its so simple to fix in your eyes.
This is a never ending discussion, but just think of the progress that has been made. Not long ago it wasn’t broken bones it was death.
I see 2 possible solutions
1) Lower the speed of the cars, you could, restrict the airflow into engine…nah NASCAR does it, everone hates it
2) Tell all the drivers to say get dizzy going that fast and go home, wait CART tried that, took a big hit on the PR front.
VIPER,
The first step to fixing the problem is acknowledging that it exists, and not denying it to play a silly game of inter-series politics.
Read my post - “allow more room for the rear of the car to crumple and absorb the energy.”
ChampCar figured it out with their Lolas - Ryan Hunter-Reay hit rear-end first at 171 Gs (more than Junqueira) in Milwaukee with no SAFER and didn’t break his back. So I guess one troll in this thread has already been proved wrong in his assertion: “Had Junqueira had this accident in a Champ car, He’d be DEAD.”
If ChampCar can figure it out, I’m sure the IRL can, too.
VIPER,
Regarding Ralf and the SAFER, let’s go to the Indystar:
“The team’s technical director, Sam Michael, said a punctured tire was the likely culprit that sent Schumacher’s car spinning into the outside wall entering the front straightaway to complete lap 10. The track’s SAFER barrier is not in place where the car hit.”
http://www2.indystar.com/articles/7/156517-5267-155.html
The IRL Champ Car split is the best thing that has ever happened for open wheeled racing fans. People talk about the glorry days of CART and forget that we only had 14-17 races to watch. There are now 5 open wheel races that I can go to in my state! With 14+17=31 races and more road courses than ever these are the days to be a fan. Maybe some team owners and race venues don’t get their $100 per ticket but I think guys like Penscke will manage to get by. Maybe they will improve their game to make the ticket more worth it. I’ve been a fan of open wheel racing since I a kid and am 39. I can now see all the Formula One races on TV in the United States of all places.
I just hope Champ Car and IRL don’t get together and form a monopoly that will cause higher prices, fewer races and no new race courses. Our problem is not Champ Car, not IRL and not Nascar. It is people not doing what they do best, and that is racing.
I do wish endurance racing was doing one tenth as well as open wheel racing is.
Tim
Surely, this is a troll?
Tim, there is a reason you are paying less to watch these reaces…..because the races are less prestigious thanks to the destruction of all traditions in open wheel racing.
Surely, this is a troll?
Tim, there is a reason you are paying less to watch these reaces…..because the races are less prestigious thanks to the destruction of all traditions in open wheel racing.
This is not a troll.
I’m trying to figure out some of the traditions that were so great in open wheel racing in the good old days. I love all the Indy traditions and do miss how that race has been lowered. The last Indy race was one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. I’m not much of a fan of big ovals though. I don’t miss the parade of inbred racers with the same last name. I think the quality of racing is pretty good in both series. There are still a lot talented young drivers who would kill for a seat in one of these cars.
My good old days would be 1986. I really liked Danny Sullivan. Micheal and Mario Andretti competitive in the same race was cool. There were 9 (I think) races with right turns and 17 total. Car technology had gotten a needed flow down from F1. The field had some real slow cars in it. I don’t know that the talent was very there compared to moniker of the racer. I do hate the word prestigious. Formula One is very prestigious but isn’t always good racing.
I guess I’ll just have to be happy watching lots of great racing in lots of races and let history decide whether its prestigious.
To support unification of the series you are calling for fewer races, a monopoly and more fan cost. It is amazing that posting such an opinion on this site would be considered a troll.
Tim
The height of CART was not in 1986, in my opinion. The height was in the mid 90’s, right before the formation of the IRL. The IRL has caused nothing but damage to open-wheel racing, and there is no disputing that. The IRL kool-aid drinkers can blame NASCAR or the foreign drivers, but the horrendous dive in popularity in Indy and open wheel racing occurred when the 25/8 rule killed the Indy 500.
And this year’s 500 was hardly a classic. The big star was a girl who wrecked 4 cars on a restart. Hardly a classic Indy 500.
As far as considering your opinion that “The IRL Champ Car split is the best thing that has ever happened for open wheeled racing fans” is a troll, I think most people disagree with you. Unless you are drinking the Kool Aid, you can’t believe that open wheel racing is in a good position right now. I mean, using your measuring stick, things will be even better when the IRL is giving away tickets to their races because nobody is paying. Oh wait, they already do that at Texas.
I’m a little guilty of not addressing the subject so I did a little research. If Bruno’s two broken vertebrae heal anything like most most peoples do, he will be out for a good 6 months. Even with heavy physical theropy it took Jason Priestly 6-7 months before he was even up and around. Docters said Bruno’s injuries were similar. The problem is that physical theropy for this type of injury helps things heal better and more safely but necessarily much faster. To prevent reinjury Bruno must build his muscules up before returning.
Now to what I wanted to say without any research.
Free tickets!!! I gotta get me some. Last year I went to 4 (3 cart, 1 IRL)races and bought 10 tickets for over $1000. Heck, free tickets is almost as good as free beer, Tecate or Bud.
The mid 90’s CART races were great but I wasn’t as young and impressionable going to my first race at Elkhart Lakes and loving it. Meeting Mario and Micheal and getting Micheals autograph.
I do think most people disagree with me but fans should consider more whats good for them. Sometimes its better to deal with people who are struggling then people who are powerful. It’s also nice to be able to sit anywhere you want at the track. Lines stink.
My measuring stick is and will always be how much I enjoy the racing, and the beer, and the cars, and the race girls, and the people. I’ve even found that accessability to the paddock is the most important thing about a race venue.
Anika was awesome. Indy 500 was a lot of fun at my house on TV.
Open wheel may not be in a good position but I’m in the best position I have ever been to watch open wheel racing.
Tim