July Tech 101 Article

By:Fran Pepi

Safety is something we usually don’t give a lot of thought to and is taken for granted until something bad happens. A few weeks ago at Dunn Tire Raceway Park, my home track, something bad did happen. There was a bad crash at the top end of the track with the car barrel rolling several times. Fortunately the driver came out of it with minor injuries. All the safety equipment, specifically the cage, did its job protecting the driver even though the car was pretty much totaled. The car can always be replaced, but a human life obviously cannot. On that note regarding safety, I saw a post recently on a racing site that reminded me of something I have wanted to do for a while but have been putting off. I wanted a way to turn off my master switch from the driver’s seat. I was going to use a Morse type cable with a simple lever arrangement at the drivers end. With a setup like this, at the first hint of a problem, the power can be quickly killed in one motion instead of going for separate switches for ignition and fuel. You could also use it to turn on the power. This would be great for the times you’re all strapped in and you realize that you forgot to turn the switch on. We’ve all had it happen at least one time and it ALWAYS happens when no one is around and you have to unbuckle and get out!

For emergency shut down only, a solenoid could be rigged to push or pull off the master switch from a driver’s area mounted push button. Painless Wiring also has a continuous duty latching solenoid that will perform the same function. If there is a situation on the starting line such as a carb fire, the outside shutoff may be forgotten. This way, the driver can do it immediately. I saw a video recently online of a nitrous backfire and ensuing fire where nobody killed the power in the car even after it was burning for well over a minute. Being able to shut down the power right away could make all the difference in an emergency. Questions and comments are welcome and can be sent to me at FP442@aol.com.

By: Fran Pepi