NHRA expands safety rules in wake of Medlen’s death
"We've learned something from Eric's incident that we've never witnessed before, that being an extreme oscillation or vibration," said Graham Light, senior vice president of racing operations for the NHRA. "Although this is an unprecedented occurrence, we don't want to prematurely react given the current high level of safety measures implemented in these cars that have proven very effective.
"We need, however, to take what we have learned and make appropriate changes to reduce the possibility of a similar incident in the future, both on a short- and long-term basis."
The rule changes include adding padding in the driver cockpit area in both Top Fuel and Funny Car, making a roll cage/helmet shroud, similar to those installed on Top Fuel cars, mandatory in Funny Car no later than the May 18-20 event at Bristol, Tenn., and replacing the current five-point driver restraint systems with a seven-point system by the Bristol event in Funny Car and by the June 1-3 event in Topeka, Kan., in Top Fuel.
Along with the new restraints, NHRA has mandated stricter installation requirements to be certain that teams install the restraints according to manufacturer recommendations. AP Story