It's Not Getting Any Better
Why things might come to head this weekend in Reading...
by Susan Wade (Bobby Bennett, Jr. contributed to this report)
Photos by Roger Richards

Gary Scelzi, who won three National Hot Rod Association Top Fuel championships, said a normally functioning dragster rides "like a tiger with a rag doll in its mouth." And in 2000, when he was harboring the urge to bolt for the Funny Car class because of safety concerns, he said, "We don't have crash dummies [for testing]. We learn by accidents."

Whit Bazemore is looking at self-preservation options if the situation does not improve his safety and that of his fellow drivers in the nitromethane-burning classes.

No one wants to become the teacher.

Whit Bazemore -- ironically, Scelzi's teammate at Don Schumacher Racing -- declared that he’s looking at self-preservation options if the situation does not improve his safety and that of his fellow drivers in the nitromethane-burning classes.

"The person with the last ounce of responsibility for my well-being is myself." He said he'd "rather wake up tomorrow and not have a job" than the reverse," He says.

What pushed him to that point were nearly two dozen known incidents of tire misbehavior, primarily a malfunction referred to as "chunking," at the U.S. Nationals during Labor Day weekend.

The NHRA instituted a string of rule changes since the June event at St. Louis in which Darrell Russell was killed. But more than a few drivers are unconvinced that those will help.

Bazemore added, "It's a Band-Aid. And this patient requires open-heart surgery."

Bazemore said he has opinions about a possible solution but is unwilling to share them publicly.

If Bazemore were to ask around he might find that some of his associates are prepared to support a premature end to the season to allow Goodyear time to rectify the problem.

"There are options as far as the NHRA is concerned, both short-term and long-term solutions to this ongoing problem, but it is not my place to give my opinion in a public forum," he said. "The decisions that need to be made might be monetarily expensive, at least in the short term, but are very obvious to me. As for tires, I do not know the first thing about the process of building them, but I do know the situation needs an immediate correction.

"The whole issue is a very serious matter and big concern," Bazemore said. "What is most troubling to me at this point is that the problem is not only not going away, but it's getting worse and more prevalent."

Once considered an isolated problem

"If they hurt someone else, it's going to be ugly." - Wayne Dupuy. (www.joeamato.com)

Wayne Dupuy, crew chief at Joe Amato Racing, said, "A couple of years ago, it was an isolated problem at different race tracks," "Now it seems we have six, eight, 10 of them at every race. Maybe they changed the cake mix."

Dupuy said he is certain of one thing: "If they hurt someone else, it's going to be ugly."

Putting the concern factor into perspective was Top Fuel driver Brady Kalivoda. "Drivers do put risks out of our minds in doing this, but we're not careless," he said. "I'm all about self-preservation. I have faith in my team, from (owner) Bill Miller on down, to police this tire issue. But I have seen how concerned they are. We drivers understand the risks, but at the same time, we don't need anything thrown into the mix, like this tire problem."

Rumors circulated at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis that Professional Racers Organization was planning a protest in response to the tire problems. That's not true, PRO President Kenny Bernstein said.

"No protest," he said. "We spent days on the phone with Goodyear, and we think there's a good direction there. Everything's going to be good."

Jim Oberhofer, Kalitta Racing team manager, said NHRA's technology is leapfrogging the tire manufacturer's. "We do know that Goodyear's worried about it. They're trying to address it, but our progress is quicker than Goodyear's. We need to allow Goodyear time to catch up."

The question is how much time drivers and teams can afford to spare and how much time Goodyear -- NHRA's sole manufacturer and supplier of tires for the nitro classes -- needs in order to settle on a safe tire.

The Peter Lehman Racing team, with driver Clay Millican, and the Kalitta Racing dragsters of Scott Kalitta and David Grubnic participated in tire testing Tuesday, Sept. 14 at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. "We'll see if we can come up with some data for them to help fix this problem," Oberhofer said.

The Kalitta cars ran on two different editions of tires during the pre-U.S. Nationals testing at Indianapolis, and Oberhofer said that "everything looked pretty good. "I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one of these two tires will be the answer," he said. "We've hit a snag, but Goodyear always comes up with something better. Anytime you get chunking now, [the occurrence] is under such a magnifying glass.

"I feel safer strapping Scott into that race car than I do putting my kid on a school bus," Oberhofer said. "Professional drag racing -- Top Fuel and Funny Car -- is the safest form of motorsport, when you think how quick and fast these cars go."

Is a larger tire the answer?

Bruce Litton's crash at the early part of the season is said to be tire related. When the tire manufacturers pulled out of land speed competition it set the sport back by decades and threatened its mere existence. Some fear nitro racing is facing the same fate.

Mike Kloeber, Millican's crew chief and a pro-active safety proponent, said Goodyear has developed a 40-inch rear tire -- one that's considerably bigger than the current one and one that Kalivoda said likely will force chassis redesigns. Kloeber said it never has been used, that Goodyear has considered testing it next year.

Kalivoda said he is all for whatever makes drag racing safer. "It took me all my life to get to this point," he said. "Safety is first. We all want this sport to be around for us to participate in for a long time. If that means making wholesale changes, then that's what we'll do."

Oberhofer said of boss Connie Kalitta, "Connie, he'd race if there were no fans in the stands and no purses. He loves drag racing. But he has his son and his nephew and David Grubnic, who might as well be his son, in those cars, and he cares about safety."

Don Schumacher serves on the PRO board and the NHRA's recently formed task force for performance limitations with Kalitta, and he has heard a dozen suggestions for a solution. "Everybody has an opinion about improving this situation," he said. "There's no consensus. There's no one single direction."

He said, "I have more beliefs than I care to deal with. These people are all knowledgeable, very strongly opinionated, and very successful. And I'm sure all these people are right in a different sense. Goodyear, NHRA, the team owners, PRO, the performance council . . . If they could wave a magic wand over everything and solve the problem, they would, but nobody has the power to wave that magic wand."

Bearing the brunt of responsibility

The last few hundred feet of the run provides some ugly looks for the tires as evidenced by this Larry Sullivan pic at Indy.

Goodyear, with its exclusivity contract, bears the burden of designing a tire that can accommodate the downforce loads on the Top Fuel dragsters and, to a lesser extent, the nitro Funny Cars.

"Maybe years ago, instead of running off other tire manufacturers, they should have been developing an exit strategy. NASCAR has. Why didn't the NHRA?" said one tire-manufacturer representative, who asked not to be identified.

NASCAR has begun development with Hoosier Tire on some of the regional/touring series, and Hoosier spokesmen say their company is poised to enter the Nextel Cup forum, if the opportunity arises.

In the early 1990s, Hoosier and Firestone had been working on plans for a Pro Stock tire. However, after Warren Johnson won at Sonoma in 1992, NHRA ruled that the same manufacturer had to produce all four tires.

Later, someone asked Johnson what tires he had used. Diplomatically, Johnson replied, "big, round, black ones."

Several years ago, NHRA mandated Goodyear as the spec tire. No other manufacturers had the chance to bid on the job. Hoosier sent a letter to Compton, voicing its displeasure for the way NHRA handled the decision. Hoosier claims Compton never responded by telephone or in writing.

Goodyear, whose development process certainly didn't begin with Russell's accident, inarguably has built a trusted reputation in all forms of motorsport. It has been a reliable name in drag racing for decades. This situation simply is an other challenge, made more urgent because of Russell's death, the rising speeds, and the very nature of this high-risk/intense-thrill sport -- not to mention the high finance that floats in and out of teams' operations. However, the problem is real and needs first aid, then emergency care.

Giving a fair shake

Curiously, Goodyear, did not respond completely to the opportunity that Competition Plus offered to clarify the technical aspects situation and express the company's policies, concerns and assurances to the drag-racing community.

Carolyn Ashbee, Goodyear's sales and marketing manager for drag racing, said Friday, Sept. 10 that she would arrange a conference call with Competition Plus at 10 a.m. (Eastern Time) Monday, Sept. 13. She asked that Competition Plus submit questions so, she said, she would be able to gather the in-house experts who best could answer the questions. The magazine did so.

Ashbee telephoned at the scheduled time Sept. 13 but said with various potential conference-call participants not present at the Akron, Ohio offices, the call would be postponed until the following day. She said Greg Stucker, Goodyear's director of racing, would organize the conference call.

Stucker called Competition Plus the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 14 and said the company chose not to conduct a conference call with Competition Plus. Instead, Stucker said, Goodyear would issue a public statement "by the end of the day" Wednesday, Sept. 15. He said he would e-mail the statement to Competition Plus, then verified the e-mail address to which it should be directed.

No statement arrived by 5 a.m. (Eastern Time) Thursday, Sept. 16 -- nearly one week after initial contact with Goodyear. And no such statement appeared by that hour anywhere on the company's website.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following text includes the list of questions CompetitionPlus.com sent to Goodyear racing-division executive Carolyn Ashbee, as per Ashbee's request. Goodyear did not answer any of the questions.

Hello, Carolyn --

Here are the questions as per your request Friday afternoon.

Let me preface my questions by saying a couple of things:
First, I have no agenda, other than to give a calm assessment of the situation following the NHRA's U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis. I am not asking these questions to lead you or anyone else at Goodyear down a specific path. I do not intend to contribute to the rumors or accusations. This is a straight news article for Competition Plus magazine and will not contain editorializing. All I want to do is clarify terms, clarify the situation and give Goodyear an opportunity to voice its policy/views/concerns/assurances to the drag racing community.

Second, I appreciate the chance to ask questions so I can present a fair and balanced account of the situation.

Susan Wade
Senior Editor – CompetitionPlus.com


Is it important to note that the development process certainly didn't begin with Darrell Russell's accident at St. Louis?

What is "chunking" and why does it occur? (I know that sounds elementary to ask, but I want to make sure I convey the technical truth to the readers and give them the basics of the situation.)
Is this a generic term that has become a buzzword by people who might be sincere but are sincerely misinformed?

Are some teams prone to it and others not? (What factors figure into the equation? Is it a function of the chemical make-up of the tire itself or of such factors as track preparation, track idiosyncracies, driver idisyncracies, or unique tune-ups -- or some combination of all those?)

From what I understand, the number of incidents at Indianapolis was 21. Can you confirm that? I don't know how many teams were involved in those 21 incidents, and how it broke down for each nitro class (majority in Top Fuel, I presume, but perhaps I'm incorrect).

How egregious was the problem at Indianapolis? On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being "at the 911-we've-got-to-fix-this-immediately-or-something-catastrophic-is-going-to-happen" stage, how would you rate it?

The claims out there are that not only are serious "chunking" incidents occurring, but so are problems with the sidewalls and even front tires. What exactly is the issue (or are the issues) Goodyear is facing with these tires? What is Goodyear specifically concentrating on in its effort to fix the problem(s)?

What is Goodyear's response to the suggestion that the NHRA season should be suspended until "the tire problem" is fixed?

If, in fact, that's a Chicken Little approach, what will/would it take for Goodyear to convince those proponents that the situation is safe? How can Goodyear allay those fears?

Does the situation warrant that?

Does that suggestion have any merit?

Do you anticipate rule changes from NHRA before the Reading race this coming weekend?

What can you tell me about the tire testing that is scheduled to take place Tuesday at Route 66 Raceway?

I understand Kalitta Racing (don't know how many of its three cars will participate) and Clay Millican will drive. Anybody else? Anybody representing the Funny Car class?

What will you be looking for?

Is this a one-day test? Two days? Until teams need to leave for Reading?

About how many runs do you expect to see?

How soon can Goodyear react to any findings from this test? How soon can any necessary changes/upgrades go into effect?

Are any more test sessions planned? (If so, when and where and with whom?)

What did Goodyear learn from the pre-U.S. Nationals testing at Indianapolis? Was any team specifically doing testing for Goodyear those days? Either way, did teams experience the troubles they seems to have in the racing weekend?

Because these tires are handmade and not mass-produced on an assembly line, is NHRA at risk of supply problems, especially if Goodyear introduces a new version anytime soon?

What is the maximum speed at which this current tire is safe for the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes?

Perhaps I have missed something, but to my knowledge, NHRA has not issued a statement about the cause of Darrell Russell's death. Do you anticipate that happening soon? Would you like to see that (as a matter of legality/liability/exoneration and as a springboard for contributing to the sport a tire that responds to the current set of speed/track/tuneup conditions)?

I'm sure you're aware of Martin Henderson's July 29 article in the Los Angeles Times. In that article, Julie Russell is quoted as saying Darrell repeatedly had expressed serious concern about the tires.

Were any of those concerns voiced to Goodyear by Darrell Russell, crew chief Wayne Dupuy or team owner Joe Amato?

The article reads, "Several drivers, owners and crew chiefs said they had chronic problems with the tire, which they say was introduced into competition and later mandated without sufficient on-track testing — an allegation denied by the NHRA and Goodyear." Do you know the identities of your alleged accusers? Was this current tire given proper testing?

Is this D-2300, the tire nitro classes are using now, the fourth tire in 13 races (as the article asserts)?

How do you answer the charge that the minimum pounds-per-square-inch rule, the nitro reduction, and the wing-angle adjustment simply address the symptoms rather than being part of the solution? (That they're mere Band-Aids?) Are those rules an attempt by NHRA to buy Goodyear time to develop, test, and pronounce ideal a new tire (or changes to the current version of tire) for these nitro classes?

Because Goodyear is the sole supplier of tires for its nitro classes, does the company have a point at which it would drop the manufacture of drag-racing tires and let NHRA figure things out for itself? How precarious is the situation -- or how committed is Goodyear to rise to the challenge of fixing this concern?

Everybody wants a safe race car, no matter what form of motorsport we're talking about. IRL and NASCAR have imposed performance limits on their respective race cars. NHRA seems to be trying to do the same for the sake of safety. However, in NHRA, quick elapsed times and fast speeds are the name of the game, and nobody much would pay to see a milk truck or a semi or a tank race down a quarter-mile. So crew chiefs will try to subvert the slowing-down process. The questions are these: Can you make a safe tire in a We-want-to-have-our-cake-and-eat-it-too environment? How hard is it to try to design and develop a safe tire in those conditions? Do you sense those are, indeed, the conditions you face now in NHRA racing?

Confidence of the crewchiefs

"Those poor guys at Goodyear. A lot of people don't want to give them the credit they deserve. If we had a perfect tire, who's to say we still wouldn't have problems?" - Jim Oberhofer

Although Goodyear chose not to cooperate with Competition Plus, opting to regard the opportunity as neither a bully pulpit nor damage control, it clearly has the confidence of many team owners and crew chiefs.

"Those poor guys at Goodyear," Oberhofer said sympathetically. "A lot of people don't want to give them the credit they deserve. If we had a perfect tire, who's to say we still wouldn't have problems?"

Coil suggested NHRA "might ought to be focusing a little bit on the downforce the dragsters make. . . . The dragsters are harder on tires and rear ends and driveshafts and clutches than Funny Cars are. . . . So the dragsters load their components harder than Funny Cars do, because they have a lot more weight on the rear wheels (because of the long wheelbase and because the wing is so much more effective . . . in aerodynamic down force).Probably the maximum downforce from the Funny Cars on the rear axle is 5,000 pounds. It's around, I understand, 8,000 on a dragster. The wing is a critical part."

So Coil was suggesting that various elements affect the performance of tires in a cause-and-effect chain. Perhaps his idea to look beyond merely the structural integrity of the tire is a valid one.

Nevertheless, the nitro classes are having potentially disastrous problems with the tires -- rear and front. Ultimately, Goodyear and NHRA must cooperate to find a solution -- before it's too late again.

Oberhofer said the entire drag-racing community didn't respond to the alarm at Bristol during the April 30-May 3 O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. That's when the cords on the tires were breaking, creating a sidewall problem.

"We're all to blame -- Goodyear, NHRA, the racers -- for what happened to Darrell," he said. "If we needed to sit out or postpone a race, we should've done that. We should've looked at this a lot harder than we did."

Dupuy's Empty Feeling

A chunked tire.

Dupuy -- Russell's crew chief who said, "I'm happy to be back racing, but I've got an empty feeling" -- said of the earlier problems, "I was as naïve as anybody else."

But during his team's investigation of Russell's accident -- one he said included chassis builders Brad Hadman and Murf McKinney, a couple of crew chiefs, and safety experts from NASCAR and IRL -- Dupuy said he was reminded about how extreme drag racing truly is. He said one IRL representative visited the shop in northeastern Pennsylvania and looked at the dragster chassis and remarked, "Wow. Y'all go 330 miles an hour in this? Y'all are crazy."

Said Oberhofer, "We play Russian Roulette every time we go down the track. We'd be playing Russian Roulette, even if we had a perfect tire. We keep pulling this trigger and thinking nothing will happen. "

Dupuy went a step further. "You used to have one bullet in the chamber," he said, "but when you know something's not right, now you have two." Still, he recognized nothing would, perhaps nothing could, be changed by the race at Reading, scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 17-19. "We'll roll the dice again at Reading."

He wasn't willing to do that during the last day of qualifying at Indianapolis, not after a piece of tire smacked and bent the wing strut on the car. He and the team decided not to subject rookie driver Morgan Lucas to any more danger and chose not to participate in the fifth and final session that Sunday.

Still, Oberhofer said the chunking was "better than a tire exploding."

Oberhofer said the severe chunking problems at Indianapolis were considerably more manageable than the cord-breaking incidents at Bristol. He noted that the problems doesn't seem to have a pattern.

"It seems sporadic," Oberhofer said of the trouble. "One week it's our team it picks on, the next week it's another team. It surfaces whenever it feels like it." It happened to quite a few of the top-10 teams, he said. In some cases, the pass was just the second on that particular tire. In other cases, a team might have made four or five runs on that same tire without incident.

"Fortunately for us, we had no problems through qualifying. That's 15 runs. At Indianapolis, we had problems only on Monday, and that was only on Doug's car."

Or, as Kalivoda put it, "The consistent thing about it [the problem] is that it's inconsistent."

Oberhofer said he suspects the problem comes right at the launch. "These cars struggle to get up on the tire," he said, focusing on the first 300 feet of the 1,320-feet trip down the dragstrip. He said the 85 percent nitro rule "hurt us on torque."

At the least, the problem can prevent the driver from having a chance to qualify well or at all or, during eliminations, a fair chance to win the round. For example, when Kalivoda and his team needed to adjust to the warmer conditions on race-day morning at Indianapolis and needed to put on used tires for better traction, they didn't have any used tires.

"We had chunked every other set," he said, "We don't have six sets of rims and tires sitting around. Nobody's got them, because the tires aren't living that long."

Something on which participants seem to agree is that the cost, whether it's in money or life, is too steep to simply accept without question or objection.

The bottom line, regrettably, often is the bottom line. Bazemore was among those who have wondered aloud if NHRA will make genuine changes.

"At what price?" he asked. "It comes down to price.