When Top Alcohol Dragster driver Monroe Guest blew both rear tires sending him into the dragster of Brandon Greco during eliminations June 4, 2011, at the  SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J., he was using a set of Hoosier Racing tires his crew chief knew were prone to failure.
 
To make matters worse, Hoosier representatives on site knew Guest and his crew chief were using the tires, while NHRA officials running the event didn't know the Indiana-based tire company had issued a Safety Notice on May 18 which said the tires should not be run on a Top Alcohol dragster.

On the official Hoosier Racing Tires website, a product bulletin was posted on May 18, 2011 which reads as follows:

When Top Alcohol Dragster driver Monroe Guest blew both rear tires sending him into the dragster of Brandon Greco during eliminations June 4, 2011, at the SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J., he was using a set of Hoosier Racing tires his crew chief knew were prone to failure.
 
To make matters worse, Hoosier representatives on site knew Guest and his crew chief were using the tires, while NHRA officials running the event didn't know the Indiana-based tire company had issued a Safety Notice on May 18 which said the tires should not be run on a Top Alcohol dragster.

On the official Hoosier Racing Tires website, a product bulletin was posted on May 18, 2011 which reads as follows:

It is important to know that all Hoosier Racing Tires are designed for a specific purpose, fitment, and application and effective immediately Hoosier Racing Tires are not recommended or to be used on Nitro injected A/Fuel Dragsters, Pro Fuel Dragsters, Fuel Funny Cars, or Top Fuel Dragsters. We are developing tires for some of these applications and notice will be given when these tires are available for sale.

Never utilize a tire for a purpose it was not intended. Utilizing Hoosier Tires in any form outside of their intended use constitutes misuse of the product and can cause SERIOUS PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH.

The Hoosier bulletin/safety notice was posted shortly after Mike Manners, who is a regular competitor in the Pro Fuel Dragster division on the IHRA Nitro Jam tour and also competes in NHRA’s Top Alcohol Dragster ranks, was uninjured following a high-speed crash while testing at the Royal Purple Raceway in Houston over the weekend of May 13-15.

“Well, we are not sure if they are suitable or not,” Paul Menting, a sales manager at Hoosier Racing Tires headquarters in Lakeville, Ind., told a CompetitionPlus.com writer Wednesday morning. “We are just erring on the side of caution. There were a couple of incidents with A/Fuel cars that had our product on; some of them could be explained that had nothing to do with tires (and) others were not explained. We didn’t find anything wrong with the tires, however, with multiple incidents, we just wanted to make sure that we were being cautious. We wanted to evaluate the product and make sure that it was applicable for those type of cars.”

Immediately after Guest beat Greco in round one at the SuperNationals last Saturday, things took a drastic turn for the worst.

Guest clocked a 5.239-second elapsed time at 252.10 mph and Greco registered a 5.467-second effort at 258.07 mph.

As Guest’s dragster crossed the finish line, it appeared the right rear tire on his car blew and the left rear tire blew immediately afterward. The chutes came out and the car veered hard to the right, crossing into the right lane and sliding sideways into the front of Greco's car. Both cars hit the right side wall, then slid upright to a stop. Greco got out of his car right away, with Guest getting out of his car shortly thereafter. Both drivers were shown on the track video out of their cars walking around the shutdown area.

Joe Monden, Guest’s crew chief, acknowledged he was told by Hoosier representatives during qualifying at Englishtown that he should not use the tire.

“Yes, we are just like everyone else,” said Monden before turning angry.  “My question is what is the purpose of this? If you are going after Hoosier, Hoosier did everything that they could. I do not see what your purpose is. You are trying to stir up s*** is what you are trying to do.”

Monden said the rear tires on the dragster during the crash were Hoosier tires purchased late last season.

“We bought them (the tires on the dragster during the wreck), the same time that we bought (another) set of (Hoosier) tires that we just took off the car that had 27 passes on them,” Monden said. “They (the tires that were on the dragster during the wreck) had four passes on them before we put them back on the car at Englishtown.”

Monden said the rear tires that blew up had six total passes on them.

When asked if the product bulletin on the Hoosier website encompassed the tires that were purchased last year and were run by Guest, Monden said: “I can’t answer that question.”  

Menting did say in this instance, Hoosier Racing Tires had notified Guest of the issues.

“Yes he was,” said Menting when asked if Guest was specifically notified about the product bulletin update. “He ran the product that is correct.”

Guest said he never spoke with any Hoosier representative about the company’s product bulletin post.

“I have never talked to Hoosier ever,” Guest said. “They may have notified Joe Monden (Guest’s crew chief). I have never talked to Hoosier and as a matter of fact, I still have not talked to Hoosier. I figured they would come over to the trailer after the crash and they never came by or anything. I have never talked to Hoosier. I never heard of the recall. I have not heard a word from them.”

Monden said the following about the Hoosier product bulletin.

“I never saw the post on the internet,” Monden said. “We were asked not to use any of the new tires. They (Hoosier tire representatives) said you know we have asked you not to use the tires. I said yes. It is not Hoosier’s fault. I’m the one that chose to use the tires. Monroe and I both, you know, we discussed it. I don’t know what Monroe told you and I am not going to contradict anything he says because I do not know what he told you. I personally was aware that they asked us not to run it. If you want to put blame on anybody, the blame was mine. I am the one that made the decision to run them. Because I felt like since we had not any trouble with the set that was bought at the same time out of that batch of tires, and if they were having a problem they were out of newer tires. There have been two other occasions that a tire blew out this year and of those two, they were all, to my knowledge, out of batches that were run recently. I have been running Hoosiers on A/Fuel cars for over four years and I have never blown one out. When we started the year this year with the tires we got at the end of last year, the tires that blew out, we had already put four runs on them and we took them off and put them in the trailer in case we had to change tires during eliminations, they would already be scuffed in. We took those set of tires, which had 27 runs on them, and we saw no blisters, no problems, other than the fact that they had 27 runs, and I felt like it was time to change.”

“I ran one qualifying pass on Goodyears,” Monden said. “The first qualifying pass on them when I changed off the Goodyear back to the Hoosier we smoked the tires. Then we qualified with the set and then in first round of eliminations is whenever it let go.”

Monden also said Hoosier representatives balanced his dragster’s tires after one of the dragster’s qualifying runs. Guest said Hoosier representatives balanced the tires Saturday in between the second round of qualifying and the final round of qualifying.

Guest’s best qualifying run, a 5.352-second lap at 272.34 mph came during the third and final round of qualifying. That elapsed time left him No. 5 in the qualifying ladder.

“Yes,” Monden said when asked if Hoosier was aware his dragster was using Hoosier tires. “But, they can’t stop me from using them. All they can do is ask me not to use them. They reminded me that they had sent out a letter of which I have not seen, but I verbally talked with them about not running the tire. I explained to them the same thing that I just explained to you, the fact that they were an older set of tires that had four runs on them. It was the same situation what I just told you about the two sets. They said well you know we still prefer that you do not run the tires. I said I understand that.”

Monden, however, went against what Hoosier representatives told him and had Guest run the tires in first round.

“Obviously the afterthought is I made a wrong decision to run them,” Monden said. “Hoosier did everything that they could. I didn’t buy any more tires, I already had them. They can’t dictate what I do with them. I said all along I am the one that made the wrong decision. It was an accident and I am sorry it happened and I am sorry that the cars got wrecked, but I remember a few years ago when everybody was blowing the Goodyears out. They didn’t stop using them. They had to chose a tire that was available and they kept blowing them out and finally Goodyear fixed it. Now, I have been running that tire (Hoosier) for four and a half years and never blown one out. If they have a problem, I am sure they are going to fix it. I have been in this sport since ’69. I drove a Top Alcohol car back in the 1970s. There has been recently in last few years race cars have came for whatever reason. You can go ask the heat treated tubing, you can go ask whatever. And, those cars were built by repliable builders. There are times in our sport because we push the stuff to the limits every time we go down the track, there is going to be failures. Because of the circumstances, I felt like we had a good set of tires. Had I not thought that, I would not have sent Monroe down the track with a set of Hoosiers on the car. I would have not have done it. I would have ran the Goodyears, no ifs and buts about it. But, it just not Hoosier’s fault. Would we like somebody to pay to have our race cars rebuilt? Sure. But, that is just not the way this industry works.”

Menting said the product bulletin which was posted on the www.hoosiertire.com website on May 18, also “was distributed by other means as well.”

“Teams were given the product bulletin, it was posted at our truck at servicing events,” Menting continued.

When asked  to see a draft or something that might have been sent out to other sanctioning bodies about the Hoosier Racing Tires not recommended or to be used on Nitro injected A/Fuel Dragsters, Pro Fuel Dragsters, Fuel Funny Cars, or Top Fuel Dragsters, Menting had a quick answer.

“We posted our product bulletin, that is what is available to the public,” Menting said.

When asked if the product bulletin was sent to NHRA specifically Menting had the following response.

“I do not know specifically if it was or not,” Menting said.

Graham Light, the NHRA’s senior vice president-racing operations, Wednesday  said the NHRA wasn’t in possession of the product bulletin until after Guest and Greco’s accident.

“Nope,” said Light when asked if Hoosier Racing Tires ever made him aware of the production notification posted on May 18.

According to Light, there is no policy in place where tire companies have to notify NHRA about updated safety recalls for example.

“That is a request that we have made in the past and I do not know if we specifically made that to Hoosier,” Light said. “We have got other companies that have supplied us with bulletins and recalls and so on, and that was not done in this case. I do not know how we make it a policy. It’s like a racer that has a license for competition privileges and so on. I would think it is in the manufacturers’ best interest to notify our people. That’s something we always request because we can help a manufacturer if he recalls a product, regardless of the nature of the product. Certainly with safety concerns we can help that manufacturer obtain what he wants to do.”

Monden didn’t hesitate when asked what happened to the tires that blew up on Guest’s run.

“They do not exist,” Monden said.”I would imagine NHRA has more pieces (of the tires) than anybody. We didn’t gather any up. I wasn’t worried about the tire pieces, I was more worried about Brandon and Monroe.”

When asked if Monden would be reprimanded for his actions, Light had a general response.

“This whole issue is under review right now and we will probably make a release here within the next 24 hours,” Light said.

Looking ahead, Light is hopeful the lines of communication between manufacturers and NHRA will improve.

“We hope that manufacturers if they have recalled any product that is any safety nature at all, they communicate with our tech department,” Light said. “We can help that manufacturer and the racers in the future need to heed bulletins and verbal warnings from race car manufacturers.”

Stan Creekmore contributed to this report

 

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