Don Schumacher Racing will not be able to start the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season with its innovative fully enclosed canopy on Tony Schumacher's U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster until NHRA completes further inspection of the revolutionary component.
Team owner Don Schumacher said the canopy that fits within an existing dragster chassis also cannot be used at the second event to be held near Phoenix a week after the Feb. 9-12 NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.
"We have to go through the proper channels with NHRA to get approval for the canopy, and NHRA wants to take a close look at it so we'll take it to Pomona where officials, Safety Safari and other drivers and owners can get a close look at it," Don Schumacher said.
Tony Schumacher is an adamant supporter of the canopy although it adds about 25 pounds to the dragster's weight. His best run with the canopy was 3.761 seconds at 324.28 mph during Jan. 15-21 testing at Palm Beach International Raceway in Jupiter, Fla., where he made 13 runs with it. Teammate Antron Brown also made a run to test the unit.
"This isn't about performance. This about safety," said Tony, the seven-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion. "I want every driver to have one. We aren't hiding anything. Again, this is just all about making it safer for all the guys in Top Fuel."
Don added, "We let all the teams at West Palm examine it. We let drivers get in it if they wanted. I want to make these cars as safe as they can be and not just for Tony. The canopy takes safety in Top Fuel to a much higher level."
Schumacher is a longtime safety innovator in drag racing. In the early 1970s when he was a top Funny Car owner and driver he developed the first roof escape hatch after seeing too many drivers burned in cockpit fires. He was the first to activate on-board fire extinguishers by attaching the handle to a Funny Car's brake handle so at the end of a fiery run the driver could keep one hand on the steering wheel and another on the brake while suppressing a fire.
Army crew chief Mike Green, who won the Top Fuel championship with Tony in 2009 at DSR, has been trying to enhance safety of the Top Fuel driver compartment since 2004 when popular Top Fuel driver Darrell Russell died in his open cockpit after apparently being hit with debris during a race near St. Louis.
Soon after Russell died, NHRA mandated rollcage shrouds be added behind the driver.
But that does not protect a driver from being hit by oncoming foreign objects.
Tony recalled several times when crashes or engine explosions on opponents' cars sent parts flying over his dragster.
"I remember twice when my front wing hit birds at 300 mph," he said. "If those birds would have hit my helmet I probably wouldn't be here today.
"This setup with the canopy is the smartest thing you can put on a (Top Fuel) car until we figure out something smarter.
"When I sit in this car with the canopy I have a level of comfort that I haven't had in a long time," Tony said. "Every driver should have that feeling. I've lost some good friends out here and don't want to lose any more."
The canopy concept began when Green thought back to his days racing 200-mph drag boats. He contacted longtime friend James Brendel, who owns Hondo Boats and Brendel Safety Capsules in Riverside, Calif. Brendel pioneered the use of enclosed capsules for drag boat racing, and the innovation has been responsible for saving countless lives and possibly the sport.
Green finally had the resources and funding for his project after he joined DSR in 2008 and shared his vision with the team owner.
Schumacher and Green embarked on the project in earnest two years ago and it came to fruition a year later when Brendel's self-contained canopy was fitted into a Top Fuel chassis and tested in Florida.
The capsule worked well but was too heavy, Green said.
DSR began working to develop a second generation canopy with Brendel and Indianapolis-based Aerodine Composites, which has designed and manufactured various parts for top NHRA and IndyCar teams over the past 20 years.
Aerodine built the canopy using a combination of Kevlar and carbon fiber that goes over of an existing chassis to nearly enclose the cockpit and tops it with an attached full canopy that lowers over the driver.
The module is reinforced for further side protection. The canopy can be quickly released inside by the driver or at the rear by crew or safety workers. The canopy will carry a 5-pound fire suppression system similar to those used in Funny Cars.
"The canopy doesn't make us go faster," Tony said. "It looks really cool, but I wouldn't care if it were ugly. That fact is I feel safer under it. That's all that matters to me."
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