944Speed Grrl

Reports say that he has second degree burns, over 6% of his body. Yes, anytime someone gets burned, it is very painful. I've had a sunburn for over 3 months now...from going to the beach for five and a half hour surfing. I went to the doctor 2 weeks after, and they said it was second degree burns, over 25% of my body. Also the fact that I was dehydrated made it worse so they gave me an IV. What I'm trying to say is that, I hope he's man enough to handle 6% burned, when a 17 year old girl can handle 25% burned.

Greg Fishman

The fire inside of the car was due to the gas vapor which is more flammable that gas in a liquid form.

macnewma

How much fuel do you guys think is in the filler neck? From watching the bumper mounted camera, it appears that alot of fuel was dumped. Are there a few gallons in the filler neck?

It also appears that he was wearing a full suit of some sort, but I couldn't tell if he had a balaclava or gloves. It amazes me that these guys don't take every safety precaution possible. Money is no object to them, they have all the experts telling them what is best and this is their career.

Also, is the AFFF system better than the Halon/Halotron systems? Is that what pro teams use?

Max

PMS993

I saw the same thing on the video but having hit a tire wall with a Kart once, those things hold a lot of rain water so that may have been water and some fuel.

I don't know if Junior has ever worn a balaclava.

Another thought someone sent to me...in the video, he appeared to slump over but not being familiar with the car, he may have been looking for the fire suppression button...

James Achard

Halon is illegal everywhere except here (US). Frankly, I prefer AFFF since it won't have a suffocating affect on me. Having had the pleasure of my car catching on fire, I can attest that the brunt of the supression lies in the drivers hands. I have fire supression and a portable bottle that I grab on the way out.

Cheers, James

BrianKeithSmith

I think it knocked him unconscious/dazed. One report I read said that he had no recollection of the incident. When you watch the replays, he doesn't move at all it seems until the fire is pretty much surrounding him.

Just the way I see it.

Brian

GUMBALL

macnewma:
the AFFF system is MUCH better at supressing fire than ANY form of Halon, because in addition to smothering the fire, as a liquid foam it also COOLS anything it touches.
James Achard:
be careful of a "clip-in" bottle, the clip mount is not that strong, and in a big impact the bottle can turn into a projectile........

Rene

Not sure if he was wearing a balaclava but he was wearing underwear. Another site has pictures of him from the weekend & you can tell he is wearing nomex underwear.

Rene

Robert Henriksen

Aside from the family jewels, you really don't want burns on your hands or face. I can't imagine not wearing a balaclava.

PMS993

OK, here's a question that may appear dumb but, I read in an article that Junior had laundered a nomex suit and he had to replace it because the laundry cuts down on the retardant abilities of the suit. Dry cleaning only?

dgz924s

I understand the fuel Sunoco is making is with Methanol and it is eating away at the foam in the cells. Thus causing some leakage and the fuel to "splash out" when damaged. This the second Corvette to burn to the ground for the same reason IIRC. Dal

SundayDriver

That is not true of Nomex - the fiber itself is fire resistant and the websites of all the suit mfgs I have seen say washing is fine.

Now a treated cotton may have a problem with washing - that is a guess as I have never researched that.

SundayDriver

All fuels seem to decay the foam over time. I think the issue with Alcohol (and I think they are using Ethanol) is that it attacks the bladder material and causes some flaking, etc. The bits get in the fuel pickup and clog it. Obviously, over time, the safety is also compromised. It is not like it does serious damage in hours or even days - more of a long term issue. I just don't know what really constitutes 'long term' - is that 1 year, 5 years, 6 months? I think part of the problem is that it depends on what else is in that particular fuel and the ambient conditions, etc.

dgz924s

Actually it is the cleaning chemicals used that are flamable so dry cleaning is advised. Dal

macnewma

Oddly enough, one of his guy's said in an interview that they had just installed a new fuel cell prior to the race. Hmmmm...shoddy install?

Max