NASCAR WCUP: Dallenbach lauds father's safety device
6 September 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
After testing Monday at Lakeland, Fla., for Saturday night's Chevy Monte Carlo 400 at Richmond International Raceway, the Galaxy Motorsports team and driver Wally Dallenbach are optimistic about their chances in the Rotozip Ford.
Safety is a keen issue on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit, and Dallenbach and his father, Wally Sr., have a lot to do with it. Dallenbach had an engine kill switch mounted on his steering wheel for the Brickyard 400 and some two weeks later, NASCAR made it mandatory on all cars. Teams are also beginning to use a special electronic device that will automatically shut off the engine when it is running wide open and the driver is pushing extremely hard on the brake pedal. Wally Sr. showed NASCAR his device that works from a sensor on the throttle linkage. Jack Roush has refined that prototype, using a sensor on the intake manifold. Dallenbach Jr. is trying to make sure his father receives the proper credit for the safety device.
WALLY DALLENBACH (No. 75 Rotozip Ford Taurus): "My dad came up with this idea and built the prototype about five years ago. The prototype was built in San Antonio. My dad went to Roush with it to try to get it in a little more consolidated form so you could put it in a briefcase and show it to people. So Roush built that unit that is sitting in the NASCAR trailer right now (Darlington weekend), which my dad brought to Indianapolis to show Mike Helton and Gary Nelson. I know they tried it on some of the Indy cars and I believe they prototyped it on one of the PPG pace cars about three years ago. When the accidents claimed Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin, Sr. said, 'Hey, do you think NASCAR would be interested in my deal?' I said, 'Yeah. Why don't you put it together and I'll bring it to Indy.' That's where it came from. It was Sr.'s idea and he had it built. My old man has got a lot of time and work in that thing and although the thing they tested here is slightly different, instead of going off the throttle linkage they're measuring it off of manifold pressure. But it's the same concept. When the sensors are showing x-amount of brake pressure, which you can adjust, say it's set for 600 pounds of brake pressure and it's also saying you're wide-open throttle, it automatically shuts the motor down. Sr.'s went on throttle linkage position. The throttle linkage position is actually simpler to do, but you can do it off the manifold pressure or throttle linkage. We decided to test the one with the manifold pressure. Sr.'s not looking to make a penny off this thing, but I'll be darned if I'm going to let someone else get credit for the idea because Sr.'s got a lot of work and money invested in this piece of equipment. My dad's known for a lot of safety standards. That's the biggest input he's had in CART."
TALK ABOUT THE KILL SWITCH YOU INSTALLED ON YOUR STEERING WHEEL AT INDIANAPOLIS.
"At Indianapolis, NASCAR looked at our steering wheel and looked out how we did it and two weeks later it was mandatory you had kill switches on the steering wheel. This is something I had used in road racing. It was always there and it was always in the back of my mind that button was on the steering wheel. I know where that button is and I know where I can get to it. It's a reflex. We had the kill switch on the steering wheel at the Brickyard 400. Two weeks later they made it to where it was mandatory."
BOBBY LABONTE HAD A PRACTICE CRASH AT DARLINGTON WHERE THE THROTTLE HUNG. HE DIDN'T MENTION A KILL SWITCH.
"There are places where you're going to have time and there are places where you aren't. At the first Michigan race, I had a throttle hung in practice. I had time to kill the engine going into turn three because it's a wide race track and I had time to do it. I had time to reach up and hit the switch on the dash. I didn't have the kill switch on the steering wheel at the first Michigan, but I had time to reach up and kill the switch on the dash. That's when I started thinking about putting a button on the steering wheel because it would be a heck of a lot easier to get to. A place like Darlington, perhaps even Martinsville, you don't have that much real estate to get to the switch or turn the switch off because the walls are closer. Michigan's a real big, wide race track, so you can get away with it there. But there are places like Darlington where you don't have that much real estate, so you don't have that extra second to think about it."
TALK ABOUT MONDAY'S TEST AT LAKELAND.
"We just worked on a bunch of different things. We tried different combinations, tried different things on the car to see how it would react. It was very productive. There were things that Newt (Moore) thought would work and they did. It was a good test. We tested there last time before Richmond. We had pit stop problems at Richmond last time and that has been cleared up. We're over that now. We were a little bit loose in the race, so there were some things we will do different. I know the gear we chose was an issue. We had a problem getting forward bite in the race, but we were still good enough to stay on the lead lap. I think we learned a lot this time at Lakeland and we'll take what we learned from the last time we raced at Richmond and hopefully apply it and have a good run."
Text provided by Brian Hoagland
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