When the Don Schumacher Racing Top Fuel Dragsters of drivers Antron Brown, Tony Schumacher, and Spencer Massey rolled into preseason testing this winter sporting a new partially encapsulated roll cage covering, it represented perhaps the next evolution in driver safety from fire and flying debris. But to many, it also brought the cars one step closer to the return of the enclosed driver canopies that were tried throughout the 70’s and 80’s and were made most famous by “Big Daddy” Don Garlits on his Swamp Rat XXX in 1986.

But the triumphant return of the canopy might be nearer than many had thought.

Hondo Boats Inc. and James Brendel Safety Capsules, a Riverside, California-based manufacturer of hardcore drag racing boats to leisure boats, driver capsules, props, and anything else to do with the extreme world of drag boat racing, has developed the first fully enclosed driver cockpit system for Top Fuel Dragster, which as you can see in the photos, has already been delivered to the Schumacher compound in Indianapolis and test-fitted in one of Tony Schumacher’s U.S. ARMY diggers.

For those that have never seen inside of a drag boat driver capsule, the carbon fiber or fiberglass tubs are completely separate from the rest of the boat hull, with a full driver roll cage and footbox contained within. In cases of devastating crashes, the driver capsule breaks away from the disintegrated hull and, as advertised, saves lives. Whether or not the capsule constructed for Schumacher’s dragster is designed in the same manner is yet to be seen, but anything to further the safety of our sport is a positive.

Stay tuned to DRAGZINE as more information on this new development becomes available.