Whether it’s some insanely awesome race cars or edge-of-your seat, wild rides, we can always count on the Aussies to keep the drag racing world abuzz, and although this one happened to fly under our radar back in early 2012, it’s still an intriguing video that showcases the inherent dangers of one of drag racing’s standard pieces of safety equipment.
As even the most casual of drag racing fans is surely aware, parachutes are used in the sport for one purpose and one purpose only — to serve as a primary aid to the braking system in safely bringing a vehicle to a stop in the given shutdown distance. But the very nature of parachutes dangling behind a car presents a certain — albeit small — degree of risk. Not only are you at the mercy of the wind, which can force the parachute over the guardrail where it can collect or catch on stationary or mobile items, but you also have a car in the other lane than can pose a risk.
Another car getting wrapped up in their competitors’ parachutes is a rare circumstance, but it unfolded (no pun intended) before a large audience at the Tasmanian Drag Racers Association’s Slamfest in February of 2012, when Top Doorslammer racer Maurice Fabietti, after getting loose at the top end and striking the guardrail, crossed behind opponent Tony Defelice and got one of the two ‘chutes caught on this rear wing.
With Defelice unaware of the situation and Fabietti without any means of getting the tangled cord loose, the two continued into the shutdown area until the distance between them — and therefore the tension in the cord — hooked Fabietti’s Holden and turned it upside down, barrel rolling twice before coming to a rest on its wheels. Defelice’s car remainedon its wheels, but definitely got his attention when he came to an abrupt and sliding halt in the grass.
A wild ride indeed, and one that serves as a reminder that for all the benefits that parachutes provide to racers, they can certainly get you in trouble as quickly as they can help you stop.