ANDRA sanctions Adelaide International Raceway for 1/8th mile events

[stuntmanmike]

I just read this:DRAG RACING RETURNS TO ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Now if I recall correctly, the drag event I attended 11 years ago had an incident within the first 1/8th mile of the 1/4 mile track with dusty track conditions.
The Adelaide consortium for a new drag race venue has been struggling to gain a place with the local G for a suitable track albeit they aimed for one in a built up area near suburbia (= fail!).
Tailem Bend was being rumored as a the ear marked alternative.
My question is: what has made the AIR track "safer" as a controlled sport venue than what it was 11+ years ago?
Don't get me wrong; I miss viewing live competitive drag racing here in Adelaide as much as the racers and want it back asap. Whyalla is the closest venue for us and the event dates are TBA

Am I missing something here or have we been wire brushed up the a$$ for the last 11 years by the closure of AIR plus ANDRA's support for SA and the national sport of drag racing?

[Stressball]

It says the first few events will be 1/8 mile only, which it probably meets the standards for. Before they move to 1/4 mile events they'll improve safety standards to meet ANDRA requirements. A dusty track is simply a matter of landscaping; remove any trees nearby and landscape til there is no loose dirt in a place where wind will pick it up and dump it on the track.

Chances are that ANDRA didn't feel the need to sanction a fourth track in the country, until it was found out that WSID is very nearly bankrupt and major members of it's board are under investigation for nepotism and unnecessary spending.

[stuntmanmike]

It says the first few events will be 1/8 mile only, which it probably meets the standards for. Before they move to 1/4 mile events they'll improve safety standards to meet ANDRA requirements.

Then can we assume there will be plans to roll out the 1/4 mile and have AIR restored to it's former glory? Let's hope so.

A dusty track is simply a matter of landscaping; remove any trees nearby and landscape til there is no loose dirt in a place where wind will pick it up and dump it on the track.

I certainly hope that solves that issue. The farms adjacent to AIR lift their top soil over the track during a light southerly wind. The coordinators of AIR must use the learnings from that fateful day 11 years ago and put racing on hold for big horsepower competitors faster. I was overhearing the officials question if the race should be cancelled or not with a dusty track and that allowed a delay of communication and decision making. This was one distinction that permitted a fast car to leave the line and hit the wall. All I'm saying is that the accident could have been prevented and I wouldn't want to be the one hitting the wall in my race car because officials can't act quick enough to make a race event as safe as possible.

Chances are that ANDRA didn't feel the need to sanction a fourth track in the country, until it was found out that WSID is very nearly bankrupt and major members of it's board are under investigation for nepotism and unnecessary spending.

Whoa. I wasn't aware of WSID having financial mis-management issues. Still, I believe there should be more ANDRA sanctioned tracks in Australia, more championship race events and more prize money. AFL/Soccer/Cycling is advertised to the nines and I hardly see an ANDRA event advertised unless I buy a copy of Drag Racing News. I guess it's all a matter of money. Maybe it's time for ANDRA to be reinvented and improved to provide what the racers and spectators want.

Thanks for the response Stressball and I am pleasantly surprised that the drags are coming back to Adelaide. Bring back Top Fuel!

[Stressball]

No worries. The WSID thing only came to light in the last few months, last I heard complete control of it's finances had been revoked from the board and was given to a third party company who were looking over their financials to see if anything sinister had been taking place.

Would be great to see more ANDRA tracks, but can you imagine the costs necessary? Insurance, track maintenance, staff, all the infrastructure needed for it, and very few drag racing teams in Aus are in it full time. Most of the team staff are doing it on the side of their own jobs, so the amount of money it would take to support more than a couple of tracks would be too high. Would love to see it how it is over in the USA, where they have 3 1/4 strips per state and a top fuel meeting every week.

EDIT: Incidentally, the investigation into WSID was prompted by a Greens MP complaining about the track losing money in 2007/2008, and because of that they should withdraw the $30M in funding the track had received. She also says (with no reason, really) that there should be a separation of the heads of sports and the entrants in them and that it's a problem for Jim Read to be both WSID chairman AND owner of a team that races there.

Go Greens