Cage Shrouds/Aerodine

Hey everyone.

Just putting the word out there. We have been working with Aerodine for a couple years now and have been running a lot of their products on our funny car. I've been talking with the guys there for a while about introducing the side cage shrouds that we see on a lot of todays big show nitro funny cars. After Annie's tire incident in Houston we decided that we were going to expedite this process of getting them on our car just as an added safety standpoint by closing the drivers compartment off a little more as those side openings are quite large.

Aerodine works with the NHRA daily on the top fuel canopy, and basically all of the composite parts on the pro cars today. The NHRA has no issue with us putting the pieces on they just want to see the product once its on and we will go from there.

I will follow up with a confirmation if we'll have them on at the upcoming Charlotte national, however if they are not on then, they will be on at the Indy regional for sure. We're not trying to make these mandatory which is what we/Aerodine have emphasized when speaking with the NHRA but its a very small weight addition on the car and certainly can do a lot in any "what if" scenario. They are primarily intended for the funny cars but can be made for the dragsters also.. a lot of the cars that don't run the canopy run the additional piece that seals off the cage a bit more instead.

Feel free to come see us in Charlotte (if i say we have them on by then) or the Indy Regional for sure and check them out.

In order to have Aerodine make them:

They need minimum .063 aluminum bent up and trimmed to fit the cage openings. If the tooling doesn't fit your cage, neither will their carbon piece!
Carbon fiber skin with a ballistic inner material for added strength. This is the same composition approved and used for the NHRA Top Fuel Canopy.

They're going to be around $750 a set and you can get them directly from Aerodine.

Again, we are not trying to make this mandatory but this is in the opinion of many, a huge safety improvement in case something happens.

If you are interested, feel free to contact either myself (stefankontos at gmail.com) or steve@aerodinecomposites.com and come check them out when we have them on.

If anybody has any thoughts or opinions please feel free to discuss and either myself or Steve the GM at Aerodine will address them.

Thank you, good luck everyone.

Stefan Kontos

 

Why not just make the seat pan out of balistic carbon? That's seems like it would be easier to make, install and work around. I was planning on having one made but now I don't want to do that and still have to get shrouds next year because my seat pan isn't "approved". IMO, If nhra is already in the loop it's a safe bet they'll be required

 

At this point the ballistic/carbon composite seat pan isn't allowed to be made up of anything but the aluminum it is currently made out of. Aerodine is currently working with the NHRA on getting it allowed in the pro classes and that would trickle down into the alcohol classes. I agree with you in the sense that it makes sense to have the pan made out of carbon kevlar and we'll be one of the first to have it once its allowed but i personally think that the side shroud on the cage is a solid idea that can do a lot if anything were to happen. Fortunately we don't have as frequent crashes or incidents as the fuel cars do to necessarily say that it is a "must" but it certainly won't hurt IMO.

The intention isn't to have them mandatory of course but like you said, once the NHRA gets involved, who knows.

 

I had no idea the seat pan couldn't be carbon. Considering that what you're doing makes sense. Personally I prefer to do as little welding around the driver's compartment as possible, but if that's the only option so be it

 

I totally respect that. You are more than welcome to come check it out at any race we are both at and see it for yourself. Hopefully the carbon seat deal will be approved sooner rather than later as I agree with you on that being a smart idea. All the best this season!