Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid

	Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 04, 2011 05:53AM
Dan - PullingDepot Registered: 05/15/2010 Posts: 144	Click Here for Video Dan Dunham Reply Quote

	Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 04, 2011 09:17AM
Bad for pulling	Accidents happen, but why would Dan want to put this on here. Bad for pulling, but I guess it will get him more hits on his page. See he done the same thing on Fonda,s page. Reply Quote

	Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 04, 2011 09:34AM
outlaw puller	2 people were injured, none seriously by flying parts from clutch can. The boys father came back to pull next day and said the boy was OK. They have been coming to this pull for years. The gearbox failed and locked up and twisted part of clutch can off the back before breaking motor mounts. Flywheel and clutch still attached to engine. Reply Quote

	Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 04, 2011 10:16AM
ParkerFly Registered: 03/30/2008 Posts: 191	If Dan doesnt' someone else will, either way stuff like this will always go viral. There's no avoiding it. Reply Quote

	Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 04, 2011 10:37PM
motorsports	Accidents happen in all motorsports, and will continue to happen. Weather it is Nascar, NHRA, NTPA, PPL, Outlaws, etc. Sometimes it is the competitor, sometimes its the fans, it is the risk you take attending motorsport events. All have rule books and saftey, but it is still going to happen. All have good insurance for this reason. Reply Quote

Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 04, 2011 02:57PM

CPR

No, what's bad for pulling is that it happened at all. If there's a lesson in this, I want to learn it.

I generally witness around 1200 passes in a year first hand and I've never had to pray someone was okay after 1 and I don't want to start now. I'm VERY thankful the boy is okay. From their perspective, they were there for a fun family evening. It turned to horror for them, probably ruined their weekend, but he will be okay. It shouldn't have happened and every time people on the inside see it and get shaken from their sense of jaded acceptance is a good thing.

Many of us bring our families to these events. Mine doesn't usually come because the kids are young and I tend to be occupied at the pull. When this happens, I put myself in that father's shoes and start asking myself what do I know that I could implement so that I don't have to someday see my son or anyone else's bloodied and crying.

If the imagery is upsetting to you, GOOD!

What can we do so this doesn't happen again?

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Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 05, 2011 04:49AM

bandit496

Registered: 03/26/2008
Posts: 496

CPR, it isn't just pulling. This past weekend at Martin US-131 Dragway in Michigan, a friend's trailer wall was hit by a torque convertor bolt that came off a car on the track. They weren't parked that close. Daughter and wife had just been by that area of the trailer. Last week at Norwalk Jason got hit in the head by a piece of blower belt that came off Antron Brown's car. I bet no one even heard of these two mishaps as well as many more that happen each week. Motorsports is dangerous and we can legislate all we want but it won't stop the breakings. Thank goodness no one was hurt. It is our invincible attitude that it won't happen to me--but it does every day. JW

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Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 05, 2011 05:33AM

CPR

You're right, it is a part of it that will never go away and there will never be a way to legislate it out.

However to shrug my shoulders and carry on just isn't good enough. We are smarter than that. We (TTPA) have a double-header coming this weekend at the most intimate venue we go to all year. It is a MASSIVE party and the most entertaining pull to go to on the calendar, but if something goes wrong there it won't be pretty. It weighs on me because these guys and girls are my friends.

Maybe I'm over-protective, but I won't apologize for it.

Hope I get to catch up to you guys somewhere this summer and introduce myself, I always enjoy the input from you and the boys.

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Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 05, 2011 08:51AM

5288

I don't know what the situation was in Texas, but one of my biggest complaints at pulls is having parents let their young children hang on the fence when a pull is near the grandstand. That fence is their for a reason and is sometimes the only protection available. In the future I can see insurance companies requiering a much greater distance from track to spectator. Some pulls I have seen have a double fence to protect fans where others have a chalkline and maybe a haybale at best.

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Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 05, 2011 11:43AM

Pllnfn

Distance. That's the name of the game in my mind when it comes to safety. Get EVERYONE away from the out of bounds line and away from the track. Track officials need to act like they are track officials and simply stop the pull until people get back. Basically, the further way you are, the less likely you are going to be hit or injured seriously. The kid in this instance was a safe distance away and still got hurt, but nothing like he could have been hurt if he was standing with his Dad close to the track.

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Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 05, 2011 12:06PM

Anonymous User

Pllnfn,

Generally speaking you are correct, but distance did nothing to protect the person that got hit in the facial & upper torsial area at bowling green two or three years ago. The Indian Outlaw cross box or gear box from his turbine came apart and a piece of steel piece flew over the top of the finish line tower stands and hit a person that was in line waiting to buy food at the concessions. BTW my reserve seats are in section VV which is top row of the finish line tower. So yes distance helps but having people sit a country mile from the track will do nothing for the sport and will not solve this problem.

I agree with kids playing near fences during a pull can't be allowed to happen. Unfortunately, most make the assumption that nothing will happen but eventually it does.

Glad to hear all are ok in TX.

DPS

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	Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 05, 2011 01:35PM
agreed	Going to the pulls should be fun and is fun but safety must come first and foremost the crowd and the competitiors. It just takes 1 bad accident to really mess things up Reply Quote

	Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 05, 2011 01:41PM
Sully Registered: 04/06/2008 Posts: 974	how far away is far enough? we remember at tomah when red mule sent a rod cap over the consecion stands. do we need to sit that far back and watch with binoculars so we are a safe distance, no this is motorsports and things break. like it or not you will never get rid of it Reply Quote

Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 05, 2011 02:30PM

Anonymous User

I think I got the answer !!! Hows this sound , lets limit every truck and tractor to 2500 rpms !! This should really cosiderably lower the risk of parts flying so far and really limit breakage . Seriously though ,everyone has valid points here and its a double edged sword as far as trying to totally eliminate breakage or keeping spectators out of harms way . I think we need to keep trying as far as ideas to get safer , but I also think its part of the motorsports game as well and we could go too far with implementing too many off limit areas for fans because I believe alot of them are willing to take a certain amount of risk to get closer to the "action" , within reason of course ( as crazy as it sounds ) .

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	Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 05, 2011 03:20PM
Pllnfn	Sully and Rod Doctor, You guys make a valid point with good examples. Distance fans are away doesn't eliminate something from happening, but it narrows down the number of bad things that could happen and lessens the likelihood of something bad happening compared to if you're near the track. That's all I'm saying. Reply Quote

Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 05, 2011 03:50PM

green been

By standing or allowing your child to stand in harms way basically you are consenting to allow bad things to happen. This is why most locations make you sign an insurance waiver. Please do not get me wrong on this, I hate to see anyone get hurt especially a child. By going to a pull or race or whatever there is always a chance of something bad happening. Whenever something like this happens there are always people trying to move everyone miles back from the track or put up a steel wall in front of the track.

Not trying to sound unsympathetic at all, my utmost condolences go out to the family. But its funny no one worries about these things till they happen. People, this is'nt like taking your family to the skating rink, bad things can happen here in pulling as with any motorsport. You just dont hear about life threatening football injuries as much because people expect it more from that. I go to pulls and sit by the track, had a tractor a few years back explode the trans with shrapnel 2 feet from my head. Pieces flew dangerously far enough from the track that where they landed, you could barely see the action. It's dangerous people, no two ways about it!!!! To sit close enough for any enjoyment, you're in the danger zone. Even after a close call, I still love it!!!!!!

Ok now fire away at me!!

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Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 05, 2011 04:02PM

Anonymous User

Improving safety has one big hitch... ample capital. That needed funding is not available to the thousands of little brush pulls that are held every year. I don't like trying to make these horrendous events seem tolerable, but that is what they are going to have to be considered as. Bad things will always happen and there will always be risks. It will have to be left up to the competitor/spectator to decipher their decision.

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Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 05, 2011 04:31PM

CPR

Sorry, this argument sticks in my craw. For the "little" groups already budget strapped, the cost of insurance only goes up every time something like this happens. Get someone knowledgeable (we all know somebody involved), get them checking tech and grow a pair, if it isn't right, ship 'em out until it is. Otherwise, you might as well go and light the hook fees on fire so far as covering costs go. Think beyond yourselves. As for the the competitors themselves, the same guys who whine about having to install $500 worth of aluminum shielding will remortgage the house for a $5000 turbo. It's BS...

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Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 05, 2011 04:03PM

racehorses

Registered: 07/19/2008
Posts: 145

Hate to even say this because then the machines wouldn't look as they do....but maybe mods, 2wd, 4wd, or anything with engine(s) exposed shouldn't be allowed unless they put some form of hood on and around them just as tractors have??? They won't let tractors pull in the unlimited mod class yet a 466 on alcohol can be installed in an open frame mod with the same component rearend and transmissions or gearboxes. same vehicle basically just one has a tractor hood on and the other sits out in the open. Hoods keep the parts a little more contained. Go ahead and bash away at me now.

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Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 05, 2011 04:37PM

Anonymous User

Hoods are pointless unless you are going to armor it like it was heading for Baghdad... some 20 gauge tin or fiberglass won't hardly slow anything down(ex: turbo guts) let alone completely stop it. If you don't want high speed shrapnel heading for a crowd, put up some bullet proof glass all the way around the track. If all the pullers didn't run for one year and invested all that money they would've spent into safety for motorsport venues, it might happen, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

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Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid March 08, 2012 12:52PM

Anonymous User

I'm the dad of the four year old boy that got hurt. I've been going to the whitewright pulls since it opened 36 years ago. It meant a lot to me to start taking my son like my dad took me for so many years. I was very dissapointed on how things went after the accident. I received absolutly NO phone calls from ANYBODY to this day , 8 months later. And I really didn't understand how the driver and his dad just hauled but out of there without even checking on us. I was told that they "felt bad and had to go", yea right. There was no ambulances like the years before, that really makes me sick. The outlaw pres. was very nice on the phone when I called him a few times. I made all the calls by the way. I don't feel the same about the last single thing on this earth that's still the same way today as almost forty years ago..

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Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid July 05, 2011 06:01PM

Dan - PullingDepot

Registered: 05/15/2010
Posts: 144

Bad for the Sport? Not really....Yes it was Bad that it happened, but it is really bad when people are not aware of what can happen even when they think they have all the bases covered with Safety equipment. Events like this cause people to discuss what can be done to prevent this from happening again. Maybe this incident, fairly minor in this case, will teach us how we can stop this from happening in the future, making this sport even better. Would it be better if this video would get buried in the archives of YouTube?? I think not....

I don't get paid for hits, but when I find something that is important that people, fans and pullers a like should see, I make them aware of it, just the same as other pulling news, results, photos etc that I put up.....People need to see this kind of thing as it is real, so maybe we can stop it from happening again. Better to see the real thing that happened here and not some second hand hashed up article that would come from a newspaper reporter that knows nothing about the sport.

Unfortunately accidents happen...Maybe we will all learn something from this

Dan Dunham

Dan Dunham

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	Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid August 01, 2011 07:13AM
D.	Sparks were flying from the clutch @ 50' mark, why didn't he let off??? Reply Quote

	Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid August 01, 2011 01:06PM
tractor fan	Have you never been to a tractor pull?Sparks fly from clutches all the time.LOL Reply Quote

	Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid August 01, 2011 01:30PM
D.	Quote tractor fan Have you never been to a tractor pull?Sparks fly from clutches all the time.LOL Not all the way around a bell housing, Yes I have built tractors and pulled, how bout you? Reply Quote

	Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid August 15, 2011 11:43AM
Anonymous User	I could also hear a grinding sound coming from the box as the sparks were coming out. Definitly should have let off!! Reply Quote

	Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid March 08, 2012 12:56PM
Anonymous User	No answer yet hugh??? I wonder why????? right... Maybe I'll get one in july,,, Reply Quote

	Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid March 08, 2012 12:54PM
Anonymous User	I've been waiting for this answer for 8 months!!! And I promise I will get answer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Reply Quote

	Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid March 08, 2012 01:16PM
rgd	i wasn't there and remember reading about this post back in july. how is your son doing? Reply Quote

Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid May 21, 2013 04:57PM

gonzo 1066

Registered: 10/21/2008
Posts: 756

Texasman I really feel for you, I am sure that your son will remember this accident for a long long time. We can all be very thankful that his injurys were not much worse. Years ago (1970 something) I was in the stands at Union Grove Wisconsin watching the drags. A fueler tossed a clutch slipper plate into the stands not more than 200 feet down the track from where my bride and I were sitting. Killed 3 people and all these years later it still stays with me. I am saddened that no one has kept in touch with you or your son. This is just POOR conduct on their part. in my opinion completly unacceptable. I would hope that any competitors or promotors reading this will take time to consider a humane response to any accident that they are part of.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2013 04:58PM by gonzo 1066.

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Re: Clutch Explodes on Mod Tractor in Whitewright Tx. Injurying Little Kid May 21, 2013 01:07PM

Anonymous User

He's doing pretty good now, thanks for asking. He received a fractured skull and got seven staples on his forehead. Suffered nightmares for months, got kicked out of two daycares, had multiple trips to the doc for testing. And now has a quarter inch deep dent about three inches long and half inch wide. We are glad the injuries weren't any worse. It could have been much worse.. I got talked out of going to the pull the following year,"last year, but wound up going anyway but I didn't get there till it was almost over. I didn't get to "talk" to anybody. This year I plan on going earlier. Accidents happen, as a drag racer I'm aware of that. I just feel this could have been avoided. I did plenty of research and talked to a lot of people that agree.

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