Biggest Impacts on Racing

[Madmax440]

Reading through ProjectMopars website and his breakdown of racing by decade, got me thinking. What would you say had the biggest impact overall on the racing world. You know - Was the release of the Hemi as jaw dropping as it is made out to be I can remember the Super Cobra Jet being released and people were like - WOW. I wasn't as involved with cars before that, so I have no idea how like when the Corvette was released.

[bordin34]

For safety of racing it has to be the crash of Dale Sr.

[Carlwalski]

In no particular order:

# Birth of the 426 Hemi.
# Ayrton senna crash.
# Sequential/tiptronic/paddle shift/CVV Transmissions.
# NASCAR with the cars all looking the same and far from street cars.
# Ronnie Sox, Dlck Landy, Big Daddy, & The Boys.
# Salt flats & hot rod racing (possibly the biggest).


Worst = Rotary engines.

[MOPAR FANATIC]

  First man that came to my mind was big daddy DON GARLITS,he was the king of drag racing and the pioneer of top fuel. 

[rallyechall]

Prohibition and Moonshine.

[71challengher]

Shirley Muldowney !

[MOPAR FANATIC]

Shirley Muldowney !

  She also was a great racer,i love watching the old clips of her and don garlits racing,they had quite the rivalry going between them for a while.now i beleive they are great friends.   

[Madmax440]

  She also was a great racer,i love watching the old clips of her and don garlits racing,they had quite the rivalry going between them for a while.now i beleive they are great friends.   

Aren't they both going to be at Carlisle this year

[71challengher]

Aren't they both going to be at Carlisle this year

Yep

[Madmax440]

Shirley Muldowney !

Shirley was a pioneer, Loved watching her races as will. At first I like many other seen her as a gimmick, but man were we wrong - That woman could drive. I don't know just how much she had to do with behind the scenes as far as setting the car up though. You here different stories from different people. Some still hate to admit that she can guide them horses. I remember all of the hoopla over Danica Patrick and all they were saying about her being a pioneer - I don't think so. She would probably run my arse off the track.

[Chryco Psycho]

seeing as the Hemi has either been banned outright or legislated to the point of being non compedetive in most racing arenas or just given it`s own class it definatly had a big impact

[Oldschool]

   Very true.  The Hemi has made most sanctioning bodies in any type of motorsports it has competed in, adjust their rules. It is the dominant powerplant and has been for decades.  It is in a class all it own.          

[HP2]

This list could be huge as a number of advancements just kind of evolve and it is hard to pin down their origin. Like the mulitpoint safety harnesses. Great advancement that likely came from someone's experience in WW2 but who was the first to stick em in a car? Do you count that or when sanctioning bodies actually began to require them?

We also have the breakdown of safety and technology that could be independant of each other. The Hemi was a huge technological acheivement that continues development to this day and helped lead to the speeds that probably drove a number of safety improvements. The wheel inner liner that prevents catastrauphic blowouts is a huge safety development.

Racing also covers so many disciplines that what could be an advancement in one form could be an impediment in another.