Whelen Engineering: Race Track lighting update
Before announcing the races at Spencer Speedway this past Friday night, I had the opportunity to talk with Whelen Upstate NY sales rep Mike Martin and his local supplier, Jerry Fedele, owner of Task Force Emergency Vehicle Lighting in Webster. Mike had a Dodge Charger equipped with the police package on display, which serves as an excellent way to feature their new LED based emergency lighting systems. We also discussed Whelen's role in developing race track emergency lighting systems, which I became more aware of by attending the PRI show last December in Orlando FL. Websites: http://www.taskforcelighting.com and http://www.whelen.com/index.php.
There is a wide variety of subjects I could blog about from my experiences on the road. Maybe some will show up here soon. In the meantime, I thought I would show you some items NASCAR (along with Whelen Engineering) have come up with to make some of the most dangerous spots at a racetrack just a little safer. (This is an update to an earlier blog published almost a year ago.)
Yet another innovative Whelen product is one that nearly all racetracks could benefit from:
(Illustration courtesy of 2007 Whelen Engineering catalog)
This product (RTR12AG) is a self-contained LED track warning signal system made specifically by Whelen for race tracks. The enclosure is weatherproof and includes its own control unit. The amber LED's have different flash patterns that, along with the bottom-mounted amber LED "beacon", provide an eye catching alert for drivers when the caution flag comes out. The green and red LED's are on solid whenver those flag conditions occur. The advantages of this system are obvious: low electrical current draw, much brighter and "attention grabbing" than either rotating or strobe lights and able to stand up to year round weather conditions. (My opinion is that it would be great for racetracks around the country to adopt this system all around the perimeter of the racing surface--one installed just before the entrance of each corner (for a total of 4) and another on the starter's stand.) The folks at Whelen have done it AGAIN!
(The original blog, reprinted below, shows how Whelen is not just a sponsor but a partner in promoting race track safety...)
On race weekends, there is one person whose job puts him or her in actual "harm's way": the pit exit official who holds the "STOP & GO" paddle at the end of pit road. This individual has the overwhelming responsibility of making sure pit road traffic can exit safely off pit road, back onto the track. At first glance, some might compare this job to, say, a school crossing guard holding a "stop sign"--except that NASCAR drivers aren't known for too much patience during a race. In an effort to afford protection to this individual, but still control traffic off pit road, NASCAR and Whelen Engineering have created a new "Pit Exit Light" system. Instead of standing in the middle of the exit of pit lane, the official is situated safely behind the wall on pit road, with a control box for the new lighting system. Here's an illustration of the system:
(image courtesy of NASCAR, copyright 2006)
The light is attached to an "L-shaped" arm and is mounted just over the "pit out" line. The official uses the control box to activate various lights in the system. Here's the way it works: when it is safe to leave pit road, the green light on top is lit solidly "on" (this has the same meaning as if the official was displaying the "go" side of the paddle). If, while this light is green, it is also safe for pit road traffic to "blend" into the racing line, the row of 5 white lights immediately below start flash-sequencing "left-to-right", a similar pattern to what most normal drivers see in a construction zone indicating a lane change.
Whenever a "pack" of cars is coming towards the pit road exit under green flag conditions or during a yellow flag situation (as the pace car leads the field around the track and starts to approach the area where pit road exits out onto the track), the two green lights begin flashing in an alternating sequence pattern, letting the drivers on pit road know that race traffic is coming and the pit road exit will close shortly. Once the pack of cars under green OR the pace car under yellow is close to the pit road exit area, the green lights go out and the red lights flash in a similar alternating fashion, which means the drivers exiting pit road must stop until race traffic clears (similar to what they would do if an official was there holding the "stop" sign).
Does the system work? Well, the drivers still try to "beat the lights", which NASCAR certainly frowns upon and they will hand out "drive-thru" penalties to violators. But that's really no different than the old way of trying to beat the official changing the paddle from "GO" to "STOP"--except that now, the official is safely behind the pit wall.
I think it's pretty cool that Whelen is involved in our sport, not just strictly as a sponsor but a partner--one whose knowledge and products help make the sport safer for drivers and officials alike. As most fans know, they sponsor the former "Featherlite Modified Series", now known as the "Whelen Modified Series"--AND, are still the major sponsor of the weekly NASCAR tracks now as well. At the races, most, if not all, of the pace cars feature Whelen lighting--same thing goes for the caution light systems at most racetracks.
I, too, am proud to say I've used their products. I am an exempt member of the Chili Fire Department on the southwest side of Rochester NY. While serving as a volunteer fire fighter and ambulance medic, I invested in one of their mini Edge strobe lightbars. I decided that if I was going to put my personal vehicle in dangerous situations while responding to emergency calls, I wanted that vehicle to "be seen". I never even came close to having an accident while on the way to a call or directing traffic as a fire policeman at an emergency scene.
Some people have criticized NASCAR in the past for "not doing enough" in the area of safety. This is one shining example where the opposite is true--they have taken the lead to try to make pit road safer!
Mike Paz, Motorsports Announcer
