NASCAR also approved a live test of an ignition interrupter system the so-called “dumb switch” in this weekend’s races at Richmond. The switch, originally devised in CART by chief steward Wally Dallenbach, has been developed for NASCAR applications by Jack Roush. The system provides for an involuntary kill of the engine in cases of a stuck throttle. NASCAR has mandated throttle-linkage stops and auxiliary kill switches on all cars since the death of Kenny Irwin in a crash at New Hampshire July 7. It also has evaluated several other options, including so-called “soft wall” technology, but has not found a fail-safe one(SpeedVision)(9-8-2000) UPDATE: my understanding is, the switch was used in practice only and not in the race, results so far are inconclusive AND Jack Roush said Saturday morning that some teams had changed their minds about their plans to use the ignition interrupter system his company has developed in Saturday night’s race. A problem with a sensor in the system that had been installed on Bobby Labonte’s car apparently caused the decisions to be reconsidered. Six teams were originally scheduled to run the system, which shuts off an engine when sensors detect 850-900 pounds of brake pressure and a throttle at or nearly at fully open at the same time.(That’s Racin’)(9-10-2000)
