YORK, Pa. — The racing season is upon us. At the end of the month, as long as the weather holds, we'll be racing in Central PA.
One way to get everyone pumped for a brand new racing season is to have a racing show. Thousands flocked to the York State Fairgrounds last weekend for the Racing Xtravaganza.
The show brought in motorsports enthusiasts from all over.
Over 100 race cars were on display, showing off new paint schemes for the upcoming season. A new Ms. Racing Xtravaganza was crowned. A $10,000 cornhole tournament was held, along with roundtable discussions with legends and drivers from different divisions, helping to give exposure to the sport.
"One hundred and ten race cars have pretty much over filed the expo floor this season," said April Clark, one of the Racing Xtravaganza's organizers. "It's a great way for these drivers to get some exposure for their sponsors, to meet knew fans, and that way they can try and encourage those fans to come to track and support them and cheer them on."
One of the topics of conversation over the weekend was fire suppression, a brand-new World of Outlaws rule for the 2023 racing season.
Fire suppression is nothing new; it's been around for over 30 years. But this year will be the first season it's required for all Outlaw races.
So, what is fire suppression?
Brandon Marshall, a brand manager for LifelineUSA, explains.
"It's a gas that we store as a liquid," he said. "As you spray it, two things; when it comes up to room temperature, it will being to atomize and start the gas process but the way the nozzle is designed, it will also help accelerate that. So, being a gas, it will actually expand and fill the cockpit and kind of envelop the driver and create like a cloud around him."
Seconds are precious when it comes to getting out of a burning race car. The SFI 17.3 works in two ways: The driver can pull a cord to activate the suppression or it will activate on its own when it gets to 155 degrees fahrenheit.
"We've done a lot of testing," said Marshall. "I believe we've had 15 systems on 15 cars and haven't had any issues. We've done proper testing with temperature strips. We've had this in the cars and never had one go off. That lower temperature, though, we elected to go with the 155 so it actually activates quicker."
Any driver looking to participate in any Outlaw races in 2023 will have to install a fire suppressor on the frame of their race car.