Quote Originally Posted by RichardP View Post
I haven't looked at the specific wording of the rules. An onboard fire system and a fire extinguisher effectively serve different purposes. An onboard system is something you pull when fire erupts to give you time to get out. You wouldn't realistically grab the extinguisher while you were sitting there and start spraying before you got out. Once you are out, you would like to have a way to spray whatever is specifically on fire. This is especially true if you pulling over caught the grass on fire or something. The onboard system isn't useful for this. One is to save you, one is to maybe save the car.

Richard P.

Just this last summer and young racer was killed in a fire in a mini-sprint car and tracks started demanding everyone carry a fire extinguishers in our cars and I heard one owner have this to say after many complaints from drivers.

"The fire extinguisher in the car is not for your protection in the car, it is there for you to help another racer in need." And for like you said.. to help put out a fire outside the cockpit. If there is a fire inside.. I am just getting out and not trying to pull the extinguisher and put the inside fire out.

This young kid died because there wasn't adequate fire extinguishers available fast enough. (long story with more to tell, because the track really made many errors as well, but could have been prevented.)