Capco Crash

[none]

Bodies have always been allowed to swap. Pipe just this year I guess.

 

[PJ]

That would give the multi-car teams even more advantages than they already have

True, however there is nothing saying you could only use a team car. I remember some race when I was a kid, someone borrowed Bernstein body to keep racing.
I could see other teams helping a driver, especially if it were to stop whoever they were running against.

 

[mikebcurve]

 

[Butch]

Marc and Mike I was being a smart ass.
Also checking the age of the mater's.
I remember that time of the roof swap

 

[T.Smith]

Just wait until lets say Terry Haddock wins first round and wads his up. Has no spare. Schumacher says hey you have a car in the points deal next round..Here's Antron Browns spare complete with tune up. Go beat him or her. Cant think of any other series that allows back ups once the race started. Maybe F1 if lap one hasn't been completed if i remember right. But that whole F1 thing is a mess. But I will say this It was awesome to see the Capco bunch pull that off. Amazing show of teamwork and discipline. And I would have done the same thing if I was in his shoes given the rule as it currently is. Just dont agree with the rule.

I don't even think F1 does it anymore, I think they ended that maybe 10 years ago, but I'm with you, you crash it...you're done unless you can repair it.

My guess would be and I certainly could be wrong about this, the discussion for this rule change came after a winning car rolled in the sand trap in the Traxxas Shootout and for whatever reasons couldn't return for the next round.

Also hats off to those guys for pulling it off.

 

[DrRocket]

What happens when say, a Flopper has body damage and a competitor that got eliminated offers his body or part of like a roof.

Bruce Larson Borrowed KC Spurlock's body in Brainerd in, I think it was 1988.

 

[Cliff]

I remember a T/F that crashed some years ago. At the time, the "original chassis" came down to the drivers' section. If you could front half and back half, it was still considered the car that had qualified. So the team did that and raced the car. I think it crashed in qualifying & they got it ready for race day by taking the front & rear halves off another car. Can't remember the team, but it was an interesting story. Another time, Eddie Hill crashed the Nuclear Banana - did a blow over, sailed thru the air and the car was history. Darryl Gwynn let Hill borrow a brand new chassis, said you can't drill any holes in it. Well, Hill & team worked all Fri nite, got the car ready, had to make a 1/2 pass (new car), then ran Q4 & qualified. Come race day, Hill Vs Gwynn. Eddie had one engine, & I think had cracked the block. Went & staged anyway hoping Gwynn would red lite, but.... Hill shut off on the line. That was amazing that they pulled off building a new car in one night. This must have been late '80's & it happened at Pomona Winternats.

 

[none]

The overnight rebuild was Scelzi

 

[stitcherbob]

View attachment 4200

Ahh...the real Texas Chainsaw Massacre! Remember it well

 

[Butch]

Does anyone remember, the Kentucky Moonshiner Dale Funk drove it. I'm pretty sure that car was built to replace the front half at the track. Crashed it at Martin PHM 73? Don't remember if it got fixed. Same year Big DNQ'ed.

 

[MidnightbluS10]

Personally, if it were me..... I'd rather race against someone in a known good chassis than a questionable one that's been wrecked and thrashed back together in 75 minutes with who knows what kind of unseen damage. Especially at 330mph.

Not really sure how you guys rationalize putting someone in that kind of immediate danger. What's the big deal anyway? You think they'll gain some sort of unseen advantage because of the new chassis? They can replace everything else already, including the engine, which has the biggest effect on ET. In the interest of keeping people alive, why put them in a chassis that's possibly compromised? What rational reason is there to do that? Why would you send a car down the track that could possibly disintegrate as it reaches speeds in excess of 300mph?

 

[ANDY]

Did anyone notice the steering wheel hanging off the barrel valve as it went by on the slow mo replay?
Guess when Steve passed his front end he figured he didnt need that anymore and tossed it...
good to see him jump out and hats off to all the guys getting that other car done, that is not an easy
thing to do...

 

[stitcherbob]

Did anyone notice the steering wheel hanging off the barrel valve as it went by on the slow mo replay?
Guess when Steve passed his front end he figured he didnt need that anymore and tossed it...
good to see him jump out and hats off to all the guys getting that other car done, that is not an easy
thing to do...

The slow motion video shows the steering wheel getting collected by the injector below the scoop.

you can see the tether/wiring on the steering wheel coming from the dash....glad it didn't hit Steve in the helmet at that speed

the steering wheel is in the crook of the injector above the blower pulley snout, arrow is pointing at linkage for the throttle

 

[stitcherbob]

2 more pics showing the violence of the incident

 

[Jeff]

That is interesting (and some dang good eyes to spot that!). You have to assume that the front end tearing off took all of the steering shaft bracing points with it (it would have on my wife's Spitzer) and ripped the shaft off at the quick disconnect point. Fortunately chutes were already deployed (because I believe the driver does that with a button on the steering wheel in the days of the radio controlled shutdown boxes).

 

[Rajunz]

Bruce Larson Borrowed KC Spurlock's body in Brainerd in, I think it was 1988.

And I also remember one year that all of a sudden there were 2 Budweiser cars running at Indy, and one of them went to the finals with Billy Meyer behind the wheel.

 

[Just Paul]

I remember a T/F that crashed some years ago. At the time, the "original chassis" came down to the drivers' section. If you could front half and back half, it was still considered the car that had qualified. So the team did that and raced the car. I think it crashed in qualifying & they got it ready for race day by taking the front & rear halves off another car. Can't remember the team, but it was an interesting story.

That was Gary Scelzi in Topeka.

Here is what went down.
Scelzi lost a tire on Friday and damaged the back section. They rolled out their back up car for Saturday and had a nasty top end crash. They were not allowed to run a 3rd car, and could not go back to the chassis from Friday. All they had to work with was the crashed car cockpit. They used the front half from the damaged car from Friday. They worked out a deal with John Mitchell (Montana Express) and cut the back half off their spare car since it was a similar Hadman car. So, the car was 1/3 Friday crashed car, 1/3 Saturday crashed car, and 1/3 Montana Express. Pretty sure it went to the Semi Final. Also pretty sure Ron Smith ended up with the car.

 

[cknight]

Does anyone remember, the Kentucky Moonshiner Dale Funk drove it. I'm pretty sure that car was built to replace the front half at the track. Crashed it at Martin PHM 73? Don't remember if it got fixed. Same year Big DNQ'ed.

The Frakes & Funk car was a two-piece car, but it bolted together behind the roll cage. The idea was that in case of a severe engine explosion that wounded the frame rails, the fresh back half could be easily bolted on. Bill Stebbins built that car, along with most of the F&F cars. Regards, Chase

 

[stitcherbob]

One year at Maple Grove I seem to remember a car leaving the track to get front halfed or straightened at the builder's shop and then it made it back for eliminations....

 

[none]

One year at Maple Grove I seem to remember a car leaving the track to get front halfed or straightened at the builder's shop and then it made it back for eliminations....

Bernstein. Whole lot to that story