John AND Ashley out for the remainder of 2007... Plueger the new JFR chassis... (2 Viewers)

[Buddy]

Heard this from what I think is a very reliable source...

John Force Racing has parked both John & Ashleys cars for the remainder of the season, and furthermore, John has privately stated that he will "never run another Murph car (Murph McKinney) again...

Robert Hight will be the only car in the show for the final two races, and he will be running an Ex-JFR Plueger, that was re-purchased from Todd Paton...It has 0 runs on it..

This car will serve two purposes..The first, of course, for Robert to finish the season with, and secondly, to be used in conjunction with Steve Plueger's chassis jig for JFR to start building their own chassis for the 2008 season and beyond...

Before John's accident in Dallas, he was in the process of buying the chassis jig and related equipment from Steve Plueger, and of course, will complete the purchase within the next week or two...

CJ Curtsinger

 

[Tbone]

Heard this from what I think is a very reliable source...

John Force Racing has parked both John & Ashleys cars for the remainder of the season, and furthermore, John has privately stated that he will "never run another Murph car (Murph McKinney) again...

Robert Hight will be the only car in the show for the final two races, and he will be running an Ex-JFR Plueger, that was re-purchased from Todd Paton...It has 0 runs on it..

This car will serve two purposes..The first, of course, for Robert to finish the season with, and secondly, to be used in conjunction with Steve Plueger's chassis jig for JFR to start building their own chassis for the 2008 season and beyond...

Before John's accident in Dallas, he was in the process of buying the chassis jig and related equipment from Steve Plueger, and of course, will complete the purchase within the next week or two...

CJ Curtsinger

Source probably not too reliable, guess we'll just wait and see??? I think I Actually know something that nobody else knows...

 

[Triple Nickel II]

Re: Plueger the new JFR chassis...

Yours is a somewhat different version of what was posted on DRO earlier today in the Agent 1320 column.

::: Drag Racing Online ::: Columns - Agent 1320 - 10/10/2007

 

[Bobby]

I just posted that I didn't think John should drive again until his 'car of tomorrow ' was built. Good for him. I love the guy. As much as I've bitched about his two car 3 car 4 car teams for the last 10 years, his changing the bodies to look like space ships, none of that matters when you get right down to it. He's the Jungle Jim of our era, and not only has that charisma , but has added results that JJ never saw. We need him. He's pushed the envelope to win 14 championships, but he's seeing that safety is more important now.

Go change the sport John. If anyone can do it , you can.

 

[TJ]

I doubt Plueger would sell Force all/any of his equipment to JFR...

 

[MM]

John Force Racing has parked both John & Ashleys cars for the remainder of the season, and furthermore, John has privately stated that he will "never run another Murph car (Murph McKinney) again...

not private anymore .....of course that is dependent on whether or not its true.

 

[The Counterfeiter]

IF any of this speculation is valid, I have a question.
But first . . . 1. Murf get thrown under the bus. 2. An untested Plueger chassis (which may not meet the dreaded heat treating spec) is off to yet another chassis shop for more modifications. 3. Are modifications being made based on data NHRA has released to teams on John's chassis failure (which has not been available to NHRA members)?

And now, here's the question. Why has NHRA not taken charge of this?

 

[Raconteur]

And now, here's the question. Why has NHRA not taken charge of this?

I had a similar question... Is Everybody Feeling Better Now?

 

[Buddy]

Darr, I like your article... Thanks for linking it...

CJ Curtsinger

 

[Toejam]

That's to bad if that's the case, plenty of fans go only to see Force.

 

[Randy]

Source probably not too reliable, guess we'll just wait and see??? I think I Actually know something that nobody else knows...

Yea, me too.

If I were JF and read this post on another thread I'd be trying to buy Plueger's stuff, too (although it ain't for sale).

"Ford have one engineer full time on the funny car program and a couple of others putting in quite a few hours a week as well."

For a second there I thought we were told to believe there was a fleet of the finest car company engineers all over it, not just one with a few others from time to time.

The fourth or fifth lap on a "retrofitted" chassis and the wheelie bar breaks, wraps the rear end up, shakes and then breaks (again). Why the heck did the wheelie bar break in the first place? I understand there may be some dissention in the house concerning the exact sequence of events, though. The wheelie bar may have been the victim rather than the culprit of the chassis failure. I can guarantee you they were all over that car every run and it still came apart. We know with this issue under the microscope everyone should be trying to get it right, and it still isn't.

With the decades of experience guys like Plueger and Uyehara and Hadman and everyone else has, how does one full time car company engineer fit into the mix? Not throwing anyone under the bus, just asking a legitmate question. We aren't trying to fix a stuck door lock knob or something.

RG

 

["Dr. Dirt"]

Source probably not too reliable, guess we'll just wait and see??? I think I Actually know something that nobody else knows...

Yeah? Well my daddy can beat up your daddy! (when he was alive, anyway) Why must this be so secretive? Is purchasing chassis from one builder or another a new secret? If Murf builds his new chassis or if Grant does, should it be something kept under wraps? Maybe I'm missing something but one thing I do know for sure . . .


. . . (well it's a secret only a few know so I won't say just yet?)

 

[willy]

And Medlin has been a Murf backer until/since when?? Man..I hate this shit.

 

[Tbone]

Yeah? Well my daddy can beat up your daddy! (when he was alive, anyway) Why must this be so secretive? Is purchasing chassis from one builder or another a new secret? If Murf builds his new chassis or if Grant does, should it be something kept under wraps? Maybe I'm missing something but one thing I do know for sure . . .


. . . (well it's a secret only a few know so I won't say just yet?)

Let me just say I go to work at 7:00 every morning and leave at 4:00 in the afternoon or later, I see and learn a whole lot of what's going on...Let me just say that everybody is going to speculate on what's happening and repeat things that have been said or written (whatever), but let me assure you that in the 8+ hours a day I put in at work...and the guys I work with...We build the safest chassis in drag racing...just wondering though, we build chassis for almost everybody in FC ( I said Almost) And has anybody seen what compassion looks like, my boss has it and if you haven't seen it well you don't know what you're missing.

 

[ProStockJunkie]

He's the Jungle Jim of our era

No offense to you OR John, but there is no comparison.

JMO

Be that as it may, I know they will do what is best for all.

Get well John. Hang in the Ashley.

 

[Rexfiles]

No offense to you OR John, but there is no comparison.

JMO

Be that as it may, I know they will do what is best for all.

Get well John. Hang in the Ashley.

You are right Jackee.......Extreme hedonisim, alcohol and drug abuse that led to a tragic demise............no, there is no comparison......JMO

REX

 

[hellfirejim]

You know what is missing from this and all the other posts on who has what chassis and why???? How about FACTS....

I don't give a rats ass who is making what. What I do care about is what are the real facts about all this chassis breakage. Why is it such a big secret???

I don't even care who has the faulty parts. What I do care about is finding the root cause or causes and correcting them. During my 40+ years of drag racing I have seen a lot of good people get hurt and/or died and I am tired of it. So cut out all the finger point crap and instead work honestly toward a logical repair of the problem. This repair might show up as a material change, or a rules change or a combination of both. But so What??? If it saves lives and accidents in the future it is worth it.

Sorry for the rant but enough is enough, spend all this energy working toward a solution instead to trying to find blame.....

Just on man's opinon.

jim

 

[FuelFC]

...Let me just say that everybody is going to speculate on what's happening and repeat things that have been said or written (whatever), but let me assure you that in the 8+ hours a day I put in at work...and the guys I work with...We build the safest chassis in drag racing...just wondering though, we build chassis for almost everybody in FC ( I said Almost) And has anybody seen what compassion looks like, my boss has it and if you haven't seen it well you don't know what you're missing.

I swore I wouldn't be back but this bickering and finger pointing from some who have no dog in the fight or stake of any kind except emotion stopped that deal.

Anthony, having been to the shop and having Murf's stuff save our driver(s) in more than a few horendous wrecks, if we ever came back with a F/C it would be in a Murf car. And you are right about caring what happens. Just go back to how his cars held together in some of the uglier wrecks previously, say like F/C Gainsville 97. Compassion? Yeah that some good reasoning skills and just a pretty damn good person too.

Not to take away. All the others are very good too. I have worked on Hadman, Victory, Plueger and Grant's cars. All are art. All are different in small ways and little tricks. Cool stuff. So are the builders as far as support and caring. They are all good!

But take the personal emotion out of it and assess the complete situation before running for the rope and stones to hang and pummel one person for this.

How did we get here? Take the situation as a whole and break it down from there. I am sure with a good FMEA and FEA you could point fingers at more then one man, component, group, company, sanctioning body, team...timeframe... We have evolved this stuff to the breaking point because that is what every racer does. You work it until it breaks or the rule changes and then you do it again then just back off a little.

Someone with more than a shade of wisdom the other day posted the very same treatment was pushed towards Bill Simpson over the Earnhart deal. Boy howdy. See Murf and all others in this business make thier food money supplying us all with parts in a very finite market. They don't just put junk out and don't care what happens to the customer and move on. Think about that when looking for your equipment Same deal happened years ago to a brilliant man by the name of Jim Deist. Bill (change your last name to Impact please) and Jim Deist and that Taylor kids stuff will always be looked at before others in our book first.

Lest the mob mentality forget some of other things from days and years past that happened while pushing and stretching the envelope to burst point.

Think about it we put man/woman in 2,350 +/- lbs of ground based untethered finicky little tubed rocket quasi explosives device then stand behind it and count backwards from 4.4-4.9 and hope it doesn't go boom. Maybe it is time we use just a little longer fuse til we get there.

John get well soon. Murf et. al. keep the head up. Teams and builders keep looking and testing. Caring folks keep up the support. For the few SurferJoe's turn the wick down two clicks.

 

[jOkA!]

So am I reading this right? Murf is the bad guy? I am just wondering here and I think I will reserve the right to wait and pass judgement once the facts are proven.

I stand behind Murf plain and simple....

-KB

 

[67 Cuda]

I guess I don't understand a lot about what is going on here. It seems to me that a lot of people like the Plueger chassis and think they are superior but it sounds like they are not available. It appears that Murf is making as many as they can and they are making changes as quickly as they can for teams. It also sounds like there are several other chassis people and or teams that are trying to make changes also. Everything I hear is that everyone is trying to make the drivers safer. I am sure this is not a white and black issue so there are many ways to get the same result. I have always thought that since there can be many different ways to get the same result (a win light) that this will always keep our sport strong and growing. There are a LOT of extremely smart people involved in every level of motorsports. Seems like rumors and backstabbing are counterproductive and will only hurt us all.