John Force's rant (2 Viewers)

[DixonFan]

I like the idea of getting a bare bone chassis teched before the start of eliminations. It would have to be secured in a location and monitored by the NHRA so no funny business happen. Only way for a team to get access to the chassis is to have a major chassis failure during eliminations. Next I think they should limit the amount of people that could actually work on the car. Since Force has pretty much 4 full teams to work on the car. I don't think that is fair to the smaller budgeted teams. I say limit the team members to maybe 10 people and have them fight it out to get the car back to the starting line. JMO

Shannon

 

[Bowtie]

The way I see it is this, if you break the frame, thats it, you are done for the day. If you hurt the body then the replacement has to have the same stickers/sponsers on it, no swapping a AAA for a Castrol, the car has to look the same for all 4 rounds. Multi Car teams have a huge funding advantage as it is, giving them the back-up rule just increases it. The whole point of a sanctioning body is to 1) make it safe 2) make it equal or as equal as possible. Any other racing sanction has a rule of no back-up, why should this be any different. And if you do allow it, how go you govern it? What would stop a team (and I will use DSR as an example) from using a losing car as the back-up. Say Capps has that fastest ride on the property and is #1 qualifier, and is running 2 tenths faster than anyone and goes out second round on a red light, and Beckman puts his car in the litter and tweaks it all up, with the back-up rule, they could use Capps car to go back out and run again and sweep (and before any one argues, yes it could break, or red light again) but you can see the advantage, and what if that run is against some one like Head like it was today.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

Lot's of great points here, folks. Because of the number of cars running in front of the fans, you simply cannot make the NHRA/NASCAR comparison. The opportunity for a safe, side-by-side race must exist for our sport.

I like Wes' idea of having a backup ready to go that has already been through tech. That seems like a very viable solution.

What troubles me is, and correct me if I'm wrong because I don't have the rulebook in front of me, but if I as a sportsman racer smack the wall twice, I didn't think I was allowed to compete until the chassis has been not only looked at, but completely recertified. Again, I don't have the rulebook handy, but I was told that by an official @ Indy once. Whether he knew what he was talking about or not is obviously the question. But if he's right, then it seems that the rules are more stringent on my 195mph altered than they are on the fastest cars in the world.......................Again, I don't know, so if I'm wrong, I'll apologize now.

I'm sure most of you are right and that no crewchief in their right mind would put a questionable chassis under a driver and take it to the line with the intent of running it, but the problem is that with this rule, NHRA allows the opportunity to do so, and that's just plain scary.

Sean D

 

[Jeff Helmkamp]

My opinion is...the teams should be able to pull out a spare chassis if the original car is presumed damaged from an incident. Given the money these teams/sponsors are spending, the money it costs fans, and the safety aspect a spare chassis should be brought out so the teams, sponsors, and fans are allowed to have/see a good, safe race.

 

[BlueStangGT]

After watching the "thrash" today, I have to say that I truly am impressed. Not that I wasn't impressed before today but now I have an entirely new appreciation for the capabilities of these folks. I literally stood right at the edge of the Hight pit from before the car was returned on a flatbed to the time they rolled it out to go to the line. The entire time it looked like a bunch of ants on dead mouse. There were so many people working on the car that there were times when you couldn't even see the car.

I snapped off a ton of pics but I won't really have a chance to see if any of 'em came out well until I get home tomorrow.

Congrats to Team Force for putting that charbroiler back together, I can't wait to get home and see the TV show to see how the whole thing was portrayed.

 

[T.Smith]

Maybe Force outta go talk to the guy who came up with the 85% and rev-limiters rule. Or next time one of his deals is spinning the tires and mixing up cylinders, his driver(s) should get their foot of the throttle.

Pull out another car after crashing one in eliminations?...why not start "buy backs" in nitro racing too. Give me a damn break.

As far as the crew busting thier asses, that's what they are paid to do...their the indians and until a chief leans out the trailer door and tells them to shut it down.

 

[Joker]

I understand smaller budget teams are at a disadvantage already but you shouldnt penalize the big teams either. And really, how many of the teams that actually qualify dont have a spare chassis? And as far as limiting crew members, even if some no name got in that situation there would be 3 or 4 other teams over there helping them so thats not valid. Its the nature of the beast. Sue somebody b/c they got a sponsor and can keep it unlike others.

I like the no pts but you can run for the win and money with a back up car. Thats fine. Thats the best solution I've heard. Safety should be first, the show 2nd.

 

[BlueStangGT]

...As far as the crew busting thier asses, that's what they are paid to do...their the indians and until a chief leans out the trailer door and tells them to shut it down.

This was far from your "normal" ass-busting.

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

Pull out another car after crashing one in eliminations?...why not start "buy backs" in nitro racing too. Give me a damn break.

Good point, Tony. But I think even you would agree that between allowing another car to be pulled out or being allowed to run a car that has just been stuffed into the wall, being allowed to pull out another one is the much lesser of two evils, right?

Like I said before, just having the opportunity to run the crashed car is nuts. You should be able to pull another one out, or forced to park it.

Sean D

 

[Jenn]

Pull out another car after crashing one in eliminations?...why not start "buy backs" in nitro racing too. Give me a damn break.
.

Well said Tony.

 

[Nick Name]

Yes, buy backs. However, only two per car per event.

Jay

 

[TF CREW]

Maybe Force outta go talk to the guy who came up with the 85% and rev-limiters rule. Or next time one of his deals is spinning the tires and mixing up cylinders, his driver(s) should get their foot of the throttle.

Pull out another car after crashing one in eliminations?...why not start "buy backs" in nitro racing too. Give me a damn break.

As far as the crew busting thier asses, that's what they are paid to do...their the indians and until a chief leans out the trailer door and tells them to shut it down.

Tony you are exactly right!
As a crew member I signed on to bust my ass no matter what, If you cant stand the heat get out if the fire.

 

[Mooseman]

John Force does have a point about safety and especially after the sad events of what has allready happened this year its kind of obvious that safety would be important to him . He should have just chose not to run the car again because then it would not be unfair to the low buck teams and they wouldnt be risking anything .

Going off topic for a second its kinda amasing what people will do to get back in back in a race , here in new zealand and in australia theres a circuit racing series called the v8 supercars and its all televised and everything . In it one of the low budget teams crashed and they didnt have a backup car and they were going to sell there car to buy a new one though since they crashed it they couldnt . This team ended up going around the country fundraising and trying to collect donations so that they could get a new car which they did in the end but they had people saying that if they cant afford to race that they shouldnt be racing .

 

[T.Smith]

This was far from your "normal" ass-busting.

Abnormal or normal...that is your job!

For a team with the amount of depth they have, I'd be willing to bet there is some type of contingency plan for this type of situation and has been practiced...so cry me a river.

 

[TooTall999]

I think if you wreck it it gets parked. Both sides have valid points but safety comes first and the playing field should be level for all participants. BTW, I am a Team Force fan.

I'm a Force fan too,and I agree.If you allow them to use another chassis they'll have complete spare cars sitting in the trailers of the high buck teams,and the little guy would be at a disadvantage.

 

[Al smith]

Why was a crashed car even alllowed to tow back into the lanes without a thorough going over by tech? isnt that a bit... dangerous ?? Im with shannon on this. Bare spare chassis only and tech before eliminations. Otherwise they will be stacking up prepared cars like cordwood just like motors today.


On second thought leave the rule alone. you crash you lose.

 

[T.Smith]

Good point, Tony. But I think even you would agree that between allowing another car to be pulled out or being allowed to run a car that has just been stuffed into the wall, being allowed to pull out another one is the much lesser of two evils, right?

No I don't agree...you crash it, be honest enough to admit that this thing can't make another run.

 

[cp]

Why was a crashed car even alllowed to tow back into the lanes without a thorough going over by tech? isnt that a bit... dangerous ?? Im with shannon on this. Bare spare chassis only and tech before eliminations. Otherwise they will be stacking up prepared cars like cordwood just like motors today.


On second thought leave the rule alone. you crash you lose.

it is dangerous! but if i'm not mistaken dan olsen went back and looked at everything

 

[none]

No I don't agree...you crash it, be honest enough to admit that this thing can't make another run.

Gotta go with Tony on this one, If the damn thing is unsafe, park it and race at the next event. Somehow I don't think it would be right if a competitor blew it up , smacked both walls and pretty much totalled the racecar and all they had to do was roll the turnkey spare car out of the trailer, warm the motor, seat the clutch and tow it to the staging lanes. Leave the current rule as is.

 

[Sully]

Hang on, folks - first of all, nobody forces the team to put a damaged chassis back on the track. If it's not safe to run it, put it away and try again next race. Why all the talk about buybacks (because that's exactly what using a spare chassis after wrecking the one you started eliminations with beyond repair is, a buyback) as if it's something that should be allowed? Why not allow every team to have multiple cars ready, one set up for a slick, hot track, one for the cooler first round, one for late afternoon shaded track, one for late afternoon hot and humid, and just pick the one for each round that suits track conditions?

The only problem with the current rule is that NHRA does not require the car to be completely re-teched before it runs after an accident as serious as the one we saw today. If it hits the wall hard enough to move the wall back, the chassis should not be permitted to run again until it's been properly repaired, not just a between-rounds thrash that doesn't stand a prayer of checking for and replacing damaged and bent tubing or cracked welds.

Why do most of you seem to think that replacing a crashed car during eliminations is a good idea? The cost of racing is already outrageous, that will just drive it higher. I though the idea was to find ways to control costs, not drive them out of sight.

The object of the Eddie Hill rule was to allow teams to replace a damaged car without having to withdraw and requalify the new car, so that teams that crashed on the last day of qualifications would have the same opportunity to compete in eliminations as a team that crashed on the first day of qualifying. Since NHRA no longer allows alternates, the rule makes it easier to have a full 16-car field start eliminations.

However, it has always been one of the objectives of racing to avoid destroying your car in order to finish the race. "In order to finish first, first you must finish," goes an old saying.

Actually, I wouldn't mind if they revoked the Eddie Hill rule and required teams to finish the race with the same engine block they started with in the first round of qualifying. Might slow them down, certainly would cut the cost of racing. Throwaway race cars just keep on driving the cost up and up and unlimited replacements are just that, throwaway race cars. We are already seeing throwaway engines - use one per round, if needed.