John Force's rant (2 Viewers)

[Mike Henkelman]

Some people say the rule exists because in other sports, you have to finish the race with the car you started with. The dynamics of those sports are not the same as Drag Racing. In other sports, you are on the track for several hours. In our sport, we have rounds in between races with planned tear downs. As part of a tear down, I see the chassis as a part...just like the drive train, body, etc. If it is damaged, replace it.

The current rule is reckless. If a car hits the wall, and the team makes a pour judgement call and runs the car because they couldnt detect damage to the chassis, these cars are doing 330mph. There are only two ways to handle this in my opinion:

1. Allow teams to replace chassis any time they need to.

2. If a car hits the wall, it is retired from competition until inspected by a chassis builder and recertified for competition with a stamp. This means ANY contact of ANY type, the car should be recertified. Teams competing are not going to make the right judgement calls on these issues in the heat of battle. So either empower them to change the chassis, or don't allow them to run the car any further.

Just my .02 cents.

Mike

 

[FalconRacer]

I still think John Force just wants safety brought to the forefront. John said "Either send us home if we bend a fender or let us change chassis." I feel he doesn't want to risk another racers life trying to run a car that may be structurally unsafe. "IF" the car hadn't been leaking when fired up NHRA would have allowed it to make a pass.. John is saying that is unsafe and making a strong statement about it!!!

 

[Toejam]

Plus, we all know how you feel about John.

Nuh.....uhhhhhh!!!!

 

[twok4hd]

I can guarantee you, if any sportsman car hit both walls at the angle that Robert did, the cert tag would have been pulled even if they did win. So why a different rule for the Pros?

I still say, before or after the finish line, you tag the wall your going home. You go in the other lane after the finish line without being directed to by the shut down area crew so that you can exit safely, your DQ'd.

 

[Meeks]

I still think John Force just wants safety brought to the forefront. John said "Either send us home if we bend a fender or let us change chassis." I feel he doesn't want to risk another racers life trying to run a car that may be structurally unsafe. "IF" the car hadn't been leaking when fired up NHRA would have allowed it to make a pass.. John is saying that is unsafe and making a strong statement about it!!!

I am a big JFR fan and I disagree with your statement. As much as John Force talked about safety since Eric's accident that proved to be the last thing on his mind while in the pits trying to get the car ready and he pretty much openly admitted it when he talked about what John Medlen said. "Either send us home if we bend a fender or let us change chassis"...WHY DIDNT YOU GO HOME THEN???? Dont get me wrong, John is a great guy and just had his head somewhere else. Although that team did a great job getting it back together as best they could, they never should have even tried. That chassis was definatly tweeked atleast a little bit after hitting the wall twice and even if all they were going to do was see if his opponent messed up and he had a chance to coast down the track I still in my opinion believe that it was the wrong thing to do.

As far as the rule goes, I believe it should be kept the same. But in doing that, your going to have situations like yesterday where teams are going to try and go for it when they probably shouldnt because of safety issues.

On the other hand, if you change the rule the safety aspect of the chassis being straight really wouldnt be in question because there is no team out there who is going to run a tweeked chassis....well I hope not anyway

Thats just my opinion on the whole situation so I hope that if the rule isnt changed..that is is addressed in some way or another for teams to make a better decision next time!

 

[Kenny Bonnell]

To tech a wrecked chassis after a wreck would do nothing. When a chassis is teched all they do is check for all the right tubing in the right places and that it is the right size, also that the fire bottles and such are up to date, it odes not check the chassis to see if it is straight. My feeling again is that any car that comes into contact with a wall either before ar after the finish line should be disqualified. If that happens the car in the other lane that lost the race but didn't contact anything would then be the winner. The fans get a two car race the next round with two safe cars. That would eliminate the chance of putting an unsafe chassis on the track.
Lets look at this another way. Lets say it was another team that had the same wreck as Hight, they got the car back together and running with no leaks at the start, they stage the car a at half track the chassis fails, with current NHRA rules this could happen. If the car isn't leaking fluids, I think the only people that could keep the car from running would be the car owner, and crew chief. If I remember right this kind of happened a few years back with Larry Dixon, they repaired the cahssis between rounds and the next round it broke and Dixon went on the ride of his life, I don't remember where this was, but I do remember Lahaie almost hanging it up because he sent an unsafe car down the track.
Safety is the important thing here, if a car comes in contact with the wall, it should be done for the event until it can be checked by the chassis builder. These cars are way too violent to risk anything else.

 

[Bullet]

Everybody keeps talking about teams having 4 different cars with different setups for different conditions and swapping them as they see fit, although I can't speak for him, I don't think this is what Force was alluding to."

IF TEAMS WERE ALLOWED TO CHANGE CHASSIS ON RACEDAY IT WOULD HAVE TO BE CONTINGENT ON THE PRIMARY CHASSIS BEING INVOLVED IN AN ON TRACK RACING ACCIDENT THAT DAMAGED THE CHASSIS AND DEEMED IN UNUSABLE.

This determination would have to be made by a number of specialists. Then, and only then, could a team switch chassis.

 

[racer3912]

Let the teams change the chassis if needed. A bare chassis is just like any other component of the car. If they want to start out with a bare chassis and add motor,clutch,rear end,brakes,wheels,plumbing and electrical, and get it built in the turnaround time, they should be allowed to do so.They should not be allowed to bring out a spare roller and drop the motor in it and go racing. I think contact with the wall after the finish line should be a disqualification, but not crossing the centerline or putting it into the sand. If you cross the centerline and make contact with the other car past the finishline, that should be a disqualification too.

 

[Sandy]

Hi Mike
Where have you been

 

[TJ]

C'mon guys/girls...this is fuel racing...whatever happens in the first 1320' is all that matters...Being allowed to bring out a new chassis is not a option...You must use the vehicle/chassis that you qualified in..simple as that...
Whatever happens after the stripe is of no concern..
In 99 Chuck Beal beat Force to the stripe in the first round then got crossed up w/ John in the shutdown area...Force was whining big time to everyone as he was bummed on losing...This is a no brainer rule...And to have the car teched after contact w/ the wall is up to the racer...A chassis is inspected before the race and that's it...I think some of you want more 'big brother' watching and the 'NHRA' making team choices...let em run whatever as long as it was legal on Thurs morning...

 

[BF]

As a fan, I hate a bye-run, even when it's someone that I don't want to win that misses the round. It doesn't look real good for TV either. Safety, also, must come first, above all else, for cars that are are capable of 330+ MPH. I was torn at first as well with the reasoning that no other motorsport allows a car change in the middle of a race. No other motorsport allows engine and body changes either. If a car hits the wall, it should be retired for that race...period! Allow each team to designate a replacement bare chassis for each car entered in the race. Bar-code or tag them so that each spare can only be used for that particular car it is a back up for. So, if you have a multi-car team, you have to have a spare designated for each entry.
I also think the race should be decided at the 1/4 mile mark. Rarely does it happen that a winning car is so badly damaged that it can't return for the next round.
Someone mentioned a penalty for not wearing the belts until they make the turn off. That wouldn't be practical in Robert's situation. Falling off that inferno, after the car had slowed, would have been safer than staying inside buckled up. There's only so much oxygen available in there...the fire uses most of it.

 

[TAFC 5 81]

Would it be safe to say that most of the "underfunded" teams still have a spare car?

 

[T.Smith]

Would it be safe to say that most of the "underfunded" teams still have a spare car?

....Hell no.

 

[FalconRacer]

I am a big JFR fan and I disagree with your statement. As much as John Force talked about safety since Eric's accident that proved to be the last thing on his mind while in the pits trying to get the car ready and he pretty much openly admitted it when he talked about what John Medlen said. "Either send us home if we bend a fender or let us change chassis"...WHY DIDNT YOU GO HOME THEN???? Dont get me wrong, John is a great guy and just had his head somewhere else. Although that team did a great job getting it back together as best they could, they never should have even tried. That chassis was definatly tweeked atleast a little bit after hitting the wall twice and even if all they were going to do was see if his opponent messed up and he had a chance to coast down the track I still in my opinion believe that it was the wrong thing to do.

As far as the rule goes, I believe it should be kept the same. But in doing that, your going to have situations like yesterday where teams are going to try and go for it when they probably shouldnt because of safety issues.

On the other hand, if you change the rule the safety aspect of the chassis being straight really wouldnt be in question because there is no team out there who is going to run a tweeked chassis....well I hope not anyway

Thats just my opinion on the whole situation so I hope that if the rule isnt changed..that is is addressed in some way or another for teams to make a better decision next time!

During his rant he also said the only reason they thrashed hard an brought the car to the starting line was to PROVE that they could do it. That they could have raced a questionable chassis. Did you people not listen to all that he said or are you just judging your opinions off of what you heard he said from others that didn't listen??

 

[Doug in the woods]

My question is did NHRA do a fuel check after the crash?
If it wasn't possiable due to all the fuel being burnt up then to bad so sad guy you just lost the race.
Then Kallitta? (driver in other lane, need to re look at tivo) could have run in the next round
end of discussion
IMO I think Force just wanted to get his car on the line. He knew deep down it would't run down the track safely. Look at ALL the tv exposure team Castrol got and Hollywood could'nt have written a better script.

 

[Kenny Bonnell]

My question is did NHRA do a fuel check after the crash?
If it wasn't possiable due to all the fuel being burnt up then to bad so sad guy you just lost the race.
Then Kallitta? (driver in other lane, need to re look at tivo) could have run in the next round
end of discussion
IMO I think Force just wanted to get his car on the line. He knew deep down it would't run down the track safely. Look at ALL the tv exposure team Castrol got and Hollywood could'nt have written a better script.

JFR got more TV exposure (as usual) then any other team. Even for the round when Hight would have run Head. TV exposure is almost as important as winning to the sponcer, maybe more important

 

[whyisthisarequiredfield]

Look at the issue from this angle...It's a well-known fact that concussions, contusions, and internal physical issues can take hours or even DAYS to make themselves known.

Forget about the chassis rule for a moment, and consider this: Robert Hight's first impact with the wall was at around 160 MPH. All chassis issues aside, I'm not entirely sure that he could have been properly PHYSICALLY inspected in 75 minutes [or less].

That said, the chassis rule(s) should stand. If nothing else, it gives ample time for any medical issues the driver may have incurred to be properly diagnosed and addressed. Even if a driver was placed inside new pipe, it sure would suck to have a fresh concussion impairing their vision at 330MPH, wouldn't it?

 

[JAG]

Look at the issue from this angle...It's a well-known fact that concussions, contusions, and internal physical issues can take hours or even DAYS to make themselves known.

Forget about the chassis rule for a moment, and consider this: Robert Hight's first impact with the wall was at around 160 MPH. All chassis issues aside, I'm not entirely sure that he could have been properly PHYSICALLY inspected in 75 minutes [or less].

That said, the chassis rule(s) should stand. If nothing else, it gives ample time for any medical issues the driver may have incurred to be properly diagnosed and addressed. Even if a driver was placed inside new pipe, it sure would suck to have a fresh concussion impairing their vision at 330MPH, wouldn't it?

While I agree no new cars (Chassis) in eliminations, the rule does need to change. As it is, they can, and someone will at some point run a car that is not safe to run. I'm not sure what the answer is at this moment, but those cars need to be as safe as possible heading down the 1/4 mile.

 

[Ponyhntr]

During his rant he also said the only reason they thrashed hard an brought the car to the starting line was to PROVE that they could do it. That they could have raced a questionable chassis. Did you people not listen to all that he said or are you just judging your opinions off of what you heard he said from others that didn't listen??

Exactly. It's just like back in 2003 at Memphis when Skuza burnt his car to the ground in the semi's. We went back and about 6 or 7 teams jumped in to help. We got the car done, and actually fired it up in the pits. We knew it probably wouldn't make it down the track under power, but we couldn't just let Bazemore have a single to the win.

There were about 2 or 3 NHRA tech officials hanging out in the pit watching the thrash, and inspecting various items, I'm sure they were there in the Force pits last weekend.

 

[Jenn]

Look at the issue from this angle...It's a well-known fact that concussions, contusions, and internal physical issues can take hours or even DAYS to make themselves known.

Forget about the chassis rule for a moment, and consider this: Robert Hight's first impact with the wall was at around 160 MPH. All chassis issues aside, I'm not entirely sure that he could have been properly PHYSICALLY inspected in 75 minutes [or less].

That said, the chassis rule(s) should stand. If nothing else, it gives ample time for any medical issues the driver may have incurred to be properly diagnosed and addressed. Even if a driver was placed inside new pipe, it sure would suck to have a fresh concussion impairing their vision at 330MPH, wouldn't it?

I definately see what you are saying, and if I recall correctly, they said he refused to take off his firesuit the whole time. So I doubt if a full "driver inspeaction" was carried out.