Do you think there will be any discussions on ESPN when Funny Car pulls to the line about heat treating tubing? I think they will say something about there is still an investigation underway and that is why only Robert Hight is running from JFR (If he is the only JFR Funny Car competing). I am sure the higher ups at NHRA are already trying to come up with a way to address this so it has nothing to do with their lack of knowledge on chassis strength.

What do you bet they(NHRA) will say they are making rules changes that will reword the chassis spec and give the teams until next year to comply?

Hopefully it will say normailized tubing only, no heat treated tubing allowed.

__________________
"I'm pi$$ed at all most everthing."

Whatever happens, if they (NHRA) make a change, they need to decide fairly fast. Heat treated, freeze treated, no treated, Lucas Oil treated, whatever

The longer they wait, the more the chassis builders are going to be behind in the off season. Force will need 8 cars, Shoe 5-6 cars, that's 13-14 just between them teams. Kenny B 2, Tony/Cruz 4, just that quick we are up to 19-20 cars between 4 teams. Plus repairs here and there, talk about busy. I'm not saying they will all want new cars to get out of the ones they are in now, but it's possible.

Think about this- Robert Hight is on his 5th car (4 chassis, plus 1 got rebuilt and front halfed) that's crazy! I know we are in different times, but Ormsby got a lot of props for winning the championship after being forced to use 4 cars back in 89 when won the title.


Whatever the case, I think Brad Hadman and Steve Plueger are going to get a few more phone calls this off season.

__________________
Go Hight!!!----4.63
Prock Rocket 2008 Style

Steve has already been getting calls but the only way he could accommodate John is to hire people to help him pump all of those chassis out and he's just not interested in doing that.

Yeah, that has been discussed here before several times.

Here is what I'm getting at-- I'm thinking that If Force went to Murf and said ok I need 8 cars by Jan 1, Shoe calls and says I need 5 cars by Jan 1, then Wilkerson calls and wants one then also, and he gets told ok but there are 13 orders in front of you, he might go looking elsewhere. I am not saying that is what's going to happen, and I am not saying John would get his cars made all in a row, and I don't know how many cars Murf can put out considering he builds dragsters too, but it is possible.

__________________
Go Hight!!!----4.63
Prock Rocket 2008 Style

i think pretty soon you will see more of the bigger teams start to follow the worshams, with in house chassis programs. i have seen in aome articles where teams like snake, and shoe, that they already have a fab shop to finish cars and mount bodies, so how long till they take the fab shops to the next level. i am sure most of the multi car teams can keep a chassis guy busy all year.

At this point I don't think there's a team who has any faith in Heat treated chassis. If the Chassis builders want to stay in business they will build the cars the racers want...

__________________
Shift for Brains!!!!

Then he becomes a manager of chassis builders rather than a chassis builder. I expect that would be a lot less fun.

__________________
"The Doctor"
www.wannaberacing.com

I would think there might be a lot more problems if a lot of the teams start going inhouse for their chassis. Might be quite a learning curve. I bet there is a certain amount of "rocket science" involved in good chassis design and the welding has to be the very best.

I think quite the opposite. We all watched Scotty Cannon hack up his McKinney car with a saws-all and add extra bars and remove some. Some of which he did laying on the ground in the pits. Six months later, what Scotty added became the new "Trick" and "Computer CAD tested" McKinney car. There are hundreds of chassis builders capable of building that car, and have the jigs with them. To copy the perfect car is not that tough. Either bring someone in house, or contract him to make your cars and only your cars. I am NOT saying that these guys would, but could. Mike Bos, Kevin Knowles, Hal Canode, J Ed Horton, Sherrill, Quay, Mullis, Miller, or some of the lesser known, but capable pro mod builders? What about Victory? S&W? They will build a car for you. It is good geometry, a well set up jig, and good welding. (After finding what diameter, wall thickness and measurements of the existing "Perfect" car.) I know guys here that are welding geniuses, and could and would do it. We tend to look away from Worsham, but they took a relatively unknown and made it work. I know pro stock is another animal, but what about Cagnazzi. They took a relatively unknown and made him the in house guy, and they have an advantage. Others can. It is just a matter of taking the leap and making it a long term investment.
I believe it to be not only capable, but wise for the larger teams.

I guess this makes me wonder why the vast majority are with one chassis shop? Is it just a matter of everyone wants the latest greatest winning chassis?

actually, in the world of racing it's more "follow the leader". except force would have kept running plueger cars if plueger would have been able to keep up with supply and demand.

McKinney builds a good car. He has more teams testing his ideas and changes than all others combined. Testing all sorts of things, including the likes of slip joints. He has more people on staff than the rest of the fuel builders combined, and can turn a car out pretty darn quick. It costs a ton, but less headaches, less room used in the shop, less people employed, less mess in the shop, and you can learn from other teams that have the same style chassis. Probably similar to why the teams don't do their own carbon-fiber bodies. But when your supplier goes weak for some reason, you need to find another supplier, or get that one back on track. This winter will be getting back on track for McKinney, or lose lots of business.

The chassis spec is fine. It's an incorrect interpretation of the word "equivilant" that has caused a problem.