What defines a funny car in its entirety? The body, chassis, engine...? It is my understanding that if a driver crashes, then they can replace everything but the chassis. So then when they replace everything else, is it still the same car? This reminds me of when Team CSK were racing a Chevy and Toyota body. If during eliminations they were to blow up the Toyota body, could they switch over to the Chevy body? And then, would it still be the same car?

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

Jay

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.

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 .

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.

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.

__________________
Real race cars need parachutes
"TooTall (indytrip winner)" on the CSK Fantasy league

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.

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

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

__________________
Cody D. Pollage "CP"
codypollage@yahoo.com
coolflashpics.zoomshare.com

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.

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.

So you're calling Robert Hight a liar?

__________________
"I got a fever, and the only prescription... is more cowbell!"

Buell's and Hardley's suck!

Now this makes sense!!! I understand all of John's points but to allow a backup because you have one or because the guys work hard is ridiculous. You can only start the car once or if you cross the centerline on a single you're DQ'd. I absolutely think you should be DQ'd if you can't bring the car to a safe stop and turn off of the end of the track without hitting the wall or putting it in the sand. Just because you have the money to blow it up in the lights to win the round doesn't make it right. SAFETY FIRST!!!!

Also, drivers should be checked out after a mishap just like in Nascar. Just because they say they're OK doesn't mean they are. Adrenaline is a mighty powerful painkiller. Their day is over.

I am with T Smith on this one.

Stuff it in the fence, tough stuff, load it on the trailer and go home. Safety First.

What about the guy in the other lane? Jim Head didn't wreck his car, is it fair that he goes to the line in the same car when the team he is facing is racing a different car than they started the day with? Why should Head be potentially punished when he has committed no foul? The end result was correct today.

Also, touch the fence before the finish line and you are DQ'd, touch the fence after the finish line and it's no worries, bring out new pipe? What the heck kinda sense does that make?

NHRA please DO NOT CHANGE this rule. What you will see sometime down the line is teams claiming chassis damage so they can bring out new pipe during eliminations. This is one rule whose unintended consequence actually helps keep costs down.

PS Kudos to the whole Force camp for the effort, but I think John Medlen had talked some sense into them. I believe they were going to merely stage the car and hope for a miracle.

__________________
Think Intergalactically. Act Interplanetarily.

Great posts. I'm definitely in the "damage the chassis during elims, you're done" camp. Leave the rule as is.