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...

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.

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

....Hell no.

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??

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

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.

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.

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Josh

www.jbracecraft.com

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.

You're correct, there were several at various times throughout Hight's thrash, particularly during the last 30 minutes or so.

Jenn - You're also correct about him not getting out of his suit, but it appeared to be just a matter of expedience as he spent the first 35 minutes of the turnaround working on the car while still suited up. He then went into the trailer and reappeared at about the 69 minute mark, helmet and all, and was strapped in before the body went on.

I just took the first look through all the photos I shot from the edge of the pits during the thrash. A lot of the time I was shooting blind so only a few are any good but several of them show the turnaround clock in the doorway of the transporter.

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I haven't been around for a while, but what did Force say and where can I read up about this incident and the "discussions" that followed?

I like the way some people feel like they're the ones who should be able to tell where the "affirmative action" lines should be drawn when deciding what is and isn't an unfair advantage against "underfunded" teams. It's okay if they have an arbitrary four teams in an operation to draw data from (not the three or five that I thought it should have been). It's okay to replace everything AROUND the chassis, amounting to a much higher dollar amount than what the chassis, itself, cost. But, don't you dare change the sacred CHASSIS! I think they should be able to have as many cars as they have bullets. However many they can carry to a race. They can still only race one at a time.

It's professional level racing. Why hold the majority down do a minority's level? Let the minority elevate itself or leave. If you can't afford to be there, go nostalgia racing. I should be surprised at an organization that already has an affirmative action points scheme.

Like others have mentioned. Someone's going to determine how hard of a "hit" is a "hit." Then you disqualify a car and make it go through an SFI inspection. Woo Frickin Hoo!!! Like Bob Glidden said, they can't find nitrous unless it's in a bottle painted blue. Who thinks Hight's front end was still in alignment after those hits? An SFI inspection doesn't check for that anymore than it checks for numerous other things that could have left that chassis in an unsafe condition.

How does ANYONE look at an assembly of tubing and know what has and hasn't work hardened/been stressed to the point that it's just getting ready to start cracking and breaking? How do any of you know that you're not disqualifying a car that might be safer than the car it just raced against?

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The faster you drive, the further you have to walk to get back to the road.

Right on!! What kind of racing allows one to change cars after the race starts? This certainly wouldn't be the first time a car was brought to the starting line to "bluff" their way into a win. Makes no sense to allow teams with additional cars in the holster to change willy nilly.