On Wednesday morning, Graham Light, the NHRA’s senior vice president-racing operations, said the sanctioning body was planning very soon to implement rules mandating Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car teams use carbon fiber brakes on their race cars. As of Wednesday morning, Top Alcohol Dragster and Alcohol Funny Car teams had the option to use carbon fiber brakes or steel brakes.

On Wednesday morning, Graham Light, the NHRA’s senior vice president-racing operations, said the sanctioning body was planning very soon to implement rules mandating Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car teams use carbon fiber brakes on their race cars. As of Wednesday morning, Top Alcohol Dragster and Alcohol Funny Car teams had the option to use carbon fiber brakes or steel brakes.

By 5 p.m. Pacific time Wednesday, the NHRA mandated that rear carbon fiber brake rotors and pads will be mandatory for Top Fuel Dragsters, Funny Cars, Top Alcohol Dragsters and Top Alcohol Funny Cars effective July 21, 2010 and front carbon fiber brakes will be mandatory for Funny Cars and Top Alcohol Funny Cars by Aug. 11.

The amendments to the NHRA rule book come on the heels of the death of Top Alcohol Dragster driver Mark Niver last Sunday during eliminations at the NHRA Northwest Nationals in Kent, Wash. Light confirmed Niver was using steel brakes in his dragster during his fatal run.

Niver died when his dragster crashed into the safety net at the end of the Pacific Raceways track and it buckled the chassis into the driver cockpit. Niver, a 30-year NHRA veteran, was 60.

One surprise in the announcement was the inclusion of Top Fuel and Funny Cars, formerly thought to already be covered.

“This is an amendment to the (NHRA) rule book in regards to Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Cars,” Light said. “There was nothing specified in the rulebook that Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars were mandated to use carbon fiber brakes. The only thing the rule book said is that rotors couldn’t be aluminum. Everybody has gone to carbon fiber on the rear and there’s about maybe three or four (Top Fuel and Funny Cars) that have steel rotors on the front. All the Top Fuel Dragsters and all the Top Fuel Funny Cars are carbon fiber on the rear. This whole thing was really aimed at alcohol cars because there are alcohol cars that have steel front and rear (brakes) on the Funny Cars and rear (steel brakes) on the dragsters. But, as a matter of cleaning up the rule book to reflect what we want, that’s why that’s in there for Top Fuel and Funny Car.”