FEEDBACK FRIDAY - JOHN FORCE - FORCEFUL WORDS
I think all this is happening
to Force Racing for a reason. John seems to be the one that is motivated to
"fix things" safety wise and what he does will set the standard for
other teams. He is right that the chassis hasn't changed much since 1970 - 37
years ago - and they are still running basically the same type of chassis. Same
with Top Fuel and Garlits' rear-engine dragster from 1971 has the same basic
design as they do today.
I recently saw a crash
where a driver stuffed a Formula One car into the wall, ripped off the wheels,
ripped off the nose piece and walked away from it. A lot of it had to do with
the design of the chassis. It looks to be like a big carbon fiber tub, with
wheels and motor attached to it, and the design saved this drivers life. Maybe
we need to look to other forms of motorsports for chassis design.
Drag boats have a capsule
designed to hold the driver if the boast sinks and keep him alive until rescue
gets there. Maybe something like that for the nitro cars? I don't have the
answers but I know that John Force won't rest until he comes up with a better
design, and that will benefit drag racing. - Cliff Morgan
Having just finished
reading the John Force interview/audience, what a guy! Every sport needs it's
heroes, sportsmen who transcend the ordinary and become legends, Force is
certainly one of those, and having just seen Ashley on TV here in England
making the final, after a fire and so nearly winning it, it's obviously in the
genes. - John Goodman