John Force Wins at 50th Winternational!

John Force is back.  It’s great to see the spring in his step again and now with their new, in-house chassis built by John Medlin and in-house Ford Boss motors. This could be the first of many race wins.  How long before all 3 teams are running the new chassis? Not long. -Pikesan

Here’s the race recap from John Force Racing:

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JOHN FORCE WINS 50TH NHRA WINTERNATIONALS

POMONA — John Force broke the longest dry spell of his historic career opening the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season with an emotional victory at the 50th annual Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals. Force was the model of consistency on race day defeating veteran Bob Bode, daughter Ashley Force Hood, Jack Beckman and Ron Capps with an average elapsed time of 4.123.

“I heard (Top Fuel winner Larry) Dixon say that he grew up in California and I’m from California too but I never grew up. I just love it and I have to tell you I can drink that Full Throttle. That stuff hops me up for a race like this. The 50th of this race at Auto Club Raceway is big and with Ford as official car of the NHRA, for all my sponsors Castrol, Ford, Auto Club, MacTools and BrandSource. This is twenty-five years with Castrol. It ain’t about a paycheck it is all about you (the fans). You are the blood that flows in my veins,” said Force from the winner’s circle stage.

“I know where (Ron) Capps comes from. I tried to hire him years ago before (Don) Prudhomme snatched him up. The kid is fighting for what he wants. That is that championship. He’s going to get that one of these days. A lot times it just takes a long time. He’ll get there because he has the talent. That is why I armed up for him. I gave him everything I had. I knew this guy will tree you. (Capps’ crew chief) Ed McCullough is going to throw a hardball. The weather is cooling down. We got the win.”

“I live this game. You race a kid like Capps and up against Schumacher Racing. They are tough. You have to just keep your focus. We have shuffled our team around. Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly they have teamed up with Mike Neff. All them together with Jimmy Prock, John Medlen, Guido (Dean Antonelli) and Ron Douglas they were all in the think tank trying to figure me out. Just seeing the younger generation with the older generation it works. My change worked.”

This was the 127th career victory for Force and the first since his win over Tim Wilkerson in Topeka on June 1, 2008, a span of twenty months and forty races. It is the 186th win for John Force Racing. It is the second win in a row for John Force Racing at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. In November at the season ending Auto Club Finals Mike Neff drove the Ford Drive One Mustang to the winner’s circle.

Ironically Neff shifted gears this race and tuned Force to victory beside Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly. Force was the no. 3 qualifier and on race day he recorded the quickest elapsed times every round. Neff’s last win as a crew chief was June 10, 2007 in Joliet when he tuned Gary Scelzi to victory.

John Force Racing has won all three 50th annual or anniversary events in the history of the NHRA. Gary Densham, then a JFR driver, won the 50th Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in 2004 and Force won the 50th anniversary NHRA national in July of 2001.

“This is fifty years here. That is unique to be a part of that. You’ll win a lot of races. I’ve won Winternationals and World Finals but to win this race that has the magic. I want my kids to look back. You know when you were great and the kids were little and nobody cared. They were like I don’t care dad let’s go to Disneyland. All of a sudden you aren’t any good anymore and then all of a sudden you think you have done all you can do but your legs won’t carry you. My trainer, Horn at Fanatics, told me if I kept working I could get my legs back. He told me I had to keep building my legs so I could push on that gas. My leg was shaking so bad last year holding the clutch and you can’t drive like that. I wasn’t going to cry about it. I didn’t want you all to know I was so screwed up,” said Force. “Over the winter I hit it harder and all of a sudden I had strength to get through the day. It is awesome. I remember I got in the treadmill I couldn’t run for two minutes now I can go for an hour. That is a fact. I can’t run with my knees but I can put it up to three or three and half. I haul tail. Man, this is big for me.”

Force won a crucial round when he defeated his daughter Ashley Force Hood and her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang in the second round. They were the two quickest Funny Cars from round one and the odds were whoever won that race had the inside track on victory today.

As Force Hood rolled through the water box one of her parachutes fell out of the parachute pack and unfurled behind her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. Her co-crew chief Ron Douglas immediately gave her the stop sign and she sat for minutes as her team furiously repacked her chute. Unfortunately, in the other lane John Force did not see what the problem was as he completed his burn out. He waited patiently but was unclear if he was making a single run or if Force Hood would be able to run beside him.

“I didn’t know until I got out at the end that I had a parachute problem. I thought maybe someone fell or got bumped by the car. Ron was telling the guys to be sure to get the tires clean and then I thought maybe I rolled through some oil. They told me I was going to do a short burnout and back up. Then they decided there wasn’t enough time to do a burnout at all and we were going to just pull up. Dad was already staged,” said Force Hood from outside her trailer after the round loss.

“(My dad) thought he was on a single. I just remember thinking ‘How can they send me down the track with oil on my tires?’ I should have more faith in my team that they would never do that. I just stepped on it thinking I have no idea what this thing is going to do. It went right down the track. I knew I shouldn’t have been worried about all these other things when none of it was correct. I don’t know why I didn’t think if the parachutes before. We have never had a problem like that before. It was just one of those fluke things. We didn’t do the burn out so there were so many things that go along with doing the burn out that didn’t happen.”

“At the time I knew I just needed to wait and do whatever they told me to do. It wasn’t that chaotic where I was sitting. I remember just sitting there and clicking my visor down which it the last thing I do before I pre-stage. I remember thinking let me get myself ready so that when I pull up I don’t have anything else to think about. I remember thinking I am all set to go so I just pretended I already did a burn out so I could pull up and stage,” added Force Hood.

“I was surprised it did go down the track. It wasn’t as quick (running a 4.187 second elapsed time) as they wanted. They said it was heavier because of all the fuel still in it. The clutch didn’t get warmed up enough. It still made it. That is something to just learn. The best part was that I was racing against one of my own teammates. So if I had to lose at least one of my teammates went on. I felt bad for dad because he was getting a lot of mixed signals. He wasn’t sure what was going on. I was at least just getting my information from Ron. I didn’t know what was going on but I knew what I was supposed to be doing. That is a good feeling for a driver,” concluded Force Hood.

Newly crowned 2009 Full Throttle Funny Car champion Robert Hight’s day ended unceremoniously early. The no. 1 qualifier Hight in his Auto Club Ford Mustang was the victim of a first round upset to no. 16 qualifier Cruz Pedregon. In just over an hour’s time Hight was handed his Full Throttle champion’s jacket and ring then dispatched from the first race of the season in the first round. Hight is extremely excited to be getting back on a track next weekend in Phoenix for the NHRA Arizona Nationals.

“(Crew chief) Jimmy (Prock) is still baffled that we smoked the tires. Even after looking at the data. The tires weren’t hot. I had it perfectly lined up in the center of the groove. I knew I left on it. I saw the amber. It felt awesome. I pedaled it and got back on it and it hooked. When it does that usually it goes. I stayed in it and then all of a sudden it turned sideways so I lifted. When it does that the tires really start spinning. They slow down and then they really speed up and it shoots you. Unfortunately it shot me across the center line and I couldn’t bring it back,” said Hight. “It wasn’t going to run 4.30 anyway after pedaling it out that far. We have to not smoke the tires. It looks funny especially when Ashley goes out and runs 4.12 right behind us. It is just one of those deals and we’ll move on. We are still learning this clutch package. It is not like last year when we were struggling to figure it out. We just have to fine tune this Mustang to get it to react the way we need it to. We’ll get it.”

“Going to Phoenix next weekend is huge for me. I don’t have to think about this for a week. I can get right back to work. We’ll get that work done and get ready to head to Phoenix and start over again. I am really looking forward to Phoenix. With this race being the 50th anniversary of the Winternationals it has been huge. It has been a crazy, crazy weekend. I’m back at my home track after winning the championship. I got my ring today and my champion’s jacket. There were just lots of things going on. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I am not complaining. It will be nice to get to a more normal race weekend. It is good to be back with the fans and all the sponsors. I have missed my team. They are all in Indy,” said the two-time Winternationals winner.

In the Top Alcohol Dragster ranks Courtney Force lost in her first round match up on Saturday when here BrandSource Ford Racing A Fueler crossed the center line versus Art Trautman.

“I was hoping it would be a good straight solid run. It had some tire shake and that drove me over to the center line. My helmet kind of fell down on me and I couldn’t see very well. That is when I lifted. I tried to pedal it and get right back into it when I got my vision back. Right when I did that my wheel was over and I hit a couple of cones. I did my best to drive it back into my lane. That is when I let off again,” said the no. 2 qualifier.

“It is still a big learning curve. I am still learning but people can tell you what to do but there is no real way to know how to do it until it happens to you. I don’t think I did too bad. I did hit a couple of cones but I am just really glad I was able to bring it back into my own lane and didn’t hurt the other racer.”

No.1 qualifier Brittany Force won her first round race against Brooks Brown but today her Jerry Darian tuned BrandSource A Fueler was just barely outrun by Shawn Cowie, 3.383 to Cowie’s 5.374.

“That race was really close. We have had a great car all weekend. It has been pretty consistent. I could see I was coming up right against him and I knew he was right there. I would like to do more racing than my schedule will allow me to with school and student teaching. I am looking forward to getting to the next race and going some more rounds. I haven’t been in my BrandSource A Fuel dragster in a while so this race was really nice. I was a little nervous that first run but I got back into my routine. Getting the no. 1 qualifier was great and it was good to be back,” said Brittany.

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FULL THROTTLE POINT STANDINGS

FUNNY CAR – 1. John Force, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, 121; 2. Ron Capps, 94; 3. Bob Tasca III, 78; 4. Jack Beckman, 74; 5. Del Worsham, 59; 6. Matt Hagan, 57; 7. Ashley Force Hood, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, 56; 8. Cruz Pedregon, 51; 9. Robert Hight, Auto Club Ford Mustang, 43; 10. Tony Pedregon, 33; 10. Jim Head, 33.

TOP FUEL – 1. Larry Dixon, 122; 2. Doug Kalitta, 96; 3. Cory McClenathan, 86; 4. Tony Schumacher, 81; 5. Shawn Langdon, 55; 6. Brandon Bernstein, 52; 6. Antron Brown, 52; 6. Troy Buff, 52; 9. Morgan Lucas, 36; 10. Steve Torrence, 34; 10. Thomas Nataas, 34.

PRO STOCK – 1. Mike Edwards, 130; 2. Greg Anderson, 95; 3. Allen Johnson, 78; 4. Larry Morgan, 71; 5. Rodger Brogdon, 54; 6. Greg Stanfield, 53; 7. Justin Humphreys, 51; 7. Shane Gray, 51; 9. Jeg Coughlin, 42; 10. Ron Krisher, 39.

THE DRIVERS

JOHN FORCE, 60, Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang
Final Qualifying: 3rd at 4.066 seconds, 310.41 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: +5 (quickest of Q2 and 2nd quickest of Q4)
Race Results: Beat Bob Bode, Ashley Force Hood, Jack Beckman, Ron Capps
Quotable: “I live this game. You race a kid like (Ron) Capps and up against Schumacher Racing. They are tough. You have to just keep your focus. We have shuffled our team around. Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly they have teamed up with Mike Neff. All them together with Jimmy Prock, John Medlen, Guido and Ron Douglas they were all in the think tank trying to figure me out. Just seeing the younger generation with the older generation it works. My change worked.” – JOHN FORCE

ASHLEY FORCE HOOD, 27, Castrol GTX Ford Mustang
Friday Qualifying: 6th at 4.093 seconds, 310.70 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: +2 (third quickest of Q1 and Q3)
Race Results: Beat Tim Wilkerson. Lost to John Force
Quotable: “The best part was that I was racing against one of my own teammates. So if I had to lose at least one of my teammates went on. I felt bad for dad because he was getting a lot of mixed signals. He wasn’t sure what was going on. I was at least just getting my information from Ron. I didn’t know what was going on but I knew what I was supposed to be doing. That is a good feeling for a driver.” – ASHLEY FORCE HOOD

ROBERT HIGHT, 40, Auto Club of Southern California Ford Mustang
Friday Qualifying: 1st at 4.059 seconds, 312.86 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: +5 (quickest of Q1, 2nd quickest of Q3)
Race Results: Lost to Cruz Pedregon
Quotable: “Jimmy is still baffled that we smoked the tires. Even after looking at the data. The tires weren’t hot. I had it perfectly lined up in the center of the groove. I knew I left on it. I saw the amber. It felt awesome. I pedaled it and got back on it and it hooked. When it does that usually it goes. I stayed in it and then all of a sudden it turned sideways so I lifted.” – ROBERT HIGHT

BRITTANY FORCE, 23, BrandSource A Fuel Dragster
Final Qualifying: 1st at 5.293 seconds, 268.82 mph
Race Results: Beat Brooks Brown. Lost to Shawn Cowie
Quotable: “That race was really close. We have had a great car all weekend. It has been pretty consistent. I could see I was coming up right against him and I knew he was right there. Getting the no. 1 qualifier was great and it was good to be back.” – BRITTANY FORCE

COURTNEY FORCE, 21, BrandSource/Ford A Fuel Dragster
Final Qualifying: 2nd at 5.302 seconds, 251.39 mph
Race Results: Lost to Art Trautman
Quotable: “I was hoping it would be a good straight solid run. It had some tire shake and that drove me over to the center line. My helmet kind of fell down on me and I couldn’t see very well. That is when I lifted. I tried to pedal it and get right back into it when I got my vision back. Right when I did that my wheel was over and I hit a couple of cones. I did my best to drive it back into my lane. That is when I let off again.” – COURTNEY FORCE

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FOLLOW JOHN FORCE RACING AT www.twitter.com/jfr_racing.com

Ashley Force-Hood Video Preview: 2010 NHRA Season

I can’t say it’s cool when you enter the John Force Racing compound. It’s OVERWHELMING! The people, the parts, the action, I love it!

We (Pikesan and Swanee) first entered the pit area of John Force, Ashley Force-Hood and NHRA Champion Robert Hight at the test and tune at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, AZ to find every team working feverishly, even though, racing for the night was done. It’s obvious, this team works well together, everyone knows their job and they’re ready to rock for the Winternationals in Pomona.

As a huge fan of the NHRA, especially the John Force Racing team, meeting and talking to Austin Coil, then having a short sit down with the charming, yet #2 in the world funny car racer, Ashley Force-Hood was a dream come true. It’s a sure sign that the JFR team loves their fans.

So dig this short interview of loveliest lady of motorsports (Danica, it ain’t even close!) Ashely Force-Hood. After making several full passes, I found her listening to the Vikings, Saints game on TV while working on her laptop.

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It takes a strong woman to compete in a male dominated sport, then to be a calm and professional (one take’s all you need!) as Ashley.  About 20 minutes before the interview above, she did this:

I gotta thank the John Force Racing team for getting us so close to the starting line!

No doubt who we’ll be rooting for in the 2010 season of NHRA drag racing.  The season kicks off with the fabled and now 50th, Winternationals in Pomona, CA on February 11-14.  Take your honey to the race… I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Valentines Day!

Who else is rooting for John Force, Ashley and Robert Hight? Let us know!

Ed McCulloch’s Top 5 Most Influential Funny Cars

MyRideisMe.com has your Funny Car hookups! We asked 3 current NHRA superstars in funny car and top fuel what funny cars are their “Top 5″ most influential of all time, and why. Look for the Top 5 from Ed McCulloch, Ron Capps and Don Schumacher.

Let’s get started with the Napa Auto Parts funny car crew chief, Ed “Ace” McCulloch.

The “Ace” has a drag racing career stretching back more than 30 years. A socal boy living right in the middle of where hot rods and drag racing really took off. It’s no wonder he’s driven everything from top fuel to funny’s.

During those early days racing all over the country at whatever track was paying, he learned what it takes to make a nitro burning beast go fast and more importantly, win. He’s got 18 wins in funny car and another 4 in top fuel and he won at Indy 5 times.

“Ace” is truly a legend in funny car and a perfect kick off for MyRideisMe.com’s 5 Most influential Funny Cars…

Ed “Ace” McCulloch’s Top 5 Funny Cars

“Going back some years, probably ‘Jungle Jim’ Liberman would be included. He was a great showman, just a natural. When we used to match race, that was what it was all about, putting on a show. I guess one of the most influential would definitely have to be ‘Jungle Jim’ Liberman.”

“Another one would be the Blue Max, with Raymond Beadle. They were a really good group of guys on that car.”

“(Paul) Candies and (Leonard) Hughes would be one of the top ones, too. Really competitive cars. They always ran hard.”

“Even though I hate to do it, I have to put Don Prudhomme and the Army car in there because he was good in his day, won a lot of races for a long time.

“I could put five of mine in front of those four already,” he added. (note: I’m trying to get some of Ace’s private stash of pictures to post.)

“Obviously, on today’s circuit and going back in time with Austin Coil’s career and then his going on to John Force Racing, they would have to be in the top five.

“There’s probably a lot of cars there that are equally as good that I haven’t mentioned, but based on what they’ve done, the fame they earned and the way they presented themselves, those are probably my top five.”

“It depends on how you want to position this. I mean, do I think any of my time with Capps is good enough for my top five, probably not. Not yet. I’ve got a wider stretch to choose from.

“Blue Max and Jungle Jim had a lot of cars over time and they were always very dominant and had very good race cars. I can’t single it down to just one specific time frame or year or car. I’m looking at it over a period of time. As for the Snake, probably his Army car, in my opinion, was his dominant car. The rest of them it’s just what I think were influential over time.”

MyRideisMe.com thanks 70sfunnycars.com, draglist.com, monza.homestead.com, bluemaxfunnycar.com and fastmachines.com for the pictures shown.

Another big thanks to Judy Stropus from Don Schumacher Racing and her intern Leah Vaughn for getting the info out of these Funny Car legends.

What’s your top 5? Leave a comment and let us know!

Great Helmet Auction: Let The Bidding Begin!

Professional Racers Owners Organization’s (PRO) “Great Helmet Auction”

INDIANAPOLIS, In. – On June 6, 2009, PRO’s Great Helmet Auction will go live on eBay! This 10-day auction (ends June 15th) features autographed helmets, most worn during NHRA Drag Racing competition, by stars of the sport including:
Jack Beckman
Brandon Bernstein
Kenny Bernstein
Antron Brown
Ron Capps
V. Gaines
Mike Edwards
Ashley Force-Hood
John Force
Matt Hagan
Robert Hight
Allen Johnson
Warren Johnson
Doug Kalitta
Ron Krisher
Cory McClenathan
Mike Neff
Tony Schumacher
Bob Vandergriff Jr.
Tim Wilkerson

For a full description of these driver’s helmets, including their history, photographs and a link to each helmet on eBay, visit www.GreatHelmetAuction.com.
Mark your calendars now with the following dates:
June 6 – The Great Helmet Auction begins on eBay.
June 15 – Last day to bid and win!
June 16 – Helmet winners announced.
Winning bids benefit PRO, an organization that provides services and other benefits to professional drag racing team owners and drivers, with a portion of proceeds to benefit Racers for Christ (Team RFC), which has serviced NHRA for over 25 years.

John Force Racing’s Charity Cruise Night Schedule

YORBA LINDA, CA (April 2, 2009) — John Force Racing, headquartered in Yorba Linda, Calif., will be expanding its tradition of giving back to the community beginning April 25th when the first of seven John Force Cruise Night Car Shows will be held.

Participants and spectators at the John Force Cruise Night Car Shows are being encouraged to bring a can of food that will be donated to the Orange County Food Bank. For each can donated a raffle ticket will be distributed good for a chance to win a 52″ Sanyo Flat Screen TV. If participants bring one can of food they get one ticket if they bring twenty cans of food they get twenty tickets or chances to win. The raffle will be held on Halloween at the final John Force Cruise Night Car Show of the season.

“In December we have built up a tradition of giving toys to kids in need with the John Force Holiday Car Show that benefits the California Highway Patrol’s “CHiP’s for Kids” program. During these tough economic times we felt that we needed to do something for our community right now, and tying in with our fans at the John Force Cruise Night Car Shows just seemed like a perfect fit. Our goal is to collect as many cans of food as we can, and help make an impact on the community.

We are asking everyone to get involved whether they are a participant or a spectator,” said Craig Hoelzel, John Force Racing – Director of Special Promotions & Car Show Manager.

“The Orange County Food Bank is excited to team up with John Force Racing. The needs of the community are growing during these tough times and we really need the food,” said Kristin Kvesic, Orange County Food Bank.

A special award will be presented at each Cruise Night for the “Most Food Given.” Cruise Night Car Shows will be held from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the John Force RaceStation. At each Cruise Night Car Show there will be family fun, food and entertainment for all ages.

2009 John Force Car Show Schedule All John Force Cruise Night Car Shows will be held at:

John Force RaceStation
22722 Old Canal Road
Yorba Linda, CA 92887

For More Info: www.JohnForceRacing.com or (714) 921-1651

Schedule: (All shows are from 4PM to 7PM)

• April 25
• May 30
• June 27
• July 25
• August 29
• September 26
• October 31

New Technology Keeping Nitro Funny Car Pilots Safe

Couresty of Ford Media and PCGCambell

Two years ago this month, the drag racing community lost John Force Racing Mustang driver Eric Medlen in a tragic Funny Car testing accident. In the aftermath of that accident, John Force Racing and Ford Racing banded together to form The Eric Medlen Project, with an eye on finding and improving safety innovations for the sport. Along with the NHRA, John Force Racing and Ford Racing have instituted a series of safety measures ranging from significant Funny Car chassis modifications to the instillation of the Ford Blue Box (crash data recorder) on all nitro cars. This important work continues and This Week In Ford Racing recently caught up with 14 time Funny Car World Champion John Force and with Pat DiMarco, Ford Racing Vehicle Dynamics and Electronics Supervisor, for an update on The Eric Medlen Project and ongoing safety developments.

JOHN FORCE – GTX Castrol Mustang– CAN YOU GIVE US AN UPDATE ON THE ERIC MEDLEN PROJECT?
“Our shop is out here in California, 50,000 square foot, but most of the race teams are out in Indy, the Ford Motor program is in Indy, the Eric Medlen project is in Indy, everything now is housed under 50,000 square foot. You can see everything that we have developed working with NHRA, working with Ford Motor Company and their technicians. You can go there because we built a virtual reality tour and you can walk through and see it, what we’ve done. If you don’t want to believe us you can read the documentation that Ford has provided us that you can walk through it and get an education. When we do our car shows that’s where we are going to educate the people, to show them what we created from the crash of Eric, the loss of Eric something has to come out of that, and it has, a better and safer race car and it will still run for the title.”

THE 1,000-FOOT ASIDE, WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHANGE YOU’VE SEEN IN THIS SPORT SINCE YOU’VE COME INTO IT?
“You know, in the sport, the biggest change was the technology of computers. That you can get the data after the car had made a run, that is, over my career of over 30 years. That was big, but to see the change to what made this car run faster. Now, the computer couldn’t run anything but it could to tell the crew chief what the fuel pump was doing, what the blower was doing, everything it was doing they could make that happen. So the computer was important, but the one thing we did wrong in the 50 years of our sport, as much safety as we evolved with, one of the biggest changes I believe is what we did with Ford Motor Company and NHRA. We evolved the chassis.

The chassis, if you look at the car I drove 30 years ago, was the same car that Eric and I crashed in ’07, and the new chassis evolved from a four-rail to a six-rail where the driver’s cockpit that protected the driver with the tub around him, and we got that through the Ford technicians and all of those guys were able to study those cars. This has been an on-going process since March of ’07, since we lost Eric, and all of ’08 and it’s not going to stop. We’re working on helmets with the impact and testing, all of that stuff is going to continue to grow. But Ford came up and got the idea to put a black box, we call it the blue box. They paid for it, it was put in by Delphi but it was put into every car. Ford said put it in the GM cars, put it in the Toyota, put in the MOPARS, let’s find out what happens when something goes wrong, and that is a big change. We’ve always been about horsepower, well, now, safety and that’s the biggest change in the sport.”

PAT DIMARCO, Ford Racing Vehicle Dynamics and Electronics Supervisor — IT HAS BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE THE PASSING OF JOHN FORCE RACING DRIVER ERIC MEDLEN IN A TESTING ACCIDENT FOLLOWING THE GAINESVILLE NHRA EVENT. THAT ACCIDENT REALLY TRIGGERED A NUMBER OF JOINT SAFETY INITIATIVES BETWEEN NHRA, FORD RACING AND JOHN FORCE RACING, MOST NOTABLY THE ERIC MEDLEN PROJECT.
“Yes, and I’d go as far as saying the NHRA has been involved in these safety initiatives as well. [The NHRA] has implemented a lot of things that we have started: the Ford Blue Box program, as well as the chassis changes, were all a combination of our work, John Force Racing and NHRA. Last year was the Blue Box implementation for all nitro cars, as well as the new chassis design. This year, we’re also moving forward with some of our production car technology and personnel. We’re modeling the occupant within the computer to simulate accidents similar to Eric’s, as well as a crash similar to Scott Kalitta’s. We can evaluate anything that the body can touch, as well as any vibrations that are put into the body on the computer, as well as a physical test, that’s being replicated as well.”

UP TO THIS POINT, THE CHASSIS CHANGES HAVE COME FROM EVALUATING NOT ONLY THE ACCIDENT WITH ERIC, BUT ALSO THE SIGNIFICANT ACCIDENT JOHN FORCE HAD AT DALLAS AND LOOKING AT WAYS TO REINFORCE THE CHASSIS. YOU’RE SAYING THERE ARE ADDITIONAL INOVATAIONS THAT CAN BE FOUND IN THE CRASHES?
“Definitely. Maybe not so much in the chassis itself, but innovations in the padding, the helmets, the surrounding areas and what the driver can physically touch. That is where we will be looking at for improvements. It’s things like that where the occupant model will help us evaluate.”

TAKE US THROUGH THE EVOLUTION OF THIS PROJECT AND HOW IT’S GONE STEP BY STEP.
“After Eric’s accident, the first thing we looked at was the area surrounding the driver’s head, which was the cause of Eric’s injuries. By widening the surround and putting more padding in there, it helped reduce some of the loads on the driver’s head during a similar accident. Those changes were instrumental in saving John Force’s life in his crash at Dallas. The next step was to look at the chassis and why it broke, and John’s chassis broke in the same places that Eric’s chassis broke. That allowed us to focus on looking at those hot spots and how to remove them from the chassis. Or, in the case that we have now, they’re completely out of the chassis for a torsional event that was seen in Eric and John’s accidents. In order to do all that, we needed data, and the Blue Box data that is running in all of the Nitro cars now was very instrumental in gathering data for all the chassis that have cracked on the track. The data collected from the boxes also helped us reproduce the accident from Scott Kalitta last year.”

WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP? WHAT DO YOU SEE ON THE HORIZON FOR THIS INITIATIVE?
“There’s various production car technologies that can be applied going forward. Although nothing is finalized, there could be things like automatic shut offs, seat belt pretensioners, air bags around the head … just about anything that’s already in the production car. We are working closely with the Ford safety office to see what we can physically put in the car, as well as what’s feasible from a racer’s standpoint with the NHRA.”

WHAT COMES OUT OF THIS PROGRAM THAT CAN GO BACK INTO PRODUCTION CARS?
“We’re pushing the limits on the models that we’re using from the standpoint of the head and the brain models. Production cars don’t usually look at vibration as significant as we’re seeing in the Funny Cars, so they’re evaluating their models using our data to improve our production car safety as well. That’s important for the racers, as well as for our consumers.”

Funny Car Chief Austin Coil on Drag Racing Today

If you’re a fan of NHRA drag racing, then there’s a great chance you’re a fan of John Force Racing and his team. As a Ford fan, (don’t forget, Pop’s was a Ford Mechanic for 25 years) I’ve been following Force for as long as I can remember so when I got the chance to interview co-crew chief Austin Coil, I jumped at it.

Meeting with Austin Coil in the small town the John Force Racing trucks make was awesome. Cruising past the beast Force pilots down the strip as his crew finished prepping for Saturday at the Firebird Race, then stepping into the trailer you often see on TV was unreal. I carefully tried to keep my grin from extending past my ears as I sat down with Coil.

Without his trademark toothpick, Coil smiled alot and seemed to be winding down from Friday’s session that saw all of John Force Racing cars in the top half of the field. Coil’s easy going manner and obvious passion for racing and technology made this interview a breeze. I just had to keep up…

WHAT’S CHANGED THE MOST ABOUT FUNNY CARS SINCE YOU’VE BEEN RUNNING THEM?
Everything! In the last few years, there’s been an extraordinary push for safety and these cars are tremendously safer then just a few years ago… and it’s a damn good thing cause we’ve lost a few of our brothers and it was necessary. John Force Racing has spearheaded a lot of this and Ford was instrumental in making those changes.

(When thinking about safety equipment…)
These race cars are really archaic compared to what’s on the road now. If you drive your Ford Flex in the rain and snow and ice there’s all kinds of electronic wizardry to protect you, let alone what’s being developed. Up until this campaign started (2009’s Full Throttle Season) we’re not allowed to run anything to protect you.

Currently, we have an electronic shut off system that can sense if we blow the blower off or it can sense a burning pistons or if the fire bottles have been activated and it automatically turns off the fuel and pull the chutes in case the driver isn’t able.

One of the questions I wanted to ask Austin was about a safety system that could remotely turn off the fuel and pull the chutes. He said that a team was planning a test of a system exactly like that at the Firebird Race. Testing during race day might a bad idea, but with today’s economy and the existing ban on testing during the season, there’s no other choice.

Things have to be tested during the race, but for the majority of people who were gonna race, they’d use their test days on something that’s going to help them win.

WHAT ABOUT NEW TECHNOLOGIES LIKE DIRECT INJECTION? (Injecting fuel directly into the cylinder instead of before the intake valve.)

No, it’s not allowed…
Everything new is prohibited unless it becomes approved. We’ve been racing under a moratorium for about 4 or 5 years now to prevent any technological break-thrus to help control cost. And the Association (NHRA) is vehemently against any type of closed-loop controls. It would be pretty simple to have clutch and/or engine controls that would sense tire spin and keep cars from smoking the tires or prevent tire shake, I mean, your Ford Flex has got it, so why can’t our race cars? Well, cause it’s not legal. It does add some drama and excitement to the sport, but by the same token, it keeps there from being as many side by side races as there could be. I don’t claim to know what makes the best show and the best popularity and the most likelihood that our vocation will be as successful as it could be throughout the years and the Association believes it’s better that even the best cars don’t go down the track all the time to give the underdog a better chance of winning once in a great while. Maybe they’re right, I don’t know.

THAT WOULD SEEM TO HURT THE BEST FUNDED TEAMS LIKE YOURS.

You know, our team is certainly very well funded, but everyone is feeling the crunch of the economy so you gotta be careful you don’t waste any money and it probably wasn’t like that a few years ago. You know, a number of years ago Force used to have meetings will the crew chiefs to figure out how we could spend the money we have effectively to increase our chances of winning. Now, we have meetings about how we’re going to survive this economic crunch because all of the income we had in the past years is not there now. We’re still in pretty good shape and all our major sponsors are all strong and with us and things look pretty good, but there’s lots of little affiliates that added the gravy to the team’s finances that have fallen by the way side.

AFTER DRAG RACING FOR 25 YEARS, YOU STILL LOVE IT?

Yea! Yunno, Its’ what I do. I’m 63 years old now, I’m not likely to pick a new career! I’ve been running a race car, soley for a living since 1968. I ran my own team for 18-19 years before I tied up with John, so that’s what I do. I don’t know nothing else. I make a really good living and I’m glad it all worked out!

With the Direct Injection or other engine TQ technology, the injectors wouldn’t stand up to the 15k lbs of cylinder pressure (we measured it!) and the volume of fuel needed would be prohibited. Many cars run 100 gal/min fuel pumps. Just idling on the starting line, waiting to go, the typical fuel car uses 5.25 gal/min… better not let it idle too long or you’ll be out of gas!

A FEW YEARS AGO, JOHN FORCE RACING DOMINATED. WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, HAVE YOU GUYS SLIPPED A LITTLE OR HAS EVERYONE ELSE CAUGHT UP?

You know, the biggest method that caused us to win over all the years… if you look back in time we’d win 10-12-13 races per year just with John’s car alone, not to mention the team cars, but the way we did that is we’d create something that everyone else didn’t have that was an advantage to get down the track more consistently… or just plain be faster! And every year, NHRA has made rules against something… the Association really dislikes any one guy winning all the time. Essentially, they’re out to get’cha! And I don’t blame them. The idea is to levels the playing field. When you go to the races knowing Force is gonna win, you’re not as likely to draw as many spectators as you might if the fans are wondering if Force is gonna beat Capps. At any rate, they continue to make rules and now there’re so damned many rules, your hands are tied in almost every aspect.

And then, in the last couple years, we’ve spent the majority of our time focusing on keeping our drivers alive and healthy and even the rest of the sport whether they like it or not. Everything you do to a race car to make it safer makes it slower. If you’re the one initiating all of that, for a period of time you’re running all that safety equipment before it’s required and you’re determined to run it cause you don’t want to see another Eric Medlen or John Force incident, and so you do those things. And many of the racers out there are not as concerned, they just believe in destiny where I tend to believe you can control your own destiny. The Association has worked well with us and many of the safety things that have come along are being required, more every year, and it’s getting closer to being a level playing field.

But for instance, right now, our cars are 50 lbs heavier then legal weight. We have every titanium, magnesium, carbon fiber, light-weight component that money can buy! But because our cars have a number of safety features that everyone else is not yet required to have, they’re heavier. That’s a little disadvantage. That’s certainly not everything, the biggest thing is, as I said, innovation has been stymied by the rules so the only way you can be faster than everyone else is to be better at every-single-facet of the hundreds of points of running the car and that’s very hard. The way we played it in the past decade is we’d create something that everyone else didn’t have that actually mattered and put it to use and waltz through the field. All those days are gone now cause they actually have rules on everything where they didn’t 10 years ago. You used to have the freedom to create a lot new things.

WHAT HAVE THEY RECENTLY TAKEN AWAY?

It’s not that they’ve taken anything away, they just prevent new technology. Eventually, everything leaks out to where you will not have anything in drag racing that everyone doesn’t know about in a couple years. For example, we did development on supercharges a number of years ago where we improved them 10% over the winter. It’s all legal, to go further is easy but not legal! (he said with a smile) The pro-mod guys run blowers similar to ours but they were allowed to move ahead where we were forced to stop. For a year, no one knew what we had, but now everybody has it, if they want it, its out there you can buy it, that was the most recent development.

Going back 15 years ago, no one had any adjustable timing controls on their motors… you just set the timing when you started the motor and that’s how it’d run down the race track. Well, we developed a system with air cylinders that you could move the timing around. To have it and to learn how to use it was a real big thing. Within a couple years everyone had it and then it became electronic and got better and now the box that controls the timing is state of the art where you draw maps and put it in there and not only can you have it, everyone has to have it, it’s part of the required ignition system. Years ago when we all had like 5 amp magnetos. Well if you can figure out how to build a 10amp magneto, you’d have an advantage. Well, not any more, you must run a non-modified MSD ignition system of this part number period, if you’re not you’re cheating. They’re very good and in a way it’s kind of a nice thing, but MSD says, ‘boy, we could make one twice that powerful!’ NHRA says, ‘No you can’t we don’t want anything better.’

So it goes on and on and on to where the potential development is halted by the Association as it is in NASCAR. They have the brakes on virtually everything. Just ask any of’m… those Cars of Tomorrow ain’t any-wheres near as quick around the race track as they used to be, but they all gotta run’m, and you know what? When they crash, they don’t die. So it’s a good thing and we’re undergoing all that. But it’s not as conducive to having a situation where you can dominate the way it was 10 years ago.

DO YOU SEE DRAG RACING GOING TO A ‘CARS OF TOMORROW’ LIKE NASCAR?
I do see that. We’re undergoing constant development on building better, safer chassis with driver’s tubs and compartments. The cars we have here have tubs in them but they’re not a total driver’s capsule. The next iteration will probably be a total driver’s capsule to where even if the chassis were to break apart the driver would still be protected.
KIND OF LIKE A NITRO BOAT?
Something like that… but all that adds weight, weight adds the problem that you have to stop it at the other end, so there’s lots of problems with all that development. The cars we have right now, we believe, are 4-7 times safer then the car that John crashed at Dallas two years ago. We’re hoping that’s safe enough, but you never know. We’re doing all we can.

Special thanks to Elon Werner – JFR Public Relations – for the interview. Best of luck to all the John Force Racing Team for 2009!

Follow John Force Racing at www.twitter.com/jfr_racing

Ashley Force leads NHRA Funny Car Standings

Lead and some content for this story courtesy of Ford Media.

Without a doubt, John Force Racing is the team I’m routing for on Sundays. 3 of the 4 Force teams are in the Top 10 with Ashley Force at #1!

Ashley made history Sunday at the NHRA Funny Car race in Las Vegas, Nev when she drove her Castrol GTX Mustang to the final round and jumped up four spots in the standings to #1. She’s the first woman to ever lead the Funny Car standings after an event.

It was Ashley Force’s second appearance in an event final in as many weeks and the third appearance in her last six starts. She remains the only female driver ever to reach a Funny Car final.

I hope this made John Force feel a little better after failing to qualify for the Vegas race. I wonder if John’s thinking of gambling instead of racing. He ended his streak of qualifying at 393 in Vegas. That mark will never be broken. John, you’re still my man!

In case you didn’t know, Ashely’s ROLLING!

She was the 2007 AOL Hottest Female athelete (info here)

Ashley and the whole family were on the Tonight Show (LINK)

And yes, she’s got a Myspace Page (LINK)

Ashley and my relationship ends at me waving at her and playing with her Barbie Doll, but still, I’m pulling for her and I wish her all the best.

So check out her official site by clicking on the link below. Good luck Ashley and all of John Force Racing! (photos are copyright of Ford Media and AshleyForce.com)