John Force has some BIG ones!!

[HisPony]

http://www.nhra.com/index.asp

John Force Racing has tentative plans to compete at The Strip in Las Vegas

John Force Racing will return to action at this weekend's eighth annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals, team patriarch and 14-time NHRA champion John Force announced during a nationwide press conference Tuesday afternoon. The team sat out the last national event in Houston following the death of team driver Eric Medlen on March 19, who died as a result of closed head injuries suffered during a test session at Gainesville Raceway in Florida. Experts have determined that Medlen's death occurred due to a violent side-to-side shaking of his head within the cockpit roll cage.

All four race teams will go to Vegas but only three will compete. In an unprecedented move, NHRA is allowing JFR to test at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the site of this weekend's race, to see if John Force Racing's reconfigured racecars are drivable. Under the watchful eye of NHRA officials, no tuning data will be gathered during the test, where Force will intentionally drive his car into tire shake to see if newly installed padding around the driver's head will help. Force is not fully committed to racing any of his cars, including the Super Comp dragsters of daughters Brittany and Courtney, pending the results of the test session. The press conference concluded at 3:30 p.m. EDT and a complete transcript will be posted shortly.

[HisPony]

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/column...rry&id=2832353

John Force said Tuesday that his team will return to NHRA competition this weekend at Las Vegas, but first will test new safety devices Wednesday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on all the John Force Racing Funny Cars.

Eric Medlen, who drove for JFR's four-car team, died from severe head injuries suffered after a testing session accident last month.

Force decided his team, including daughter Ashley Force and son-in-law Robert Hight, would not compete in the O'Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park March 29 to April 1. It was the first time Force, a 14-time NHRA champion, had not raced in an NHRA event in 20 years.

"We just needed time to get through this and get our ducks in a row," Force said. "For the first time in my career, the championship isn't my top priority. Safety is my top priority now. I have to make these cars as safe as possible and see if we can drive them with the changes we've made."

JFR officials determined that a severe vibration in Medlen's car, after a blown tire, caused Medlen's brain injuries from his head rapidly moving side to side. Goodyear officials said Tuesday the tire was punctured, but they do not know what caused the puncture.

JFR has added additional padding around the driver's cage, along with changes to the placement of the seven-point seat-belt harness.

"I have to determine we can see with all the padding we've added," Force said. "I want to make sure these kids are safe. And [Funny Car driver] Kenny Bernstein also is using the changes we've made, so I need to tell him how it works."

The NHRA is waving its rules about no testing seven days prior to an event so JFR can determine if the safety changes work.

"This is unprecedented, but under the circumstances, we felt it was the right thing to do," said Graham Light, the NHRA's senior vice president of racing. "They are not collecting any [racing] data. John isn't testing the performance of the cars."

Assuming all goes well, JFR will be back for the Summitracing.com Nationals that start Friday.

Ashley Force, a 24-year-old rookie this year in Funny Car competition, spent last week out of the country with her mother, Laurie Force.

"I had to decide if I love racing enough not to be scared when I get in the car," she said. "I thought a lot about it and I realized how much I love this. If I quit, my life would mean nothing. I want to get back in that car. This is my family."

Ashley had to stop briefly while she got control of her emotions.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I've trained for six years to race these cars with my dad and Eric. I can't walk away from it. Eric would be so upset that we wasted one moment not on the track."

John Force said Ashley and Hight were aggravated with his decision for not racing at Houston. Hight was leading the points standings before that event.

"I'm not aggravated with my dad," Ashley said. "He's overprotective and I understand that. This isn't a situation any of us ever have been in, but we have to go on."

John Medlen, Eric's father who also was his crew chief, is heading up JFR's safety research.

"We have a very strong religious background and try to find the peace to get though this one day at a time," John Medlen said. "But Eric would want us to race. He loved driving that race car. All he would say to me now is, 'Go race, Dad, but make the cars safe as you can.' ''

Medlen's car will not race this weekend, but Force didn't know for sure if they would race it again this season.

[HisPony]

Very long but interesting read!

http://www.nhra.com/content/news/19614.htm

Definately learned something about the difference between the R3 and the HANS Devices!!

R3 Neck Restraint:

http://www.apexperformance.net/cartg...t.asp?scat=342

HANS Device:

http://www.ltbmotorsports.com/hansdevices.html