The current chassis design in FC has a series of slip joints along the upper frame rail that allows the chassis to arc up in the middle like the dragsters do during the run. Its this "flexing" that lds to chassis failure. Back in the late 80'* early 90'* when this chassis design startedcoming out they had problems with breaking the slip joints too, but it was infront of the engine then. they fixed the problem by increasing the wall thickness on the tubes.

The current problem is not a lackof tubes/ support, but the flex design itself, Same issue happens with the dragsters, but they will usually replace the rear/middle/front sections before it happens. on the Funny Car chassis, you would have to replace the whole chassis. That is why in my opinion, the upper slip joints need to be repalce by a solid tube, that doesnt let the car arc. They might nut run as fast on the big end without the arc, but it wpuld be a good trade off for safety.



ON ANOTHER NOTE,

Goodyear has got to start producing decent tires again!!!! Ever since the whole chilian tire deal went down, all the tires they produce for drag racing (even for the sportsman guys) have been terrible.
Maybe thy need to let the fuel guys run Hoosiers for once! The Sportsman alcohol cars have been running Hoosiers for years and have NEVER had a case of tire chunking. By it they only run 270-280mph. the WHEEL RPM is the same.

I hope he can get back into a car soon. That man lives to race. I was lucky enough to tour his "Complex" (an old Infinity dealership) in Yorba Linda, CA in Jan of 06 and everything about him is 1st class all the way. I was in a group of 30 car enthusiasts and even though he was leaving to start the season in 1 day and was busy prepping his "all new" fleet of rigs, he took the time to talk with our group and sign as many autographs we wanted. He also told us we couldn't leave until his complex manager gave us a walking tour of the complex, and showed us his collection room of cars and bodies from past years. Actually it is a glass enclosed roof-top parking lot. A great story on how it became enclosed was that the maintenance man received a call from John at 2a.m. saying that he was standing up on the roof and there were 40 mph winds. John told him that all of the funny car bodies were flopping arround and tugging on their chains. John asked, "What should I do?" His maint man replied simply, "GET OFF THE ROOF NOW!" The next day john ordered the roof to be enclosed. He is a real, honest, say what he means guy. A real life sports hero you and your kids can look up to.
Hurry back John, we wish you a speedy recovery.