The 2024 crash that John Force survived changed drag racing forever. Not only were changes made to Funny Cars to make them safer, but Tim Fabrisi of John Force Racing (JFR) also created a reusable Funny Car rescue training chassis designed to help train first responders.
The idea for the training rig came to Fabrisi after he witnessed the extraction process the NHRA Safety Safari used to free Force from his mangled race car. Fabrisi gained extensive rescue experience during his time serving in the Marines, so he believed the Safety Safari and other first responders would benefit from a rig that provided repeated hands-on rescue training.
A retired JFR Funny Car chassis was sourced and turned into a training fixture. The bars around the chassis were removed, and reusable bars were created that could be cut and replaced for multiple training sessions. This rig allows the Safety Safari to repeatedly train with its rescue tools and simulate what it’s like to remove a driver from a Funny Car after a crash.
Force’s crash also gave teams an opportunity to find ways to improve the padding around a driver’s head inside a Funny Car. Changes were also made to how the parachute system is mounted in a Funny Car so it can function even after a catastrophic failure.
You’ll want to check out this episode of Dragzine’s Tech Inspection, where Fabrisi goes into more detail about the reusable Funny Car rescue training rig and the safety changes that were made to Funny Cars following Force’s crash.
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