The gains that we made back on the first bodies that we were deeply involved in developing after the (NHRA) rules committee decided that all (Funny) cars could have the same length green house (driver cockpit), were huge leaps. We changed from having a car that had maximum down force of 3900 lbs to the next body having a maximum down force of 5600 lbs. We're talking some major stuff, but now the changes we make from one to the next is. . .well, if we pick up a couple hundred pounds of down force and maintain the same drag. Well, that's a nice thing to know that you've got, but it's not like when you switch (bodies) back and forth at the race track that you can tell any real difference but you know it's there.
All of the (car) companies now have aero people and tunnels and CFD experts. Each time you build a body you go around and document what everyone else has done. I'm pretty confident that our cars are pretty good. I've spent days in the model (wind) tunnel and the regular (wind) tunnel and we've got an aerodynamic expert -- he's actually a manager at Lockheed (Aircraft) -- that runs CFD on all this stuff. You know, the more you can increase the airflow around the greenhouse to the spoiler the better you think it's going to be, but it ain't always.
What is the length of your contract with Force?
AC: Well, he tells me it's for life.
So you don't have to sign a new one every couple years?
AC: I imagine we'll be forced into doing something like that at one time or another, but it's kind of a renewing thing.
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Okay, here are the final questions of the interview. Beer or wine?
AC: Wine.
So were you responsible for selecting the champagne that they handed out at the Ashley Force announcement?
AC: No, hell no, and I wasn't responsible for the rot gut they served at the Christmas party either. I took one sip of the wine they had at the party and said, Oh, I have to go find a plant to dump this in. All the crew chiefs exchange little Christmas presents and it's become more a wine exchange. I brought five bottles down and took five bottles home.
In music, Frank Sinatra or Frank Zappa?
AC: I personally don't give a sh*t for either one of them. I'm more of a Scorpions, Pink Floyd and Shooting Star kind of guy.
Boxers or briefs?
