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Q.My roll cage contacts my car's body in several locations. Especially along the sill plate (pictured). Is there any issue with stitch welding the cage to the car in these locations or would it be in violation of 3.2.11, exceeding the 8 allowed mounting points? A.You may weld the roll cage tube to the body where it touches the car. Zero points. Verified by TECH 2024
Q.I am replacing the upper door bar on my roll cage, can I use 1 3/4" tubing if the rest of the cage is 1 1/2"?A.Yes you can upgrade the pipe size if you wish. Remember to notch it correctly for the different size issue. Verified by TECH 2024
Q.If a bolt-in roll cage has had all seams welded (i.e. not bolts used anywhere)pass tech, assuming all other requirements are met (i.e. tubing size and thickness/ design/ sufficiently sized spreader plates, etc)?I do not have a specific vehicle to assess, but it is a question I've been asked about older SCCA/NASA cars and whether they can be brought up to modern safety standards. A.I would prefer to approve modified bolt-in c...
Q.How many points is an additional roll cage tube? A. It is 1 point per 2 linear foot, rounded up. Changed 4-30-24 by TECH. Example:Measuring the tube if you have 6 feet of extra tubing outside the allowance, it will be 3 points added to your VPI total. If you have 6-feet, 5" of extra tubing, it will be 4 points. 6'-1" is 4 points, and 6'-11" is 4 points.Tube diameter does not matter. Verified by TECH 2024
3.2. ROLL CAGE DESIGN Figure A 3.2.1. The main hoop (behind the driver, labeled “1” in Figure A) must be the full width of the cockpit for all cars. It must be one continuous length of tubing with smooth bends and no evidence of crimping or tube wall failure. 3.2.1.1. A 3/16” inspection hole must be drilled in the main hoop so that a tech inspector can measure its wall thickness without obstruction. 3.2.1.2. On all closed cars, the main hoop must be as close as possible to the roof (in height) and “B” pillars (in width) 3.2.2. The halo hoop (labeled “9” in Figure A) may be constructed of either a U-shaped bar appropriately attached to the main hoop and two front vertical legs (labeled “2” in Figure A) OR front vertical bars bent rearwards at the roof line, connecting to the rear main hoop and cross-braced horizontally along the upper windscreen line. 3.2.3. To prevent cockpit intrusion,...
Q.I am building an 89 Corvette I plan to race in ChampCar Endurance Series. As I am designing the roll cage I can see that due to the configuration of the car I don't think I can do a traditional main hoop, since the floor comes up directly behind the driver seat. Question is can I attach the door bars to the floor behind the driver seat as shown in the attached picture? And if so is this the preferred method for a C4 Corvette...
Q.We had to patch a rust hole in the floor where the main roll cage hoop box will mount. Is this considered safety-related for the cage? Or accounted for material used?A.This is covered in BCCR 4.7.6 in the rules. (BCCR 2020v1) 4.7.6. Teams may replace any worn, broken, ventilated, impaled, defective, or bent-beyond-all- recognition parts on their car without affecting their total points so long as it’s an OEM or OEM- equivale...
Q.Looking to add tabs to connect my A-Pillar bars to my A-Pillar. I would like to make the tabs ~10" long. However 3.2.11.2 states tabs can be 6" max length with max 2 tabs in any 36" of tube. If this is the only tab in 36" of tube can I make it 12" long or do I need to make two separate 6" plates that are say 1/4" apart. Either way is fine, just want to make sure I'm not taking the rules outside the spirit of their design. A....
Q.Does an arrangement where two tube are added to the backstay bars such that there is one diagonal, and one horizontal tube between the attachment points of the backstays satisfy this rule? See attached pdf for visual representation.Does the horizontal tube have an additional points charge as a strut tower brace? If so, do you consider shock absorber mounts as equivalent to strut towers? A.Any horizontal bar, running between...
Q.Due to a recent statement made by one of the tech staff on the Champcar forum regarding window net mount locations, I would like to clarify what is and is not legal. We have run our window net mounted at the top, and then latched to the rollcage at the bottom for 3 seasons and passed tech with no problems each season. The below is the BCCR section regarding window nets. "3.5.1. All competition cars must have an SFI-approved...
Q.Can I have the soft top on the car over the roll cage? A.Yes, however, others have tried that on their convertible and did not make it through the weekend. You will still be required to either wear arm restraints or have a roof net to insure your hands and arm stay in the car if you have an accidentVerified 7-9-24 by Tech
Q.Looking to make sure I've interpreted the rules correctly. I've built my seat mount like several I've seen in ChampCar. It currently connects to the floor pan in 4 locations along the factory seat mounting surfaces (green arrows) and I would like to weld it to the remaining 2 factory seat mounting surfaces (red arrows). I wanted to make sure this wasn't considered too many seat sub-frame mounting locations as it's not really...
Q.Are welds that have been sanded to blend in with some of the cage profile are considered acceptable? Something like in the attached images. A.1. Grinding cannot result in a reduction in the diameter of the tube of more than .050". That would be 25% of the wall thickness (.095 * 2 = .200, .050 would be 1/4). This means the tube better be 1.70" or greater for a 1.75" cage. 2. Grinding marks need to be dressed down with highe...
Q.We plan on fabricating a drop pan under the driver's seat to allow our tallest driver (6ft 3in) to get his head safely under the roll cage.Will we take on material points for this or is it considered a safety issue? A.No, we do not charge for seat mounting materials or metal around the seat. This is considered driver comfort. Verified by TECH 2024
Q:Is there a different wall thickness requirement for cages with 1-5/8" O.D. tubing compared to the existing 1.5"/1.75" tubing requirements? We have a car over 2500 pounds and a 1-5/8" cage; what thickness do we need?A:With 1 5/8" tube cage, it has to be .095" minimum thicknesses if vehicle is under 2500 lbs. If over 2500 lbs it must be .120" minimum thickness. Updated 5-7-2024 by TECH. Verified by TECH 2024
APPENDIX 4 – ROLL CAGE BASICS Please visit https://champcar.org/web/rules.php#cage for a 3D interactive view of the cage. All views are for left-hand drive vehicles. Reverse for right-hand drive vehicles. Please visit https://champcar.org/tech to ask questions about safety equipment and cages. Basic “NASCAR” Style Door Bar Roll Cage Contact Roll Cage Components for cage supplies or full cage builds. https://rollcagecomponents.com/champcarendurance-roll-cage-kit Basic “X-Bar” Style Door Bar Roll Cage Tech Tip: After the cage has cooled, take an inspection mirror, a small flashlight, and your finger and inspect all welds. Visually look for missing welds, and run your fingers across the welds to find missing fill.
Q:We’re converting a race car for Champ car duty. The kill switch is located on the passenger side of the roll cage. Can we leave the switch there as long as there is a pull cable a belted in driver can reach?A:This is covered in section 3.14 of the rules. The master kill switch needs to be located in the center of the dash console area. You can mount another switch in series there. We want all our cars to be alike so emergenc...
Q.Hi. Looking at a Mini Cooper this weekend that appears to have a somewhat unusual rear stay mounting for the main hoop. They tie into inner rear wheel wells just above the floor with a cross tube. Is this acceptable? The x-brace also connects from the end of the rear stays to the middle of the main hoop. From photos I received from the owner, the front section of the cage, door bars on each side and dash bar seem normal and...
Q.So in order to run the Front anti-roll bar with a <engine swap>, You are required to space the sway bar down and forward. The <engine swap> kit includes some brackets, as well as hardware and aluminum blocks that stiffen the mount. Would we be allowed to run these at no additional point cost? I also take the 20 points for an aftermarket front sway bar, if they are not considered part of the necessary swap hardware, could the...
3.1. ROLL-CAGES AND SUPPORTING STRUCTURE 3.1.1. A quality, well-fabricated, full roll cage is required. Roll cages may be weld-in or bolt-in. Roll cage tubing joints may be welded or bolted, provided bolt-in methods meet conventional safety standards. Roll-cage design and construction must maintain typical SCCA/NASA standards.
Q.2020 requires "bash-bars" to be added if the car no longer has the OE bumper structure. When these are fabricated: - Is there a minimum size/wall thickness required?- Are bash-bars counted for points?- If yes, then how are points calculated? A.2020 rules require the factory bumper reinforcement bar or a roll bar minimum .095 thickness or comparable beam be used across and connecting frame horns on both the front and rear of...
Q. Is it okay if the dash bar has any bends in it? I would like to curve mine forward from the A-Pillars slightly such that the bar runs right along the cowl/firewall. Photos are looking somewhat down on what the bar would look like. The factory dash bar shown would be removed or modified to allow the cage dash bar to sit flush with the top of the cowl/firewall. A. The purpose of the dash bar is to support the A-pillar bars fr...
9.10. FUEL SYSTEMS 9.10.1. Zero Tolerance for Fuel Leaks. You will have only one chance to repair any fuel leak. If a ChampCar staff member detects a second instance of leakage, regardless of cause, your car will be removed from the race. No exceptions. 9.10.2. Total fuel capacity, including all fillers and overflows, shall not exceed the OEM-stated fuel capacity for the make/model plus two (2) gallons. This applies to cars equipped with OE fuel tanks and to cars with approved fuel cells. 9.10.2.1. ChampCar may verify total fuel capacity via the drain and fill method. The fuel tank is completely drained and then refilled with known amounts until fuel escapes the fill port. 9.10.2.2. ChampCar competition vehicles with less than 13 gallons of OEM fuel capacity can upgrade to 15 gallons of fuel capacity (via a fuel cell installation) 9.10.3. Surge tanks are limited to 2-liter (.53-gallon) c...
3.5. WINDOW NETS / ARM-RESTRAINTS 3.5.1. All competition cars must have an SFI-approved window net mounted to the cage of the car only. All window nets must be installed so that the front edge intersects the plane created by the steering wheel. (Figure F) When securely belted in place, the driver’s arm should not extend beyond the wrist out of any portion of the window. Cars with nets that have extensive openings, as defined solely by ChampCar officials, will NOT be allowed on track. Figure F 3.5.1.1. All window nets shall meet SFI or FIA specifications. The certification indicated by an SFI label or FIA label must be present, including a clear “Date of Manufacture” label or, in the case of FIA labels, “Date of Expiration.” SFI nets list a year of manufacture, and ChampCar will accept them until December 31st of the fourth year from the year of manufacture. FIA nets expire on December 31...
3.3. DRIVER’S SEAT 3.3.1. The back of all driver’s seats must extend in height to above the middle of the driver’s helmet or higher. 3.3.2. One or two-piece SFI or FIA-rated competition seats are recommended. OEM seats are NOT allowed. 3.3.3. All seats or seat sliders must be securely mounted to the floor or roll cage to avoid separation during a crash. All mounting hardware must be SAE Grade 8/Metric Class 10.9 or better and a minimum 2-inch diameter or larger steel plate or load washers are required when mounting to sheet metal. 3.3.4. All seatbacks must be permanently fixed, braced or otherwise restrained against forward and/or rearward failure. A one-piece, permanently mounted seat meets this requirement. 3.3.5. All non-SFI or non-FIA rated seats must be within 3” of the shoulder harness bar or the diagonal main-hoop bar in its furthest forward position. For seats that do not meet th...
5.2. TECHNICAL INSPECTION 5.2.1. ChampCar Digital Tech inspection forms should be completed using the ChampCar website prior to entering the tech line. 5.2.2. Technical Inspections shall be done annually, and upon approval, a car will be issued a ChampCar Annual Inspection decal for that calendar year. 5.2.2.1. Cars with a valid ChampCar Annual Inspection decal need NOT return for inspection UNLESS ANY OF THE FOLLOWING HAVE OCCURRED: 5.2.2.1.1. The inspection decal has expired. 5.2.2.1.2. The vehicle has undergone ANY major component exchange, swap, or replacement as a byproduct of an upgrade, repair, and/or modification. 5.2.2.1.3. The vehicle has realized the upgrade, exchange, replacement and/or modification of any safety item, including but not limited to kill switch, seat belts or harness, seat and/or installation, roll-cage or attachment mounts, fire extinguisher system, window or...
9.2. WINDSHIELDS 9.2.1. Cracked windshields will be carefully scrutinized. Cracks that are deemed a visual hazard to the driver or have the potential of losing their structural integrity upon impact by any object shall not pass Safety & Tech inspection, requiring removal prior to competition. 9.2.2. OE windshields may be removed. Stock replacement windshields or polycarbonate (Lexan) windshields of the stock dimensions are acceptable in the stock location. Plexiglas plastic is not acceptable. If your OE safety glass or a stock dimension polycarbonate windshield is not installed, you must have a complete hood with no holes or vents in place as your firewall. 9.2.2.1. All polycarbonate windscreens and/or windshields MUST have a nominal thickness of at least 3/16”. 9.2.2.2. All cars with polycarbonate front windshields or windscreens are required to have front safety straps installed on the...
9.3. SIDE & REAR WINDOWS 9.3.1. No covering of any type is allowed in place of the passenger’s side window. 9.3.2. ONLY clear, transparent polycarbonate is allowed in place of any rear side or hatch window opening without additional value-add, provided: 9.3.2.1. A factory-installed (OE) window was standard equipment for the year, make and model of car presented to Tech. 9.3.2.2. The window opening is located behind the driver’s seat or B-pillar (whichever is appropriate). 9.3.2.3. All material must maintain a nominal thickness of at least 1/8”. 9.3.2.4. All windows must be attached by screw, rivet, or bolt on a maximum 10” centerline around the perimeter of the window covering. 9.3.2.5. The window covering must be the same size as the OE window. 9.3.3. All polycarbonate rear windows or hatches are required to have at least two (2) 1” x 1/8” aluminum safety straps installed on the OUTSIDE...
9.4. NERF BARS OR EXOSKELETON 9.4.1. Added structural elements that extend beyond the outline of the original body line are not allowed. This includes additional structures holding lights or other components. 9.4.2. Roll-cage main hoops and halo bars may extend above the roof.
9.13. EXHAUST 9.13.1. A professionally installed, quality exhaust system WITH MUFFLER is required. 9.13.2. Exhaust systems must be designed, routed, and maintained to avoid the proximity of fuel tank(s) and/or fuel system components and/or driver compartments. 9.13.3. Exhaust system shall not terminate in front of the main roll-cage hoop. 9.13.4. Exhaust system must include at least two professional-quality flexible exhaust hangers behind the collector. All exhaust joints must be properly slip-jointed, properly bolted, or welded. 9.13.5. All teams must maintain their exhaust in good condition throughout the event.
9.18. CAMERA MOUNTS 9.18.1. The mounts for video / photographic cameras shall have a safe and secure design and be confined within the cockpit area of the vehicle (excludes rear view cameras). No cameras may be mounted outside of the driver’s area or cockpit. The camera's body (recording unit) shall be securely attached to the car's roll cage or interior bodywork. Helmet-mounted cameras are prohibited.
9.17. ENGINE FIREWALL 9.17.1. Openings or holes in the engine firewall under 2” diameter must be closed and sealed with a metal plate or OE-type grommets. Fireproof expanded foam fire block should be used around the roll bar through openings in any fuel areas or engine bay areas. Openings larger than 2” diameter must be closed and sealed with a metal plate that is bolted, welded, or riveted in place.
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