Omni Question.

[Marlin]

A friend of mine ran an '89 Dodge Omni in a Demolition Derby last night at the NJ State Fair. The car did suprisingly well, coming in forth as the 3rd place winner (a Plymouth Reliant) slammed into it and got stuck to it's rear end...little car couldn't pull itself free. Anyhow, here's my question. The common problem I and my friends noticed, is that when the Omni's are struck behind, the sheet metal below the rear bumper and part of the rear fender will curve inward (no duh) and into the tires, locking them. The 2.2 still pulled it around and into other cars, but with the tires locked it took some steam away from it. From what I saw Omni's are a common choice in the Derby for their compact-competition, and I'm sure it could have won if not for A) getting stuck to the damned Reliant and B) that problem with the rear tires. Anybody have ideas/suggestions to solve this problem? I'd like to run an Omni next year, especially if I can fix this problem.

Thanks
Sam

[GUAM SS/T]

Hey, I helped crew a few demo cars in my time and the only thing you can do is to bend or crease the metal so it is starting to bend outward before the derby. Any metal that could rub should be pounded on a little to make it go where you want it to. Also, on the hood if you are allowed to chain it shut, run the chain so it forms an X in front of the grill. Any hits from head on will pull the metal together and make it stronger than if it pushed it straight back.

For the James Bond type, place a pesticide sprayer between the seats and run copper tubing to the radiator. Drill tiny holes in the tubing over the radiator. Fill the jug with icewater before you race and give the radiator a shot of cold water when it starts to overheat. I doubt this is legal in most places but my dad got through tech with it atleast once and....... it really really works!!