***SCORE ROLL CAGE RULES UPDATE***

SCORE has taken several years to compile information using the input from our current Builders, outside resources, professional engineers, and SCORE Racers. These new rules are in line with the majority of race vehicles now competing in SCORE International events. It is not SCORE's intent to eliminate anyone from racing but just the opposite. It is our goal to continually uphold the highest standards of safety possible for our customers. Changes are always met with resistance; however, without them, progress will never happen. Please keep the big picture in mind--safety!

Important Technical Update June 17, 2005:

The following rules will take effect January 1, 2006. This will not affect current vehicles built to the current SCORE Rule Book. Please read section following new rules to see how this may or may not affect your vehicle. If a vehicle fails to make the June 2006 deadline it may be considered legal if it was built using the minimum tube sizes (no variance for materials) as stated in the current rulebook. All vehicles not using a stock steel body will be considered open cockpit.

As of January 1, 2006 replace rules in the SCORE International 2003-2006 Off-Road racing Rules and Regulations page number 29 (Vehicle Safety Equipment) through page 32.

VEHICLE SAFETY EQUIPMENT

CR33 ROLL CAGES

All vehicles in competition except Motorcycles and ATV’s must be equipped with a roll cage. Minimum design and tubing size based on seamless 4130 chromoly tubing or ASTM 1018/1026 CDS/DOM. No aluminum or other non-ferrous material permitted.

Material

Material for roll cage construction must be 4130 chromoly tubing or ASTM 1018/1026 CDS/DOM. All welding must be of the highest quality with full penetration and no undercutting of the parent metal. All welds shall conform to the American Welding Society D1.1, Structural Welding Code, Chapter 10, Tubular Structures and Standards for the material used (see AWS. Org). It is strongly recommended that the welder inspect all welds using Magnaflux™, die-penitent, or other effective methods.

All tubes must be welded 360-degrees around the circumference of the tube. No oxy-acetylene brazing or welding allowed. Good external appearance of a weld does not necessarily guarantee its quality, poor looking welds are never a sign of good workmanship.

None of the tubing may show any signs of crimping or wall failure. All bends must be mandrel type. The center radius of the bends may not be less than three (3) times the outside diameter of the roll cage tubing.

It must be emphasized that the use of heat-treated or high carbon steels may cause problems and that bad fabrication may result in a decrease in strength (caused by brittle heat-affected zones), inadequate ductility and internal stress.

Roll Cage Tubing Sizes

For the purposes of determining roll bar tubing sizes, vehicle weight is as raced, but without fuel and driver. Note: There is an allowance of minus 0.010 inches on all tubing thicknesses. Minimum tubing size for the roll cage is:

Up to 2000 lbs. 1.500” x 0.095” CDN/4130/Seamless or ASTM 1018/1026 CDS/DOM

2001 - 2500 lbs. 1.500” x 0.120” CDN/4130/Seamless or ASTM 1018/1026 CDS/DOM

2501 - 3000 lbs. 1.750” x 0.095” CDN/4130/Seamless or ASTM 1018/1026 CDS/DOM

3001 - 4000 lbs. 1.750” x .120” CDN/4130/Seamless or ASTM 1018/1026 CDS/DOM

Over 4000 lbs. 2.000” x 0.120” CDN/4130/Seamless or ASTM 1018/1026 CDS/DOM

Construction Procedures

Cages must be securely mounted to the frame or body and gussetted and braced at all points of intersection. Cab or body mounted cages must not be attached to the body structure by direct welding, but must be bolted through and attached by the use of doubler plates (one on either side) with a minimum thickness of .187”, see Figure 4. Where bolt and nuts are used the bolts shall be at least .375” diameter SAE Grade 8 or equivalent.

Roll cage terminal ends must be located to a frame or body structure that will support maximum impact and not shear. Minimum material dimension requirements for roll cages apply to the following members of the roll cage:

(1) Front and rear hoop
(2) Front and rear interconnecting bars
(3) Rear down braces
(4) Lateral bracing
(5) Elbow and door bars
(6) Lower A-pillar tubes, and lower B-pillar tubes

Roll Cage Design

All roll cages must be constructed with at least one (1) front hoop (top of cage to floor), one (1) rear hoop(top of cage to floor), two (2) interconnecting top bars, two (2) rear down braces and one (1) diagonal brace and necessary gussets, see Figure 1. If front and/or rear hoop terminate at elbow/door bar, lower A-pillar and/or B-pillar must be made of same tubing size as roll cage. Centerlines of all required tubes must converge at intersections.

Any vehicle that is not provided with stock steel doors for its driver and co-driver must be equipped with sidebars, at least one on each side that will protect the occupants from the side. These bars must be parallel to the ground (or as close to parallel as is practical) and be located vertically in relation to the occupants to provide maximum protection without causing undue difficulty in entering or exiting the vehicle. The sidebars must be formed of tubing of the same material and dimensions as the roll cage itself and must be securely attached to the cage’s front and rear members. Additional side tubes may be required to limit cockpit intrusion, these additional tubes must be of the same size tubing as the roll cage. Tubes must be placed in such a manner as to limit openings adjacent to the occupants. Maximum opening size in this area is limited to 370 square inches.

All roll cage bars must be at least 3” in any direction from the driver and co-driver’s helmets while they are in their normal driving positions. Gussets must be installed at all main intersections on the main cage including diagonal and rear down braces, and where single weld fractures can affect driver’s safety. Gussets may be constructed of .125” X 3” X 3” flat plate, split, formed and welded corner tubing, or tubing gussets the same thickness as the main cage material, see Figure 2 and Figure 3. Rear down braces and diagonal braces must angle no less than 30 degrees from vertical.

An inspection hole of at least .187” diameter must be drilled in a non-critical area of the roll bar hoop to facilitate verification of wall thickness. It is the prerogative of SCORE to drill a second hole if deemed necessary.

Any cage or chassis that has been built after January 1, 2006 must be identified by means of an identification plate affixed to it by the manufacturer; this identification plate must be neither copied nor moved (i.e. embedded, engraved or self destroying sticker). The identification plate must bear the name of the manufacturer, a serial number, and the date of manufacturer.

Head/neck restraints designed to prevent whiplash are required on all vehicles. These restraints must be a headrest of approximately 36 square inches, with a resilient padding at least 2” thick. Any portion of the roll bar or bracing which might come in contact with the helmet must be padded.

Roll Cage and Vehicle annual inspection

All vehicles must have their cages approved prior to racing in a SCORE event. The inspection will be preformed at the SCORE Technical office. After passing inspection and paying Inspection fees all vehicles will receive a SCORE I.D. tag, that is to remain with the vehicle at all times. If tag is removed or lost vehicle must be re-inspected and retagged. Any modification to an approved cage may render its approval invalid, and may need to be re-approved. All repairs to a roll cage damaged after an accident must be re-approved by SCORE International.

All vehicles built before January 1, 2006 may be required to have an inspection every six months.

NOTE:

All vehicles, new or old will be required to have a “Mandatory” Annual Inspection if they are to be raced at any SCORE INTERNATIONAL event.

All inspections will be by appointment only. It will be the vehicle owner / crew chief’s responsibility to make that appointment. SCORE INTERNATIONAL will not be making the appointment for any participant.

All participants will have 12 months to have there inspection completed starting June, 2005 thru June, 2006. It is at the encouragement of the SCORE TECH office that you don’t wait until the last minute to schedule your appointment. If you wait until the last minute and there are no appointments available it will not be the SCORE TECH office’s responsibility to accommodate you.

You will not be permitted to race a vehicle built prior to Jan 2006 after June 2006 if you fail to have your vehicles Mandatory Annual Inspection completed. The date that you have for your initial Mandatory Annual Inspection will be your anniversary date for the follow year’s Mandatory Annual Inspection and every year that follows, for as long as you continue to race.

You must present your vehicle built prior to Jan. 2006 for Mandatory Annual Inspection each and every year to retain the option to race it. It must be in the SCORE TECH offices database by June 2006, that is the deadline. If you fail to have your Mandatory Annual Inspection performed on your vehicle built prior to Jan 2006 every year, it will be removed from the system. Any vehicle that is not in the database by June 2006 will be required to comply with the Jan 2006 roll cage rule specifications.

At your initial Mandatory Annual Inspection all cars will receive a none removable, none transferable tag, and as stated before, be logged into a vehicle inspection database so that in the future we can keep track of the race-to-race tech inspection for each car.

SCORE is looking for other locations that this inspection can take place to help make it easier for you to have it done. We will announce these locations as they become available. SCORE is also planning on performing these inspections in Mexico so as to make it easier for builders across the border.

One thing some people seam to be stumbling over is this. If you have a current racecar and it is built to the old rules, there is no need to think that you have to rebuild your car to make it fit the new rules. You can run your old car as is as long as it has been inspected and tagged. The inspection is not to see that you have made your car fit the new rules. It is to see that your car is still safe to run as you have it. If it is a car that was built prior to June 2006 no one will tell you that a tube needs to be bigger. They might tell you to add a gusset or a patch where there is evidence of excessive cracking. The new rule is for new cars not old ones. The inspection rule is for all cars, no exceptions.