This is a fair argument for textbook safety, but in reality of the dozen or so states I've raced, I've never once come across a track that requires LiPo bags and I might see maybe 1 / 100 of racers actually use a LiPo bag and at least 50% (or more) will charge their batteries in their cars. Of the LiPo fires I've personally witnessed (4 over the course of the past 12+ years), in every case it was caused by operator error with a racer attempting to over charge their LiPo in NiMh mode and forgetting to monitor the voltage and walked away. Most of the time these LiPo fires occurred with the LiPo mounted in the chassis and minimal damage occurred to each respective car. One guy was able to slap in a new battery and raced immediately the next round after his LiPo fire which only left burn marks on the chassis. Other guys were not as fortunate and had to replace a few parts ranging from melted battery trays, center diffs, etc..not a single LiPo fire created a total loss of the chassis of the fires I have witnessed in the pit room. Grabbing a car is a lot safer/easier than having to kick a burning battery out of the pit room, been there done that, ha!


At the end of the day it comes down to taking proper care of your batteries, ONLY use LiPo mode and monitor the IR of your cells after every charge to know when it's time to replace an aged battery and you will do fine.


I did see a guy remove siliconed battery a couple weeks back using a hobby knife and yes, he scratched the heck out of his chassis, but all the scratches were hidden after he re-mounted a fresh battery.


It's certainly not my preference, but I see this practice often enough to where I feel it's warranted to be shared as a viable option.