Are people leaving Rocket because they are not giving any "support" anymore?

[84wedge]

Both Chris Madden and Sheppard have mentioned getting support for their race program. I'm not really sure what that entails, set up advice, newer tech. After watching the trip to Longhorn on FLO, and seeing the much younger people working around there, maybe it's just that the boomers at Rocket are stuck in an old way of doing business? Someone also mentioned Cody being at Rocket wasn't exactly a net positive for them as a company.

[Pennsboro32]

Hey look. Another wedgie thread/post concerning rocket… who’s surprised??

[Josh Bayko]

Madden supposedly left because he was offended at not being offered the house car ride.

Sheppard left because he left the house car on not the best terms.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Both Chris Madden and Sheppard have mentioned getting support for their race program. I'm not really sure what that entails, set up advice, newer tech. After watching the trip to Longhorn on FLO, and seeing the much younger people working around there, maybe it's just that the boomers at Rocket are stuck in an old way of doing business? Someone also mentioned Cody being at Rocket wasn't exactly a net positive for them as a company.

Cody is gone, to my understanding. Longhorn is perceived as more advanced in technology. Some of it is monkey see, monkey do, as always. Some of it is probably valid. There's also the fact that one has KR and the other does not.

[SLlDlNG SIDEWAYS]

I'm thinking Mark pulled up real hard on his g-string, causing that wedgie?

[Drop Shock]

It’s pretty obvious the new Rocket stuff is not in the track as hard as the competition. Why else would Terbo, Bronson, and Madden all leave. Also Mike Marlar ran his for one weekend and sent it down the road

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Cars aren't always sent down the road because of performance. Marlar can win with anything.

[Henry Every]

I kinda hope more people leave both Rocket and Longhorn. I like seeing more chassis diversity and a broader technical base. I'm not sure Mark is really old enough to be a boomer, but I could be wrong on that. KR is a smart guy well educated guy, but he doesn't have the market cornered on that, I'm sure there are easily a 100 more KR's out there you've never heard of. Until the rules change or are at least enforced I only see a further concentration in chassis choice and a continued decline in overall growth of participants in the sport. JMO

[84wedge]

Erb leaving was a surprise, MB customs was a shocker.

[Josh Bayko]

Erb leaving was a surprise, MB customs was a shocker.

It wasn’t that shocking. He was hot garbage in the Longhorn he ran a few times earlier this year. He ran a MB Customs for somebody else a few weeks ago.

[84wedge]

There's not much left on the major tours beside Erb Jr., Gustin and the Boom Briggs cars. Why just a few years ago there wasn't a single LH following WoO.

[Pennsboro32]

Cody is gone, to my understanding. Longhorn is perceived as more advanced in technology. Some of it is monkey see, monkey do, as always. Some of it is probably valid. There's also the fact that one has KR and the other does not.

Cody was at Tyler county. I didn’t do in the pits but I saw him during heat race action and it looked like to me he was back helping the 10 car but I could be wrong.

[Bforwarned]

From a consistency standpoint Gustin is having a very good year considering his budget may be slightly less than the big-name teams.

[bleedblue55]

Cody was a consultant for Rocket. He is no longer associated with Rocket1. Caught him stealing money. Whatever he is doing now is on his own. Guy can make a car go fast but the amount of baggage that comes with it is usually not worth it.

[Barbecueboy]

Well dam, Cody if you read any of this nonsense seek help bro….We need you in the sport but not like this. True story.

[Barbecueboy]

And nobody’s judging btw….I know we all f up.

[kidrock]

Cody was a consultant for Rocket. He is no longer associated with Rocket1. Caught him stealing money. Whatever he is doing now is on his own. Guy can make a car go fast but the amount of baggage that comes with it is usually not worth it.

Why is it some people have it right in front of them but, for whatever reason they do dumb stuff to screw it up. He seems to be a talented induvial and hopefully he can get it together and do better.

[kidrock]

Cars aren't always sent down the road because of performance. Marlar can win with anything.

MBR brings common sense to the discussion.

[Highside Hustler25]

Why is it some people have it right in front of them but, for whatever reason they do dumb stuff to screw it up. He seems to be a talented induvial and hopefully he can get it together and do better.

That loser needs to be banned from the sport. He has stolen from so many teams.
Anyone hiring him gets what they deserve. If Richards lost money its his own fault for hiring him. Can't feel sorry for anyone that gives the 10 time loser a chance. Once a thief, always a thief.

[kidrock]

That loser needs to be banned from the sport. He has stolen from so many teams.
Anyone hiring him gets what they deserve. If Richards lost money its his own fault for hiring him. Can't feel sorry for anyone that gives the 10 time loser a chance. Once a thief, always a thief.

Good point. I didn't realize he was a habitual thief and yes you're right once a thief always a thief.

[Barbecueboy]

Hopefully he gets the help he needs, dude is a whiz at making stuff go fast……..until he starts whizzing on the people he works for.

Sad situation and at some point if this continues the consequences for him will be much worse than just getting fired from a job or hauled off to jail…..I’m not a fan really, but clearly this kid has demons that need addressed and it sux in general to see people kicking themselves in the nuts over and over.
Somebody somewhere going to TUNE him up for grabbing the wrong cookie is what’s going to happen.

[SLIDING SIDEWAYS]

☝️☝️☝️ agree 💯 on this!

[Spanky44]

I worked with him for one day at a race. His attitude was something else towards people. Very bossy and you do it his way. No wonder why he only lasted working for my friend for 4 months. Ran off his entire crew.

[SLIDING SIDEWAYS]

Everyone thinks there going to change him. He may be a winner for putting cars in victory lane but he always ends up being a LOSER! So many have given him a chance and it's always same result!

[84wedge]

He's a good example of talent gets you nowhere. You need the social skills relevent to the industry as well.

[james777777]

What does the house car have that no one else is able to figure out?

[Josh Bayko]

What does the house car have that no one else is able to figure out?

Full time help and thousands of laps of testing, mostly.

[Barbecueboy]

Personally Rocket and Mark aren’t exactly on my Christmas card list even though the business empire he’s built and the hard work he and his team have used to build it are overly impressive and deserve every bit of credit they get and then some……however my personal feelings on Hudson are just wow, I mean how do you not love that guy? He’s as real as they get, speaks from his heart and has to be the Apple of his proud fathers and families eye in the way he races and handles himself as a young adult.

If my favorites in the Horns get beat, zero problem with it being by him/them…Well done last night.

[One Man Gang]

Cody was a consultant for Rocket. He is no longer associated with Rocket1. Caught him stealing money. Whatever he is doing now is on his own. Guy can make a car go fast but the amount of baggage that comes with it is usually not worth it.
Story down south being told is he was trying to fight employees in the Rocket shop and the money deal was that he was giving out tech support & info and pocketing the money hisself instead of putting it in the business account where it was suppose to be put. bb55 or somebody with more knowledge of the situation than me might can clarify if this is correct or not.

[Snake X3]

@BBQ - I agree with you 100%. That's exactly how I feel about Rocket and Hud. Every time I see the Rocket 1 out there, I have to remind myself it's Hud behind the wheel. I like B-Shep, but it was harder to get over my dislike for Richards while he was with the team.

All that said, even if I don't like the Rocket 1 team, I do respect what they've accomplished over the years and it's a lot easier not to hate them when they're now the underdog.

I think it's very important for the sport to have more than one top chassis brand, so until Team Zero or someone else steps up, I hope Rocket hangs in there so Longhorn has someone to beat up on. :D

[Barbecueboy]

Story down south being told is he was trying to fight employees in the Rocket shop and the money deal was that he was giving out tech support & info and pocketing the money hisself instead of putting it in the business account where it was suppose to be put. bb55 or somebody with more knowledge of the situation than me might can clarify if this is correct or not.

Cody fighting someone at rocket, lol……I can’t picture a scenario where that would be a good move for him. Unless Rocket now hires 12 year girls to fab.

[Barbecueboy]

@BBQ - I agree with you 100%. That's exactly how I feel about Rocket and Hud. Every time I see the Rocket 1 out there, I have to remind myself it's Hud behind the wheel. I like B-Shep, but it was harder to get over my dislike for Richards while he was with the team.

All that said, even if I don't like the Rocket 1 team, I do respect what they've accomplished over the years and it's a lot easier not to hate them when they're now the underdog.

I think it's very important for the sport to have more than one top chassis brand, so until Team Zero or someone else steps up, I hope Rocket hangs in there so Longhorn has someone to beat up on. :D
We have to be related somehow🤘😂🤘😂🤘😂.

[KTMLew]

Story down south being told is he was trying to fight employees in the Rocket shop and the money deal was that he was giving out tech support & info and pocketing the money himself instead of putting it in the business account where it was supposed to be. bb55 or somebody with more knowledge of the situation than me might can clarify if this is correct or not.

This place is the TMZ of Motorsports. Let's never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Some of this boards members are just...well? Lots of opinions about people they don't actually know. Nut-huggers gonna nut-hug though I guess.

I have NO opinion about any of these people. Spoke to Mark maybe half-dozen times over 10-15 years and that was 30ish years ago. Mark is a do'er and not big on talking from my experience. Only thing I remember. Have no experience with any of the others so wouldn't feel comfortable expressing an opinion.

Something something about if you have nothing good to say...but YMMV.

[Raceready]

This place is the TMZ of Motorsports. Let's never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Some of this boards members are just...well? Lots of opinions about people they don't actually know. Nut-huggers gonna nut-hug though I guess. I have NO opinion about any of these people. Spoke to Mark maybe half-dozen times over 10-15 years and that was 30ish years ago. Mark is a do'er and not big on talking from my experience. Only thing I remember. Have no experience with any of the others so wouldn't feel comfortable expressing an opinion. Something something about if you have nothing good to say...but YMMV.What is this TMZ thing that you write of ?

[Snake X3]

We have to be related somehow落落落.

LOL maybe I'm just your sock account. I consider that a compliment. Thanks!

[TBSprintFan]

We have to be related somehow落落落.

Totally agree with both of your posts, Hudson is not afraid of showing his true emotions, it takes a big man to show some tears, for example Deer Creek's Gopher 50 this year. And we definitely need more than 1 chassis manufacturer winning all the races.

[Tireguy17]

So new thought on Rocket vs Longhorn.
Forever basically, Rocket has been able to build car after car while competing against their customers with the Blue 1. Along comes Longhorn and reinvents how to do business, names 1 of their customers the house car, but allows their tech support (whoever that person is), to help their customers more fairly. You know Mark isn't sharing everything with Rocket cars he's racing against. That system might be the main reason for the chassis downward spiral.

Longhorn is racing against their customers, but not to the level that Rocket is cuz the company is fully funding the blue 1

[Flathead]

At the end of the day. 95 percent of the chassis jumpers in this sport accomplish nothing by doing so. They will still finish around the same position where they were in brand X or brand Z because that’s where their talent level is. If rockets customer support is running off customers would a guy with a longhorn not be disappointed because his car isn’t as good as the 32 or the 20rt? I’m going to say those 2 camps aren’t sharing information with Einstein Rumley and I’m going to say if the average guy buys a six month old used longhorn they probably don’t give him anything remotely close setup wise to what the heavy hitters are running. That’s just the way the chassis world works.

[Snake X3]

@Flathead - I pretty much agree with you. The one big exception is Jason Feger. You ask him and his new found competitiveness started last year because he switched to Longhorn. But hey, that happens.

The guys with the best equipment, crew and driver combo win. Right now, most of them seem to be in a Longhorn.

The chassis wars are fun. Horns up! \m/

[Snake X3]

So new thought on Rocket vs Longhorn.
Forever basically, Rocket has been able to build car after car while competing against their customers with the Blue 1. Along comes Longhorn and reinvents how to do business, names 1 of their customers the house car, but allows their tech support (whoever that person is), to help their customers more fairly. You know Mark isn't sharing everything with Rocket cars he's racing against. That system might be the main reason for the chassis downward spiral.

Longhorn is racing against their customers, but not to the level that Rocket is cuz the company is fully funding the blue 1

Since I don't race, I couldn't say. There certainly could be something to that. I remember an interview with Rumley near the start of the season and he kept saying, "Overton, Davenport, McCreadie" as if they were the main team. Even before the House Car announcement, B-Shep was crediting Rumley for helping him out.

I do like your theory. It could be right. If you are talking about the top drivers, if the guys switching to Longhorn weren't winning, I don't think others would be following suit. If you dominate at Eldora and win Lucas titles, people are going to notice.

I think the worst thing Rocket 1 could have done is try to go head to head with Longhorn on the Lucas tour. When Sheppy had to race the best drivers/cars every week it wasn't any shock they weren't going to win 30 tour races a season. DoD couldn't hide behind the weak competition with their 5hitty polls and say WoO was just as good and Rocket 1 was the greatest. I think that played a big part in people jumping to Longhorn. It's not that Rocket 1 wasn't still winning races, it's that they weren't dominating against top competition on Lucas and Eldora. The truth was out.

[dirtcrazy4u]

So, if shep and Rumley are as formidable the team as Rumley and JD were. They didn't share squat. The Rumley device was on 1 car and 1 car only. I read about all this sharing of info. You keep thinking that, How much did Madden share ? wait let me tell you, nothing. Anyone see BP team last night. As soon as that car pulled out of tech they were hanging the curtain over the back of the car. Sharing, sure you keep believing that. Walk up and down the pits, every car today backs in, curtains across the back, billboards stuffed in wheel openings so you can't see anything. But there sharing, laughable at the highest level.

[kidrock]

They share advice just not everything. When a team finds something that gives them a tenth or two over the competition they're not going to share that but, if another team is way off they will help them where they can to get them better. They need their chassis winning races other than just the house car to sell more cars

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

They share advice just not everything. When a team finds something that gives them a tenth or two over the competition they're not going to share that but, if another team is way off they will help them where they can to get them better. They need their chassis winning races other than just the house car to sell more cars

100%. That's the best you can hope for, it you are trying to buy speed.

On the other side of the coin, if you are trying to help someone, they are almost always doing a "setup by committee"to some degree. They ask 3 people and throw some of what everyone says at it. Meanwhile, none of those 3 people help as much as they could, because there's stuff going on they don't know about.

[Andrews42FAN]

Since the beginning of manufactured chassis drivers have been like moths to a bright light... Rocket dominant for years with others coming and going - CJ, Bullet, GRT, Longhorn, etc. have taken their turn at the top of the food chain with teams playing monkey see monkey do. Its cyclical but at the end of the cycle Rocket always seems to rise back to the top.

[EvelB7]

Success with the house car can drive as many away as it brings in. Best case scenario is just what Longhorn has going on, customers are winning! I drive by Longhorn at least once a week and continue to see team haulers that once carried Rockets picking up a new horn. In my opinion, Rocket 1 success has led teams to feel that they do not have access to the same equipment which forces them to look for greener pastures....Longhorn teams are running right with (or currently better than) the house car...

[Raceready]

Success with the house car can drive as many away as it brings in. Best case scenario is just what Longhorn has going on, customers are winning! I drive by Longhorn at least once a week and continue to see team haulers that once carried Rockets picking up a new horn. In my opinion, Rocket 1 success has led teams to feel that they do not have access to the same equipment which forces them to look for greener pastures....Longhorn teams are running right with (or currently better than) the house car...Great insight with your observations ! !