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We all know Rocket and Longhorn are clearly dominate in terms of wins and the number of chassis sold. Who comes in third in terms of new chassis sold in everyone's opinion?. A year or two ago I would have said Black Diamond, now I am thinking Capital? This third spot has been like a ping bong ball over the last 5 years depending on what teams seem to have the hot set up.
If i had to call it i would say it's real close between bwrc and black diamond with bwrc getting the edge currently
After thinking about it, MB Customs could very well be in the mix. I know they build a ton of Modifieds in the upper midwest, but it seems like they are cranking out a fair share of DLM chassis as well.
Is either MB Customs or BWRC.
Upper Midwest, WISSOTA country and in the NLRA series there are a whole bunch of MB Customs cars running. Sometimes about 2/3 of the field or more. A few notables in Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois have them plus K Rob in Indiana and then a few more here and there. It might surprise a few to see how many of those late models Jimmy and Chris have out there.
I don’t know about you but I want one of them Austin Fitzpatrick pieces of Art and Science. Is he selling these yet or will he be selling them?
I think after Rocket and Longhorn, it pretty much becomes a regional thing. BWRC in the SE although there are quite a bit of capitals too. MB in the Mid/Upper West. BD in the upper NE and so on.
It's kinda funny but also pretty sad that no one even mentioned Masterbilt, Warrior, GRT, Rayburn. I know that Rayburn is out of business and GRT might as well be as far as Late Models are concerned. But, I would have never thought that those builders who were pumping out hundreds of cars a year at one point and were pioneers and founding father's of our sport would not even be in contention for 3rd in a list of car builders. Crazy how things can change. And my 2 cents as far as 3rd on the list, I bet you'd be surprised if all of the builders released their sales numbers. I know Capital has grown their business considerably, but I'm sure Mastersbilt still produces their share of cars. And what about Warrior? Are those guys cranking out many new cars?
I'd say MB Customs if I were guessing.
Racing is a tough sport to stay at the top which is why Rocket's success is to be admired. The fact that Rayburn, GRT, Shaw, Warrior and others are no longer relevant, for the most part, is a testament to how tough the sport can be. Barry Wright and Mastersbuilt seem to be hanging in there. The same could be said on the engine side of the business. It looks like Cornett, Custom, Vic Hill and Jay D*ckens are making a resurgence on the national scene after taking a back seat to Durham and Clements for a few years. I guess that is what makes being a fan of DLM racing so much fun to follow and the manufacturers continue to find ways to survive.
Not to hijack the thread, but I wonder how many new chassis are sold a year? I’ve heard rocket is about 200, longhorn about 75, wonder what the rest combined would equate to
"Not to hijack the thread, but I wonder how many new chassis are sold a year? I’ve heard rocket is about 200, longhorn about 75, wonder what the rest combined would equate to"
As a fan I would love to know that information. Not necessarily the big two, but how many do the lesser manufacturers produce, i.e. Pierce, Lazer, Kryptonite, Stinger, Mastersbuilt, BWRC, Black Diamond, etc. They must build enough or they would not still be in business?
TrackStar and TNT can be added to that list. Anthony White used to make Dirty White Boy chassis but don’t know if he still does. I’d be curious how brand new rollers compare from each builder. I remember talking to some capital peeps at Rome speedway in 2017 I think and they said a brand new roller was $45k -$50k depending on a few options.