Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Wow, what an awesome looking car.....Hope to see it in OH this summer.

What is the story on the Mach 1 chassis, who makes it, where's it distributed, etc.?

Google search is a crazy thing... LOL

mach1chassis.com

Get your story 1sthand.

You would be correct. Mark used to weld for JEI before he went on to make the Mach1.

Thanks Guy in TX

thought I'd done the google thing and didn't see it, probably didn't spell it correctly (haha) or didn't see it in my 10 second scan of the results. Good Luck to Mark Smith in 2010.

Lots of guys trying their own thing for chassis these days, glad to see some sense of inovation or each trying to make their piece of the proverbial pie.

Mark builds the Mach 1 Chassis. They were located in Sunbury, PA but moved to Mechaniscburg, PA last year. He worked for Keen Speed and Equipment in Carlisle, PA building the Outlaw Chassis for Shawn Keen. He moved onto Barry Jacksons JEI Performance for a year till he wrecked Barrys car while driving for Zemco. He was fired from JEI and he went to work for Zemco Headers. He also repaired cars at Zemco also built Micro Sprints there(Elite Chassis). He left there when he left the Zemco ride and started Mach 1 with Brian Scandle(owner of NRG Contols and owner of the 7 team). And yes, this is FACT

How many cars does mark build? I went to the web site. Nice site. He much build five to ten chassis or so a year. At least it give other people another choice other then j & j, maxim, schnee, or eagle.

I think he built about 15-20 last year. Three of them for the 7 race team. I believe he is the only one at the shop right now, nobody else works there.

There's other chassis out there other than the top 3. Peopl have tunnel vision and think the only way to win a race is to run a J&J, Maxim, or Eagle with a Rider, Ott, Kriner, or Kistler Engine.

Not only is Mark Smith a pretty fair driver and builder (mechanic) but he is a heck of a nice guy to boot. He is very approachable and his business is really starting to take off. He is making some headway into getting drivers to use his chassis in 2010 in the Maxim and J&J world we live in. This upcoming season the following drivers will be using a Mach 1 chassis in the 410 ranks, Mark Smith, Brian Leppo, Mark Coldren, Kyle Moody and in the 358's, Blaine Heimbach, Joey Borich and Scott Geesey among others. Mark opened his new shop in Camp Hill, Pa about a year ago, which is about 5 miles north of Williams Grove. He can be reached at (570) 898-8010 or mach1chassis.com. I also like to see some different varity among chassis builders. I think his cars look sharp.

Mark and other builders can bank on Maxim's struggles so far this season.

GOOGLE, the word of the decade

A mind is a terrible thing to waste, now where did I put mine?

I especially liked the part at their website that list chassis repair and says "No XXX chassis please"

"Support those that support Racing"

I guess Mark has his reasons for not wanting to repair xXx chassis.A few years ago, I watched him put a new front clip on a car when he worked for Keen. Interesting process on how chassis are repaired.

Why had Maxim struggled I beleive Dollanskey won in a Maxim?

i think he meant struggling in production - not on the track.

Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May

He's not the only chassis repair guy who won't fix those things. Russ Mitten of RPM Racing and welder for JEI Chassis won't fix them either.

The problem with the XXX is, when you bend a front clip, most likely their whole frame is junk. It's been seen and those guys don't want any part of them. Most of the other chassis, Maxim, J&J, Eagle, Schnee, JEI, etc. hold up pretty well when they're wrecked and only need a clip or maybe just a certain rail fixed.

If Maxim is having problems with production, with 5 welders, how will a business who only has 1 welder and does a single chassis in 2 days benefit?

I have a great idea on repairing XXX chassis........Send them back to China for repairs or bring their welder, "Dung Weldho" over here to make repairs.

Does anyone know what the cost is compared to a maxim or JEI ect. Was Brian Leppo in one last year or was he in a Maxim?

Leppo had a Maxim last year, still has 2 of them at the shop. There all pretty close in price.

You have to remember, when you buy a locally built chassis, the builder and employees are at that track most of the time. When you buy a JEI car, you have Barry Jackson on the road and you have Russ Mitten in the pits weekly at Williams Grove. Matt Anderson also worked at JEI for about a year before crewchiefing for Keen full time. Mark is at Williams Grove and Port Royal/Lincoln weekly also.