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

The sprint car crash test video raised a bunch of questions and hopefully more insight into safer designs.

Out of the current builders, who would you consider is building the safest cars? Granted we all know sprint car racing and racing in general can be dangerous and no chassis is perfect, but with that said some can be and probably are a bit safer then others.

There are lots of builders today... Maxim, J&J, Eagle, ART, Schnee, Wolfweld, KPC, XXX, GF-1, Beaberbuilt, etc and I'm sure there are advantages and disadvantages to each when it comes to making them fast... but who do you think is ahead of the curve for driver safety?

Could be cockpit design, different placement of some bars, added bars, consistency of their builds, quality of their welds, etc. Curious who people choose and why. Maybe that crash video gets people thinking about safety equally with speed and not just which cars are fastest or easiest to set up.

Any of the above except XXX

My JEI has support bars in spots my other cars dont. To me it looks like a safely built car.

The safest car is XXX with their HIGH QUALITY Chinese Chromoly! hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha NOT!!!!

Well I dont know all of the data that is available but I do know that 13 of the top 15 Drivers in the World of Outlaws run MAXIM Im just saying they wouldnt get into an unsafe car and be that FAST!

Mark Smith's Mach1 chassis built in Mechanicburg, Pa builds a pretty safe car.

Most chassis are a copy of a maxim, but they might have a tube changed here or there. The quality of welds and normalized chromemally is very important. Some drivers died back 30 years ago when someone used non normalized chromally tube. To me the chomemolly needs to bend and not break.

, in most situations. Avenger on paper has the best construction with air craft certified welders and inert gas in side tubes. Only problem is most people never heard of them. I guess for now you must trust the quality of welders. I do not think for now that some day maybe a chassis at random will have chassis tore apart to check welds.

We had an Avenger a few years ago and I was amazed with the quality of detail in the chassis.I was on a trip out of the country when the guy I helped wrecked in the Avenger. Was told it was one of the worse that was seen at SFS in awhile on the 1/2. The driver got out of the car and walked away.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands 
in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he 
stands at times of challenge and controversy." 
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Erich Petersen 

I SUPPORT JASON SIDES FROM DOWN UNDER

people where being heart and or dying in sprint cars in the best American built chassis ever constructed loooooong before xxx.with that being said your comment was -------- well --just plain ignorant

Robert Bond    San Jose Ca

Hoseheads forum is the official sponsor of many ignorant posts.

"Similar to the hit Shane took". This is an interesting comment. We all have a pretty good idea about how fast Shane might have been going when he went cage first into that wall. With regard to the crash testing video, we really don't know what kind of force they used on those impacts. Until we do, I see no reason to get excited one way or another about that video. Keep in mind that videos like that can be made for dramatic effect using greater force than is really necessary.

Remember years ago that NBC got in hot water for using flares to ignite leaking gasoline when they were crash testing pickup trucks? Made a really dramatic and spectacular point didn't it? Similar things could be happening here. So until they either publish something or edit the video to show the amounts of force they used and the reasons why they used that much force, I'd have to say I'm not overly impressed.

My post was made of personal preference and not ignorance. The issue of XXX chassis has been discussed countless times by a number of posters, both very knowledgable and ignorant. This response will more than likely start another bashing by those that buy into the world economy thing. Personally, I value the traditional evolution of chassis design and the research and development performed by American chassis builders. For someone to take this design, the R&D and materials specifications and have it duplicated in China, using oppressed labor to fabricate, is not a product that I personally would purchase. The other issue with me is the quality assurance guarantee that comes with the chassis. Not to say that all American builders are honest but I trust their work and documentation of welding procedures and qualifications and mill test reports, tensile and yield testing etc, far more than I do anything coming from China or other foreign sources. For those that are on a small budget and purchasing XXX products makes it possible to race, I say, do at your own risk. Personally, I will stay with tradition, not ignorance just preference.

I am guessing all the complaints about XXX is coming from people who are getting beat by them? LOL

Do you all really believe that cars built over here are welded by "professionals" that have knowledge of welding that is years beyond any other country? I don't consider minumum wage laborers to be any more of a professional than the next welder. But what do I know? For anyone to say they are not good cars, how do you explain the results they get? I am not saying they are BETTER than the next, but they are as good, they are proving in weekly at the racetracks.

As for the "top 13 out of 15 Outlaws running Maxim" statement, how many of those 13 are paying full price for their cars? If I got mine for free or close to it, I would run a Maxim too.....It is smart on Maxims part though, they are getting their name out (and clearly people are buying into it), but at the cost of the local racers (freebies to outlaws make local racers have to pay more to make up the loss). Don't hate me for that comment, just because it sucks doesn't mean it isn't true....

As for anyone on here bashing XXX that doesn't actually OWN a car and spend the money weekly to run it. You opinions are completely invalid and VOID on this topic. If you haven't had one, your opinon doesn't matter....

I support XXX because they are helping me keep money in my pocket to get me to the track week in and week out. Sounds crazy doesn't it?

Why is XXX getting all the heat anyway? Do you really think other racing companies aren't doing the same thing?

Once again, I am not saying XXX is BETTER, just that it is clearly equal as the results have shown. You can have your opinion, I can have mine...I choose to base mine on results, not "feelings".

So you claim that the opinion of anyone not presently owning a car is not valid? How about someone that previously owned cars, actually built a few cars himself, including the welding, drove the cars and later crewed for a top ASCS and WoO team for a number of years? So my opinion is not valid? I may be old fashion and loyal to tradition but I assure you that there are many "Old Farts" like me

that share similar opinions to mine. If I were once again to own a car, I would feel much better if my driver strapped into a chassis built by a company that I could visit at anytime and witness the welders perform their craft. And receive from the owner/manager a copy of all tubing mill test reports, welding procedures, welders qualification reports and any other documentation to support quality assurance.

I'm not bashing XXX, just supporting American Company's that support racers and build a product that I feel secure with.

I should have specified there, I am sorry for that. If you haven't owned a XXX, yes I believe your opinion of them ( where "them" is a XXX) is useless.... If you never owned or driven one, how can you have an opinion of them? (Example: How do you know it hurts to hit your thumb with a hammer? You tried it!!) You have to use something before you can have a valid opinion of it. If you want to gripe because it is made overseas, OK, but don't say they are junk because of that. That is a personal feeling of "us vs them", has nothing to do with the actual product.

I can print you off some papers saying this metal is rated at "X" rating and I have "X" amount of years welding with "X" amount of certificates on the wall. You want to buy a car from me??? If so, give me a few minutes to print them off and a couple days to build the car.

Is anyone aware of the fact you can order a XXX and have it made in the USA? NO?? I thought you did your research...