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

Does anyone recall what year the sprint car wheel with one plastic half came out?

Marsh carbon fiber plastic rims came out in 1988.  As remember it a fire destroyed the plant about 1999.  The whole idea was that in a crash they would absorb the blow and save the rest of car.  They did work but many race organizations did not understand what  Marsh was trying to do and would not allow them.  When they broke they left sharp pieces on the track which if not all picked up could blow tires.

That is an interesting question. I would like to know that as well. I have one here that is completely plastic, both halves. It has an aluminum center though. There is an MRT sticker on it but there is no year of production. It is also not a carbon fiber wheel, it is just plastic with inner and outer bead locks. Hopefully someone has an answer to this question.

Never hit stationary objects!

my guess would be about 86

Luna's Ford engine style that won 2 WoO titles and 3 
Kings Royals before a weight rule against the best EVER
in their prime and now DOMINATES super dirt late model
racing is no longer allowed/wanted in a WoO sprint
car.... Was Luna a miracle worker?

The word carbon fiber is not what we think of it today.  They used carbon fiber strands mixed in with some sort of plastic to make the rims.  As I remember it his original rims were just plastic with out carbon fiber strands, but they did not work as well as Marsh wanted so he added carbon fiber strands.  I also think it was Marsh that invented the bead lock rim as we know it today.  If I remember correct he would repair any rim no matter how bad it was damaged for $100.00.  

Thanks for the info!

    I believe linbob is correct abut the year 1988 and think they cost about $165 for the beadlocks, some $25 cheaper than the aluminum  rims.  They were incredibly light and did soak up the energy of a crash.  I ran them on a Late Model we parked in 1992, which I still have with one on the RR.  Loved them, especially with the return the pieces and get a new one policy for something like $40.

I believe it was 86. I was working for Weld Racing as the Oval Track Director. I had an engineer that worked for Coleman Industries analyze the "Carbon Fiber Wheel". The results showed that it was a molded plastic with a few carbon particles mixed in. Lyle Marsh try to sell the wheel with both inner and outer halves made of plastic. That didn't work, so the tried to make them work by using a aluminum inner half and a plastic half. That did work a little better but added weight back to the wheel which defeated the purpose of the whole " light weight " thing. My job was to go the sanctioning bodies and get the wheel outlawed. We did get a few groups to rule against the wheel before the season started and the high failure rate pretty much killed the rest.

Somebody tries todesign a different mouse trap and rest assured there is a guy like you working for the competition who lobbies to put them out of business. Aint that the American way!

Cheers!

Yes, we ran them for 2 years on all 4 wheels till Knoxville outlawed them.  We had absolutely no problem at all with them.  None failed except in a wreck they did what they were susposed to do and crack or break and save the rest of the car.  They did that for us.  A few others used them with out any problem that I know of.  I am sure Weld and others did not like them because they were alot less costly.  The whole idea was to destroy the rim, not the axel, birdcage, jacobs ladder.