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

He's.......... our neighbor, a true hero our children can look up to, a passionate supporter of our sport, a great driver, an example of the type of guy that made our country great.......... and also a chassis builder yet we buy stuff made in China instead of Mach 1s.  An absolute crying shame.

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?

I just bought my second car from Mark, great guy, excellent builder/welder. I'm 6'4" so needed a bit of a custom build and he tackled it no problem. Always there to help and answer questions. His chassis's win in every class, winged or non-wing, 305, 360 or 410 !!!

Thank you sir.  Your efforts are truly preserving the great sport we all love instead of promoting its slow decay.

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?

and you continue to type on your silicone infested chinese product?.. does that make you a bad american? hell no, 90% of the electronics in his welder are not produced in the U.S.,  I dont mean to call anyone out, and I love this country, but,  this stuff goes to far.. for too long.    Me, Im your nieghbor too, with several family generations going thro service with the U.S. military. im not rich, im a blue collar, born here in the U.S.  my grandfather would praise the machinery I compete in (god how i wish i could have shown it too him), and for my hard earned dollar to afford it, I buy products i can afford to replace on a machine that gets easily damaged .. why, because im a racer, I do what I can to make the next race, just like many many of my competitors,    should I feel ashamed because I didnt purchase a product manufactured in the U.S. with german tubing? I hear your cry, I understand, its too bad, but, this is a global economy we live in, the Manufacture you speak of is a great person, but, dont put a target on someone who is proubly guilty of the same purchases YOU and I make day to day.. Were all not that different ya know, just dont be that nieve..  Have you ever pondered what Candy is the most desired by Japan? take one guess where it is manufacuted from?

Someone else who realizes the economy is global (XXX employs more American's than lots of American companies, for example).  I believe the recent move to XXX by a lot of local racers is two fold:  they do seem to be affordable by comparison, but, and most importantly:  they're fast.  That's the bottom line.  As for Mark Smith, he does build a very good chassis and it is a popular chassis in PA, especially his home track of Selinsgrove (not sure about the rest of the country). Easily one of the fastest in PA, he's just shifted his focus to 360s and wingless stuff recently so you don't hear as much about him anymore.  Still very capable, clearly.  

You should go ahead and setup a program where you'll pay the cost difference between a Mach 1 chassis and a XXX for anyone thats currently buying the XXX chassis. This would be a great thing for you to do for the racing world and would set it all straight. Don't worry about the money cause obviously it isn't a big deal to you by the way you talk and expect it not to be a big deal for everyone else. This will be easy to setup with your guy at Mach 1 I'm sure, all he'll have to do is charge the customer the XXX price and then have a billing setup for you for the difference, he'll probably even setup a monthly bill for you so you don't have to be paying seperate bills all the time. This was a great idea you had Minthess and I look forward to seeing your progress posts on getting this program started, I'm sure this will drive lots of new business to your buddy at Mach 1 and will benefit the drivers. You sir are a True Patriot of the USA. We all look forward to hear how this is going!

http://gph.is/XMLGff

Absolutely true dirtdevil.  It is going to take generations for this type of mindless thinking to go away.  Friends of mine bashed me 20 years ago for buying a Toyota-then they go jump on their Yamaha crotch-rocket.  Why?  Don't like Harleys.  ?????     Maybe I don't like Dodge or Chevy.  (own a GM now BTW)  90% of these "Buy American only!" folks don't even realize how many bad choices they make if that is their true intent-which makes them hypocrits.  Personally--I do buy American when I can.  However, if I need a hole saw for instance to drill one hole in my basement wall--I'm buying the piece of crap from Indonesia for $2--I don't need the $25 one from the USA to sit in my toolbox for the next 30 years.  I choose my battles.  If most race teams could buy an American crafted chassis, they would certainly do so.  This is a business decision. 

Does everyone in this country realize how much manufacturing we are doing now for other countries?  Or, for oversees products?  Do you realize how pissed off people in Japan and France are that we manufacture too many of their products over here? 

A lot has been posted on this forum since XXX entered the market to offer China made chassis.  Arguments can be made for both sides of the issue.  I would be interested to know, what side of the fence do Viet Nam Vets stand on?  Although I am not a VN Vet, I did serve during that time period and I have countless friends and know others that have been or they are presently still envolved in sprint cars as owners, drivers or crew members.  Keeping in mind that China was and still is a Communist country and supplied countless resources to the Viet Cong.  How do these past and present members of the racing community feel about these foreign products?  Do you or would you support them?

My father fought the Germans in WW 2 and I have no problem buying German made goods. He did not either. 

Remember the time the Chinese invaded North Vietnam also? I believe it was after we left. 

What if people in Mexico stopped buying anything American made because we took several of our south western states from them?

If a Vietnam vet doesn't want to buy goods from a communist country, so be it.  Their choice.  Consumers from this country do, and have for decades bought products from Britain, Japan, Germany, Italy--want me to keep going.  All countries we went to war with.   That is really fishing for an argument.  Silly. 

Have any of these folks bought fuel in the last 50 years?  Much of that came from countries who's human rights policies are certainly not up to our standards.  How about any electronics products in the 80's or 90's?  All from Japan--you may remember we fought them in a little conflict called World War 2. 

Not fishing for an argument nor is it silly.  My question was directed at the Viet Nam vets that are involved in sprint car racing, not fans.  Are you or Oswald Vets of that war?  My Dad received 2 purple hearts, fighting and killing Japs during WW11.  Until his death, he didn't knowingly buy Japan made products.  The Viet Nam vets that I know are faithful to Harleys, Chevys, Mopars and Fords.  Will they purchase and use a XXX chassis?  I don't know, that's why I ask.

Is the XXX Chassis made in Vietnam?

http://gph.is/XMLGff

As the Russian comedian used to say,  what a country!  The sprint car owner may purchase whichever chassis he wants.  It's called freedom. But once he buys and assembles the car,  he's told which tires to run.  That's not freedom.  I know.  He can decide not to run.  But why did he buy the car?   And now he is looking for sponsors.  Do you want to be his chassis sponsor or his tire sponsor?  Fronts last week were $175.  Rears were $215 and $235.  And they usually say,  the money in sprint cars in in the parts.  So if you just have to have a XXX chassis,  put nothing but domestically made parts and tires on the car.  And thank you.

I love the buy american concept.  Then you see the hypocrisy of the badmouthers typing on their china made puter and china made Iphone and probably a kia in the driveway.

Preach on Brotha with the Nikes on your feet.

OK I'm a vietnam vet who runs XXX, never thought a thing about it, for me it comes down to a quality piece that I can replace anything from a brake pedal to a complete chassis in 3 days. last season we killed a car on saturday, I called BR on mmonday and had a racer kit on thursday, powdercoated, and it went together very easily. meant we got rookie of the year and 3rd in points instead of falling to 10th. We have run J&J, Eagle, Gambler, john boy and JEI. noone has given the service of XXX. Thing is, I still won't go to a Jane Fonda movie. Treasonous Bitch!!!!!....paul