first let me say that I love protoform bodies. I just wish they would pay a little more attention to oval car. as it stands right now we have only to to choose from the 2002 hd monte carlo or the 2004 md intrepid. all these other companies are ripping out bodies left and right why can't protoform? i would love to see hd md and ss versions of all the current manufactors. in the last 3 years over 10 touring car bodies and god only knows how many monster trucks don't forget about us. oval guys :thumbsup: i

I will email your post to Dale so he can respond appopriately.

One thing I can tell you is watch for Protoform....Dale has not forgotten about us in Oval.

stay tuned.....

I emailed protoform and they basically said that nascar changes alot and it is tuff to keep up. Don't get the wrong idea here my motive isn't to bash protoform I love there bodies and as long as the make them I'll run them. I was just wondering if others out there would like to see some new bodies to.

NEW BODIES WOULD BE GOOD!!!! :thumbsup:

IMO.. The hd monti for (mod) & the md intrepid for (stock) are the two best oval bodies EVER made. It won't be an easy task for someone to make a new body that works better but if anyone can it's Dale.

I have been looking for the Protoform 12th scale Taurus to run at the ROAR Nat's and some other races later this year. If they have a mold can they stamp a few for racers still looking for them?

Try The Bandit 12/th It Rocks !

I spoke with Dale today, he plans to post back asap !!

I agree with Frank though, its tough to pass up the current Monte and Dodge.
I am still hoping for a LD body

I don't know how much touring cars you guys have run. I have run couple of years worth and the one thing that was constantly improving was the bodies that Dale was designing. So i think he can do it with the current Monte Carlo. I guess one the important things to me is scale realism. that is one thing Protoform has always done better than anyone. like I said before I would love hd md and ss versions of all the makes

I think Protoform dumped way too much time and effort into the Monster Truck body's. Have you seen all of the choices for a T-Maxx Revo etc? Now that the monster truck bandwagon has slowed way down they should refocus on what established them in the racing market. 10 years ago you had to choose from Protoform or Bolink. Protoform has been left in the dust since Mcallister and Bandit have been making bodies. I would be really surprised if oval racers will see any new stuff from Protoform.

Proto-form In My Opinion Is Tops.all We Need Is A M/c Which We Have,charger& Ford Fusion, But Its Not That Simple Why Do You Think You See Jeff Greens Name On Wheel Well,because He Likes R.c. Cars, Before Dale Even Goes To Drawing Board Its Negotiations, Intrepip Was Wrong Timing, But A Good Race Body," Dale" Will Make It Happen Thats His Busness.!! Dom-19

great point Dom I forgot about the Licensing.

A lot of guys are forgetting that Dale is also a business Man, and he has to produce for what the Market calls for. If you look at the world market, oval makes up a small percentage of R/C racing. Oval tends to only be in the states, where touring cars are international, just like offroad. If there is a bigger market there are going to be more choices, period. As far as the T-Maxx and Revo bodies go, they are for the hobbyist, which is by far the biggest class of R/Cer's by far. Don't get me wrong, I love protofprm bodies and won't run anything else, and would absolutely love to see more oval bodies being offered, but at the same time I can see and understand why they are only offering what they are.

Just be patient guys, there are some great new bodies in the works at Protoform. It takes a little time when you do things “legally” with licensing. There is a lot more involved then people think.

Some of these “other” companies don’t bother getting a licensing agreement and pump new cars out “illegally”. It’s a shame, because one of the “Big 3” could have them put out of business in a heart beat!

No one in this industry has more talent or passion then Dale Epp. The short wait will be well worth it, with what he has planned.

As far as monster truck bodies go, Protoform has nothing to do with them, that is the Proline division.

Oh yea…for you Ford fans, (I’m one of them) Ford is very strict on “illegally” releasing the Fusion body until the real car is ready.

Sorry, I will get off my soap box now! lol

What Dale has done, and what he is doing currently is just changing with the market/times. He needs to have a profitable business. He needs to produce what is in demand, so that's what he is doing, can you blame him? The last few posts sound like the points that the R/C Mag guys were trying to make about oval coverage in there issues of there mags, and Jeff hit it right on the head. It's basically "demand of supply" instead of "supply and demand".........

Maxspeed hit the nail on the head. Proline/Protoform is on the radar so to speak, if they produce something without licensing we are talking hefty fines...
Licensing A. Costs big money, and B. takes along time to process with alot of Red tape to clear.

Patch also makes a good point. Right now lets face it offroad/Touring Car/and Monster trucks are what is selling. Think how many T-maxxes are sold compared to every 1 pan car.

I am just happy Protoform did not bail entirely on oval.

So with that in mind, hang tight, look to see something on the shelves before the 1st of the year. Maybe even sooner. Dale's passion lies in oval bodies, so anything he puts out is gonna be stellar.

I am just happy Protoform did not bail entirely on oval.



AMEN to that!

Kenny@RAPTOR

Amen brother I was sitting back looking at some pics from the old days when there were buicks olds pontiacs chevys fords superseedways regulars. all were very realistic looking and each body worked as designed.

you know what would be cool if those old bodies came back. come on Dale tell us what we can look forward too.

[QUOTE=davepull]first let me say that I love protoform bodies. I just wish they would pay a little more attention to oval car.


I have spoken with Dale on a regular basis about oval bodies and it pretty much comes down to what Proline wants done.So his hands are tied untill he gets th okay to go on.Dale is an avid oval fan (I should know I've been with him since his first body was pulled in his garage back in 1990, and will be with him forever), but he did say he is going to update the Monte Carlo HD soon, and if 1/12 keeps groing Proline may give him the go ahead to make a Dodge body.Untill then dont worry my fellow oval guru's he(Dale) hasnt forgotten us..


JEFF CARAPELLATTI

It sounds like most of you guys are sponsored by or are good friends with Protoform or something. I was just stating what I've seen about oval bodies for our "little niche". If oval was so small than why are there so many pan car choices out there etc( the list could go on). Oval is not dead but we should be able to see designs too.


I have always liked the Protoform bodies. But 3 or 4 years behind what everyone else is doing isn't good business. We all would like to see new designs every 2 years or so. $24 per body is pretty good retail for a rc body. The big 3 have run Slixx right out of business because of royaties...now they have 100% of nothing as a result. Hopefully this won't happen to Protoform.

By the way I thought Protoform and Proline were under the same management.

davepull: Let me first say that you have a very valid complaint. I honestly appreciate your concern and believe it or not, feel a bit of your frustration myself. (hope that didn't sound too "Clinton-esque" ) There's more than one reason why so many PROTOform bodies have been discontinued and why the new releases have been so few and far between. I'll try to touch on the various reasons.

1 - The rc world and marketplace has changed immensely since I first entered the fray back in 1992. Oval racing was abolutely huge back then. Not only was that evident by the number of high profile events (like the Oval Masters at Lk. Whippoorwill and the Thunderdrome event in SoCal) but mostly by the number of weekly races held both indoors and outdoors from coast to coast - EVERY WEEKEND. Its the closure of these small tracks in every state that has changed the complexion of oval racing for the manufacturer. When I started PROTOform, I was looking for any niche I could possibly find to stay in business and pay my bills. Hence, I did drag race bodies, dirt oval as well as NASCAR bodies and on-road to stay in business. As the company grew, the associated expenses (ei: race sponsorships, race attendance expenses, advertising, payroll, rent, benefits etc) grew proportionately. On a personal level, let me tell you this: I thinks its pretty darn cool that I got into the rc schene while oval was huge, because I was very passionate about oval racing - both big and small scale. I have some great memories of the days when Mike Boylan was a "racer", not a race-promoter. (man, he was so awsome!) Anyway, it was great that my product was for the most part accepted and the orders from Great Planes & Horizon were big enough to keep me going.
But somewhere in the mid-nineties, the rc racing schene started shifting and because of the size of the company, I had to shift with it to survive. No longer were the orders for oval bodies as big as they once were. As oval tracks closed, the distributor orders couldn't help but diminish. The new trend was toward sedan/touring cars and that market was growing fast. Being a lttle bit of a nut for "realizm and detail" it was kinda like the body market was "coming to me" so to speak. Most oval racers didn't seem to care two hoots about scale appearance - just "make it fast and turn hard". AND, my hook-up with Proline was a "Godsend", literally. I probably wouldn't have survived without those fine folks. I'd have probably burned out. So, was I losing my passion for rc oval at that point in time? Absolutely not. But, now I was forced (by the increased size of the company) to start thinking with my head (& calculator) and not my "heart", as I had until then. Basic economics - but a bit of a bummer no less.
Here's another problem: I cannot delegate out the task of mold making. I gotta do it myself, and I'm not exactly a speedball when it comes to mold-making unlike a few of my competitiors. I can only do so many in a year so I have to be very carefull to pick and choose the ones that will yeild the biggest sales figures at the yearend. I kinda sometimes feel like a "victim" of success, because I can no longer do the body styles I "want to do", I now have to do "what is absolutely essential" to stay in the rc body business. Am I just trying to get stupid-rich? No more than you are. Earning a fair profit only ensures that you'll still be in the body business in a years time.
The cost of lexan has more than doubled in recent years and all other production expences are up dramatically, yet the cost of bodies has been held down only because of "volume". In 1992 rc bodies retailed for $19.95 without decals, window masks, wing screws and LICENSING. Now, 13 years later the suggested retail has only gone up to $25.00 so, like never before, we are forced to look at "volume" when choosing new mold designs.

2 - The other contributing factor is: "licensing" contracts. I remember the good old days when I could go down to the local Barnes & Nobles bookstore. With a large coffee in hand, I'd peruse through the many car magazines there, to pick and choose future projects. Wow, are those days over! With the advent of this "die cast car" culture we live in, and the absolute explosion of NASCAR exposure and popularity, the (full size) automakers are cashing in like never before on all the "free money" they recieve from royalties. And its not only the automakers, its the independent licensing firms that represent them. It's been like a shark-feeding frenzy as the lawyers who work in these firms clamour over each other to squeeze as much money as possible out of any company that makes anything that looks or smells like a car. It's really pretty unbelievable and very pathetic. Now, a third level of "players" in corporate america has set its sights on the "easy money" to be harvested in the auto enthusiast/hobby/rc car market. They are: "auditing firms" who want their share of the booty. No, the rc body companies have not escaped the cold stare of a very greedy corporate america. One large rc manufacturer in particular has tried very hard in recent years to "eliminate the competition" by using licensing firms as allies in its scheme. I'm not saying that we don't owe the automakers something. But, all I'm hoping for is an element of fairness. There seems to be no discernment on behalf of these folks as to what the rc car market is all about. They seem to think we all have corporate jets and hidden Ferrari collections - and that's exactly how we are treated by them.
Sometimes they just will not give licensing rights for a particular model of car AT ALL - PERIOD, for reasons only they know, and sometimes they ask so much for the lic. rights that we would never stand to make a dime of profit, and sometimes they will "double the lic. fee" midstream for no justified reason. A full time employee is now required on staff just to work out licensing agreements and maintain existing ones. Its a whole new ballgame these days. Guess if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. lol

Well, before I leave you all depressed at the current state of affairs in the area of new oval body releases, I have good news, and it has nothing to do with Geico. Our sales figures are very strong currently for oval bodies and because of this we are actively pursuing lic. agreements with the "Big 3" for the Dodge Charger, Ford Fusion (2006) and the facelifted 2006 Monte Carlo. I just started on a new oval body pattern this week , and I've gotta tell you, I'm as excited about oval as I was in the the early ninties. The passion has never left, and there's a few racers out there that'll verify that as a fact. I've just had to do what it takes to stay in business. The next 3 oval bodies will be ...... interesting. I promise anyone out there that cares, that I will spare no effort on these 3 molds, and thats about all I can safely say. I'll do all I can to make them "worth the wait". Because 2 of them are based on 2006 models, the final release dates will be dictated primarily by Ford and GM. So please, be patient. I see great days ahead for oval racing in general. Mike has done such a phenominal job with the Snowbirds, and now we'll have an Oval Masters race again.(Sandhills) Hey, I see a "cup that's half FULL" if you get my drift.
Lastly, (caution: getting sappy here) I want to give a heartfelt and sincere thanks to every one who has ever bought a PROTOform race body. I appreciate your support and confidence. I definitely "owe you one".


Sincerely - Dale Epp

The big 3 have run Slixx right out of business because of royaties

Last I heard from SLIXX....[NASCAR and NEXTEL] were the ones who UPPED the licensing fees to another planet.

aaaaaaammmmmeeeeeeeeeen Dale thanks for your response it really sheads light on what goes on. I can not wait for the new bodies. like I said before your bodies have always been the best always have the most detail and scale realism and the are race proven . wether there oval or onroad. that is why protoform bodies are always on what I run. thank you for your support.

oh yah Dale that Boylan guy still races and is the king of Florida Oval tracks

Great post Dale! Totally awesome!! :)

Great post Dale! Totally awesome!! :)

Superb post....I agree...it takes a lot of time & money to come up with new bodies.

I remember the days of good ol Whip down Narcoosee Road in Kisseemee. Way back then, they have the regular bodies & they have the "narrow" superspeedway bodies over my TRC Predator Lynx pancar. I;ve known Mike Boylan & scarecrow racing at the Whip with Todd Braun (nascar team owner) when they had a propeller dyno !!!! Mike sure did a lot for oval since starting the 'Birds back by the Tampa In'tl Airport. I hope you come out with those new bodies from the big 3. More power to you. :thumbsup:

BTW...I have a question for Mike Boylan/RCThunder regarding batteries for this coming 'Birds.......3800 ok ? :tongue:

Hey Dale,

Why copy a model of a big 3 car manufactures and design a new aro oval body of your own??? Say with a smaller and lower green house design offset to the left :) ..

I know that a few Nascar engineers design a 1/12th scale body to
race which Todd Putman sold at the last snowbirds race.

Just my Two cents worth,I think PROTOFORM BODIES ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!
Been Racing Oval for about 16 years and have used them almost all the time,Now my 14 year old is racing i put a different brand body on the car he wants Protoform !!!cant wait to see the new bodies!!!!!!! Thanks Dale for all the great bodies over the years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For any of you 1/12 scale oval guys check with Todd Putnam @ Putnam Propulsion. He has a new "CHARGER" that is awesome, and unlike some recent 1/12 scale releases it is an all new body nose to tail it even has fender braces/adjusters. He unveiled it @ the SNOWBIRDS last year to rave reviews.

www.putnampropulsion.com (http://www.putnampropulsion.com)

(Deleted)

Had a post but Dale said it all LOL

McLin;
Hope you don't mind too much, but I'm going to disagree with some of your dollar figures. :cool:
The cost of a good mold has about doubled from what you quoted. Time's worth more and raw mat'l (for pattern & mold making) has gone up immensely. Artwork for decal sheets adds a nominal fee too.
I sure wish we got $22 for a body! Wow. I'd probably go out and get a C6 Z06 and still have money in the bank! However, with the hobby marketing structure that we have in the USA, the big dealers (Horizon, G. Planes, HRP etc) get a huge discount - then sell to hobby shops who also make their fair share. In actuality, the distributors and dealers EACH make more than we do per body.

Dale

Nascr3,
I did not see the 12th scale body on the Puttman site. Any more info and is it ROAR approved?

HI DALE,ME & YOU HAD A CONVERSATION TWO OR THREE SNOWBIRDS AGO IN PARTICULAR THAT LITTLE OVAL SHAPE DECAL THAT LOOKS LIKE AN EYE,YOU TOLD ME WHAT THAT DECAL REPRESENTED,I WAS VERY IMPRESSED,B.T.W. I PLACE THAT DECAL ON FRONT LEFT CORNER,IM THE OLDER LOOKING GUY, DALE WHATS THE BIG DEAL IF YOU AS A MASTER MOLD BUILDER DRAW & MOLD THREE OF YOUR OWN OVAL CAR BODIES,NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE BIG THREE???YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO & MAKE IT HAPPEN,
1.THUNDER OVAL BODY?
2.HURRICANE OVAL BODY ?
3.TYPHOON OVAL BODY ?
I LIVE IN FLORIDA, HA,HA, WHO CARES IF ITS NOT AFFILIATED WITH BIG 3 YOU COULD MAKE THEM BETTER,YOU ARE THE CHIP FOOSE OF R.C. BODY DESIGN & I AGREE WITH McLIN,THE REAL NACAR BODIES DONT LOOK LIKE THE REAL THING ANYWAY, DOM-19

Nascr3,
I did not see the 12th scale body on the Puttman site. Any more info and is it ROAR approved?Larry-I've managed to get one of those bodies & it's running very well. I emailed Todd awhile back about getting more of those. He is out of them & he said that he might pull some more bodies sometime this Fall.
1/12th bodies have been gone since April. Maybe we'll have another run pulled in the Fall...

Dale: Keep up the good work & thanks for explaining the business side of body making! Would it be worth the time/$$/effort to create a sort of generic "common template"-style body,sort of like what Dom-19 described?
-George

I think maybe one reason for not coming up with your own design is ROAR states in rules:

6.1.17.3 OVAL BODIES
-Stock Cars, such as those used in NASCAR

8.9.8.6 Body rules:
-Bodies must resemble NASCAR-type stock cars or trucks.


If you came up with say a generic looking stock car body called the "Lightning", somebody might say, hey they don't run that Lightning body in Nascar or that Lightning body doesn't resemble anything in Nascar (Ford, Chevy or Dodge) -- therefore it might not get approval from ROAR...I could be off base here but that is what I was thinking after reading the rule.

I know the 300M TC body put out by Proline was not approved for Sanctioned use because supposedly this car was not raced on a full scale Touring Car circuit.

Yes but on the other hand, I have NEVER see a Nascar with a wing!!!
and yet that are ably to do it with Off Road, Proline makes a Crowd Pleaser
(My Fav) it is not a truck that is produced by any of the big 3 if you will.
--Nick

Yes but on the other hand, I have NEVER see a Nascar with a wing!!!
and yet that are ably to do it with Off Road, Proline makes a Crowd Pleaser
(My Fav) it is not a truck that is produced by any of the big 3 if you will.
--Nick

Nick, that is True bout the wing !!
I dont know man, we'll have to wait for Dale's response.

DON-19 - Hey, its good to hear from you. Ya, I remember out little discussion at the 'Birds. (BTW, it's not a little eye-shaped decal if you'll recall, its actually a small engraved "fish" logo that's in my molds)
Your comment about Chip Foose was absolutely the highest compliment anyone could ever give to a guy like me. I don't feel worthy to even have my name in the same paragraph as that guy. He's definitely the "Grand Poobah" of automative style and good taste. Every project he's involved with is sheer art.
Hey, I gotta tell you a lttle story about Chip. About 7 years ago me and a buddy were driving through Stanton California and suddenly realized that Boyd Coddington's shop was probably in the general area. So, we found his place and asked if we could check out his shop and the various projects under construction. Boyd wasn't there but his manager gave us free rein to check out whatever we wanted. Two guys were there however, Chip Foose (who worked for him and had a small studio upstairs) and L'il John Buttera - a legend in the drag race/hot rod world as he almost singlehandedly advancing the design & construction of dragsters, funny cars, and street rods from approx. 1968 - late 90's. (semi retired, he now builds custom Harleys) Well, needless to say, I was in hot rod heaven. I was more excited about meeting L'l John (who'd been a legand for a while) but was blown away with the drawings I saw in Chip's (who?) studio. Chip was kinda like Coddington's best kept secret. Had such an awsome time visiting with those guys. They were friendly and amazingly humble. Now - let me fast-forward to 2005. I was at the RCX Hobby Expo in Anaheim last May, and who do I suddenly see standing in the Proline/PROTOform display with his wife and 2 young son's? Da man himself - Chip Foose. I was pretty blown away. We had a great little visit, but what impressed me most was the fact that he was still the same humble guy I'd met 7 years ago - and - in spite of all his recent success with 3 "Riddler" awards in Detroit and his hit TV series "Overhaulin". We talked a bit about the Pro Touring style '66 Chevelle SS I'm building, and then he pulled out a business card, wrote his personal cell phone # on the back of it, and told me to give him a call anytime if I had any questions or needed advice. Wow. He's as cool as he is talented.
Well, regarding stock car bodies and the debate over what to name them. I can only say is there's no easy solution. If we should stop calling them Ford/Chev/Dodge, and started calling them Type F, or C, or D, it just comes across as slightly "tacky" and unprofessinal. It's hard to market anything with a name that fails to conjure up "anything" in a persons brain or imagination. The Nemesis sedan body was a kind of test on my behalf, to see how the marketing aspect would go. Because of the internet, photos helped its launch and its been a relative success. But with oval bodies, I just don't want to have to go that route. NASCAR fans love rooting for the brand that they drive personally and I' m pretty sure you rc oval racers are also pretty passionate as well as you cheer (or boo) the various big 3 brands on sunday afternoons. If the licensing people want to, they could still come after a company that markets Type F, C and D bodies. They say that we are stealing a "likeness" in design. Ya right. However, there's a couple of "good 'ol boys" formerly in the rc body business that will attest to the fact that this very thing happening to them. Personally, I'd rather just pay the piper.

Well, another long post - sorry.

Dale - PROTOform

Dale Epp-Thanks For recalling your visit to B.Coddington,s shop 8 years ago.Running into C.Foose there and again last may in Anaheim was fortuitous.What a veteran talent he is! Ihad no clue you knew him when i drew reference in my last posting.

All the more reason i would look to you for determining the proper way to address the body/brand name debate.I agree that car body names should evoke emotional responses,but,a hot running "TYPHOON" might raise as much excitement as a "FORD" Licensing may be a drawn out process,while a designer of your caliber,could establish a personal, memorable line from the "NEMESIS" onward.

I,ll repeat myself.... you know what to do and make it happen'. DOM-19

Irvan36mm, Try Darkside Motorsports for those 1/12th bodies...........

Irvan36mm, Try Darkside Motorsports for those 1/12th bodies...........Bjr-Thanks! I'll check it out!

I think maybe one reason for not coming up with your own design is ROAR states in rules:

6.1.17.3 OVAL BODIES
-Stock Cars, such as those used in NASCAR

8.9.8.6 Body rules:
-Bodies must resemble NASCAR-type stock cars or trucks.


If you came up with say a generic looking stock car body called the "Lightning", somebody might say, hey they don't run that Lightning body in Nascar or that Lightning body doesn't resemble anything in Nascar (Ford, Chevy or Dodge) -- therefore it might not get approval from ROAR...I could be off base here but that is what I was thinking after reading the rule.

I know the 300M TC body put out by Proline was not approved for Sanctioned use because supposedly this car was not raced on a full scale Touring Car circuit.I like the idea of a generic type body. I could be way off base here but to me the HD Monte Carlo looks less like a stock car and more like a late model dirt car and ROAR approved it and it works great. So good on tracks that need the extra downforce that bodies that do resemble the true nascar bodies, ie:the Ford taurus simply cannot keep up. Speaking of late model bodies, I sure would like to see a Dale Epp version for a pan car sort of like the cobra wedge bolink used to put out. Macallister has a couple but they seem a little bulky for a pan car because they will fit a touring car as well and need clearance for the shock towers. I like the bodies but would like to see something a little more "low Slung". Keep up the good work Dale, I am trying of of the R/T bodies in stock right now and it works great.

Guys;
I know its off topic, but what do you think of "our own" RC Car manufacturer/business owner Tony Stewart. He's absolutely on fire! He's always been one of my favourites, but this year, the way he's driving and handling the stesses of media attention etc. he's been challenging Bobby Labonte as my absolute personal favourite. Amazing. He's like a "new guy". Ya, you've got to give Zippy and the crew a lot of credit, but still, there's something new and different going on with Tony that's under the surface, in my opinion. I know he moved back home to Indiana, and that's probably a big part of it too. But hey, regardless of what it is, I sure am enjoying watching the way he's takin' them all to school every weekend. I hope his win-streak lasts all the way to Homestead.

What a cool thing to have an "ambassador" like Tony for the entire rc oval schene.

Dale Epp :)

I know he moved back home to Indiana, and that's probably a big part of it too. From what I've read on Jayski.com & Nascar.com,the move back home,among other things, played a huge part. Kinda brought him back "down-to-earth". Hope he wins the Cup,too!
-George

I would like to see PROTOform, BANDIT, and McAllister only be allowed to make one body make with 2 versions. Let PROTOform have the MonteCarlo, Bandit have the FORD, and McAllister have the Dodge. Each have a SS body and a highdownforce. With only 2 molds to have, thats got to make it cheaper and maybe we could have more updated bodies.

I'm a Monte Carlo man myself, and would love to race that body everywhere I go. Short track or long.........

Just a thought.

Kenny@RAPTOR

I would like to see PROTOform, BANDIT, and McAllister only be allowed to make one body make with 2 versions. Let PROTOform have the MonteCarlo, Bandit have the FORD, and McAllister have the Dodge. Each have a SS body and a highdownforce. With only 2 molds to have, thats got to make it cheaper and maybe we could have more updated bodies.

I'm a Monte Carlo man myself, and would love to race that body everywhere I go. Short track or long.........

Just a thought.

Kenny@RAPTOR


those other two would have to really step it up to another level to match protoform quality.

It's not so much "the other two" as it is ROAR. ROAR sets the specs.......they need to tighten them and inforce them and not approve anything until it is within those specs. I have yet to see an R/C body that resembles a real NASCAR since they "pushed" the nose out on those cars.

Nothing against PROTOform because I like his bodies the best. But I like to run Chevrolet. And out of all the years I've been doing this, since 1990, the first time I mounted a FORD was 2 weeks ago at BMS. It almost killed me. But "the fast" say that is the body to run, and there is no PROTOform Chevrolet non-high downforce body to run.

Kenny@RAPTOR

There's a nice article about Chip Foose in Septembers Car & Driver. Nice photos too.

I follow what you are saying Kenny.

Dodge Petitions for New Nose: Dodge, which has only two victories with the new Charger, has petitioned for a new nose in 2006. Evernham Motorsports, Chip Ganassi Racing and Penske Racing collaborated on the new piece, which resembles the Ford front end but has the old Intrepid center. The nose will be ready this week. It must be submitted by September 1 to be approved for next season by NASCAR.(Sporting News)(8-22-2005)


Dale we feel your pain