LFR Looks to Continue Dominance on the Race Track in 2019
LFR Secures 2018 NWMT Championship as well as 2nd & 3rd in Points
SHREWSBURY, Mass. (December 17, 2018) — Since its inception, LFR has been the backbone of championship teams in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Dominating at the racetrack from 2015 to 2018, LFR cars have pulled into Victory Lane over 30 times on the NASCAR Modified tour alone and secured all championships in the past four years.
This includes a dominating run by Doug Coby, winning three consecutive championships, as well as Justin Bonsignore, a NWMT veteran earning his first championship in the first year he ran in LFR equipment. Also, in 2018, Chase Dowling commanded the inaugural Musket 250 at Loudon taking the pole and the win in the LFR house car.
“That is so important in this business,” explained Fuller. “You have to keep a house car on the track not only to stay up on the ever-changing dynamic of the sport, but to also show customers you know and understand your product. Very few chassis companies can provide the level of customer support that LFR can, simply because their customers are more educated on their product than they are. We have a great handle on the shocks and spring packages required to obtain and maintain a specific load at a specific track. It was too much on us as a company to chase points and keep the LFR brand headed in the right direction with development, as well as servicing customers. There were weeks we wouldn’t unload our car for days simply because the customers came first and that’s just not the right way to do it, so we won’t do it at all.”
Heading into 2019, Rob Fuller will be taking the LFR brand and team into the new year with not only the drive to win, but a strong focus on R&D and customer support to continue its winning tradition. New designs and product development will be in the works at the LFR location in West Boylston, Mass.
“It’s not who has the most cars wins,” said Fuller. “We are more focused on R&D, higher-end design, and winning. We expect our cars to win, and I want to do everything I can to help our customers do that. If we sold cars to every team that called wanting one, we would be back where we were three years ago. Our cars are not for the masses and are more expensive in general. I have been the owner of a company that manufactures 100 plus chassis per year, and it is not the direction I would like to go at this stage of my life. While they are busy manufacturing cars for people they barely know, we will be at tracks conducting team LFR test sessions and wrapping up our Gen 2 and Gen 3 designs in 2019.”
“You can only be in so many places at one time” continued Fuller. “LFR cars finished 1, 2 and 3 in the championship points standings and won over half the races on the tour so we expect to continue that level of dominance. The tour is a great place to judge performance. NASCAR does a great job policing the series to provide a level playing field which is tough to accomplish these days so my hats off to Jimmy (Wilson, NASCAR Series Director) and his team.”
Dave Sapienza is a new addition to the LFR team in 2019. Sapienza had career-best qualifying and finish in his first-ever start in the LFR car he purchased and has since ordered another brand new LFR car for 2019.
“That’s huge,” explains Fuller. “Guys like Dave are a perfect example of why I do this. He has a spring in his step now, their guys are more motivated than ever, and that’s something money can’t buy. That’s what I enjoy the most when I can share my engineering background with guys that want to just race modifieds and have fun.”
In 2018, Rob Fuller Motorsports ran a full-time in-house car for driver Chase Dowling, who secured his first career win and finished second in championship points.
“We are not running full time this year out of my shop, so we have a lot of plans for R&D on our chassis and some new designs coming out,” said Fuller. “Having an in-house car and being at the race track all the time with customers is vital to be the best. Companies can look at what we do and generate a similar piece, that’s to be expected, but they will always be a step behind us on track. We are years ahead with the direction the Modifieds are headed with setups and shock valvings and vehicle dynamics in general. While the others manufacture what we are having success with, we will be moving on to the next level of design and performance to keep them chasing.”
“That’s what makes this sport great…competition,” continued Fuller. “These Modified racers are extremely intelligent and experienced. They want someone they can listen to and respect when they want to bounce ideas off a chassis company, not someone who hasn’t been there or done that, if you will.”
LFR owner Rob Fuller expects to debut their Gen 2 Chassis design in early 2019. The complete redesigned Gen 3 Chassis will be scheduled to debut towards the end of 2019.
“The Gen 2 will consist of simple bolt-on changes with minor chassis changes,” explained Fuller. “It is very similar to my Draco Spring line. You cannot show your hand early in the game knowing the response will be duplication. We always have something on the horizon in regard to better designs for that reason alone. The large spring manufactures cannot keep up on design changes because of mass production processes which has provided an edge for Draco as well. The same applies to any competitive industry. There is a market for both for sure, but we will never go back there as long as I continue to own the company. The overhead, expense and just stress alone in heading down that road just isn’t fun and if I’m not having fun I simply won’t do it. I am extremely happy with where we are today as a company, and we will continue to maintain some of the best teams in racing and evolve in a manner that will keep us on top. Look for LFR to maintain its level of dominance in 2019!”
For more updates, follow LFR on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LFRChassisInc or online at www.LFRchassis.com.
Sources: Nealie Stufflet/LFR PR