Partner Profile: Chassis Engineering’s Clayton Murphy Talks State of Drag Racing in 2024
After almost 40 years of experience at Chassis Engineering, which celebrated 40 years in business in 2021, Clayton Murphy has seen good times and bad times in drag racing. He’s learned that the economy is cyclical, and that this year’s “soft” election year economy will eventually recover. But he also knows that to make it through the seasons when racers maybe aren’t buying as many go-fast parts, businesses that cater to hobbyists must adapt and overcome.
[Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #190, the State of Drag Issue, in September/ October of 2024.]
On this busy Thursday afternoon, Murphy takes stock of all the projects in progress at Chassis Engineering. They’re one of the few fab shops in the Riviera Beach, Florida, area with certain equipment and machines, so they take on light industrial work from local businesses like car washes. The team is also in the process of wrapping up T-shirt carts for Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings racers Paige Coughlin and Robin Roberts. Finally, Murphy and his team are working on a street rod project for an undisclosed racer that may or may not involve stuffing a 959-cubic-inch nitrous engine into an otherwise stock-appearing ’69 Camaro.
Though Murphy points out outside factors like developers threatening racetracks or the aforementioned economic worries, Murphy remains optimistic about drag racing, both in its present state and its future.
“There’s a lot of good things that are going on in drag racing,” says Murphy, who purchased Chassis Engineering from founder Bill Edwards in 2013. “Big-dollar races are still happening. You’ve got the DI Winter Series races that Wes [Buck] is doing, the stuff that PDRA is doing, the stuff that NHRA is doing. We’ve just recently started running some NHRA races and it seems like the spectator count’s still there and the quality of cars is still there.
“Obviously, Pro Mod right now really is probably the biggest thing going,” Murphy continues. “The fan base still wants to see Top Fuel and things of that nature, but I think racers themselves want to see the Pro Mod stuff. It just seems like that’s where the most excitement is.”
Murphy works with numerous customers competing in different classes, but his primary responsibility these days is serving as crew chief for fellow South Floridian and longtime friend Daryl Stewart, who competes in PDRA Extreme Pro Stock and NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock. Stewart’s program benefits from Murphy’s expertise, while Murphy gets to test his theories and products in a real-world application.
“I think having that experience over the years, going to races and actually crewing on cars, has made most of our products more user-friendly,” Murphy says. “When I go to the racetrack, I don’t mind working if we have to, but I don’t want to work if I don’t have to. By that I mean we try to be prepared and try to make the weekend as smooth as possible without hurting parts. Part of that is just making things and refining things so that nobody has that problem. I like to think when we design and build our products, we take a lot of that into consideration.”
Going racing for several weekends out of the year can lead to some hectic workweeks back at the shop, but Murphy believes it’s a worthwhile endeavor.
“For me, it’s a necessity because I like to be out there and understanding exactly what customers need and want,” Murphy says. “Being able to go and race at a high level and be there to compete, not just be a speed bump, and then come home and take that information that you’ve learned and transfer that into the components that you want to manufacture, it goes a long way.”
Murphy notes that Chassis Engineering also offers products from a number of other industry-leading manufacturers like Strange Engineering and Meziere Enterprises. He tests products from these brands, providing the businesses with R&D feedback and giving Murphy and his team the knowledge of these products to provide support for customers.
Since the beginning, Chassis Engineering has taken steps to stand out from the pack while offering complete solutions for racers. Murphy remains committed to that mission as the company continues to thrive through its fifth decade in business.
“There’s a lot of great builders out there,” Murphy says. “There’s a lot of people that produce a lot of really cool products, but I don’t know that there’s too many companies anymore that are out there that have the experience and the knowledge that we have here.”
This story was originally published on October 17, 2024.
The post Partner Profile: Chassis Engineering’s Clayton Murphy Talks State of Drag Racing in 2024 first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
