Knowing how to build the right chassis came from his days of go-kart racing, which included winning the 1960 World Championship karting event in the Bahamas and 1961 100cc karting World Championship in Italy.
“I always told people that the chassis made a difference,” Allen said. “Just like if you ever race go-karts, they don’t have any suspension. But by the way the frames are put together and how they flex, some go good when it is tacky. Some go good when it’s dry. Then you learn how to build that chassis until it works that way.
“In a sprint car, you usually could maybe do the same thing with the chassis and then you have the shocks and bars for fine tuning.”
There was always a fine line to how much flex the chassis should have. If it was too stiff there was a small window of what you could do with it, Allen said. Too flexible and it could hurt the chassis or wear it out in a handful of races. If you got it just flexible enough, it could work everywhere with the right setup.
Finding that fine line was sometimes a matter of luck, Allen noted.
His self-sufficient methods have stayed with Shark Racing, even as his drivers — son Jacob Allen and grandson Logan Schuchart — grow as veteran World of Outlaws drivers backed by Drydene Performance Products.
The pair have followed his lead, taking charge of their own cars each race weekend and spending hours with their team working on them.
With the 80-plus race World of Outlaws schedule, Allen – now 76 years old – has had to outsource some aspects of the cars he and the team don’t have time to build, such as getting their chassis from Triple X Race Co.
Building their own motors is still in the family, though.
Allen’s nephew, Michael Newman, started building sprint car engines about seven years ago and is now one of the top engine builders. Newman’s Racing Engines power several Sprint Car teams around Pennsylvania and are the heart of the Shark Racing cars.
His engines have propelled Schuchart to 17 career Outlaw wins, including two wins at Eldora Speedway — tying him with Allen’s win count at the iconic half-mile track.
“He does a really good job putting them together,” Allen said. “He’s learned a lot. I showed him how to insert things and find certain things and gave him some rough ideas. We talk on the phone every day. He has a good concept of why they run good. What makes them run. And we seem to do well with them. And I’m proud of him because he does a good job putting them together and figuring out things that could help, too.”
Allen has always paved his own road to success and built the equipment to do it with. That’s made every win equally special to him, although Knoxville and Eldora held a higher distinction.
When he knew he had a car to win, he was going get it done his own way, even if it meant having to make a small fib to a sponsor.