In 1984, after 24 years in the specialty automotive industry, Jerry Landgraff started a serious interest in R/C racing. His son Brian (16 years old at the time) had been racing 1/10 scale off-road cars for several months when he decided oval racing might be fun. Jerry and Brian saw their first dirt oval race on a Wednesday night at the Ranch Pit Shop in Pomona, California, and the rest is history.
After limited success with modified off-road cars, they decided to build a car designed specifically for dirt oval. The first Custom Works "Oval" car was definitely in a class by itself. This first generation prototype had many new and innovative ideas. Later a second and third version of the "Landgraff car," as it would become known, incorporated several new ideas that continued to set the car apart from any of its competitors.
Jerry and Brian built 26 cars between August and December of 1986. Every manufacturer had to have a Landgraff car in order to showcase their products. Owners included Bob Novak, Mike Reedy, Kent Clausen and Gary McAllister. During this period, each car was slightly refined until it evolved into the DOMINATOR IV kit, known world wide as the original 4 wheel drive dirt oval car. The DOMINATOR kit was introduced as a production kit in 1987 and went on to win multiple ROAR and NORRCA National Championships.
In 1990 Jerry and Brian decided to try their hand in the 2 wheel drive class, taking 12 prototype cars to the Roar Nationals in Dallas, Texas. The drivers included Joel Johnson, Chris Smith, Chris Doseck, Bob Light, Rob Cutman, Kevin Stevens and Brian Landgraff. They proceeded to win both the Stock and Modified titles in their first attempt, putting seven of their prototype INTIMIDATORS in the Modified A-main! After eight months of continued refinement and the addition of direct drive, the Intimidator kit was made available to the public in March of 1991. This kit has set the pace of 2 wheel drive dirt oval racing ever since.
Also in 1990, Jerry and Brian became interested in the fledgling class of Sprint Cars. At the time, all of the available cars had aluminum cages and cumbersome suspension components. Bob Light drove their single prototype car (to be named the ENFORCER) to victory in the 1990 NORRCA Dirt Oval Nationals at Cooper's R/C race Center in Chatham, Virgnia in August of that year.In December of 1991, Custom Works introduced the ENFORCER as the one and only race-ready sprint car kit available in the world. Its molded nylon cage provided both durability and scale realism, and the idea of a 52-ounce sprint car was unheard of at that time-it was eight ounces lighter than anything else on the market!
Throughout the 90s Custom Works cars were the foundation of R/C dirt oval racing as they accumulated unmatched numbers of regional and national championships in the United States and Canada. In July of 2003 Brian and Jerry's long time friend Tony Stewart purchased the company and moved it to its current location in Denver, NC. Since relocating to North Carolina Custom Works has extended its winning tradition by continuing to develop new and innovative oval racing cars.
The most recent car from the Custom Works stable is the newly released Enforcer 7 sprint car which began shipping in December of 2016. This newest Enforcer designed by Engineer and long time team member Brian Breckenridge has proven to be a contender right out of the box with wins by Justin Haynes, Jake Flurer and Max Flurer at the recent Dixie Nationals and Sprint Car Nationals.
Custom Works cars have won over 90% of the National Championships since the first ROAR Nationals in Longwood Florida in 1988. We believe in selling top-quality products made in the USA. We race what we sell and sell what we race. With a constant commitment to quality and customer service, Custom Works remains the "DOMINANT FORCE" in dirt oval racing.