RPW Column: Racers Learn Valuable Tools From Industry Leaders At Elmo’s Chassis Seminar

Column By: BRETT HORLACHER / RPW – ALBANY, NY – It was standing room only at the Elmo’s Speed and Supply Chassis Seminar at the Polish Community Center in Albany, NY on a snowy February day this past Saturday.

With industry experts in attendance eager to share their knowledge and potential pitfalls, the group was all-ears for the nearly eight-hour class session.

It was a far-reaching affair, with attendees from not only the Northeast states of New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, but as far south as North Carolina, Delaware and Maryland.  There were even attendees from the North up in Ontario, Canada.

Topics covered included tire preparation and cleaning where noted tire specialist Jay Castimore of Halmar-Friesen Racing shared his treasure trove of knowledge of how to not only make a tire fast, but to also make one last.

With his experience for both Hoosier and American Racer tires, the entire group had the opportunity to learn about their specific tire from one of the best in the business.

Bob Henry of Henry’s Headers and Exhaust Systems was in attendance.  He shared the pitfalls of older exhaust systems and the potential effects of letting the exhaust portion of the engine be exposed to moisture, the corrosion, and ultimately how all of that causes a loss of horsepower.

Frank Simonetti of Swift Springs and Bubba Gale of Gale Force Suspension Management gave a very informative session on coil springs.  The two went in-depth into the construction process, described what makes springs react to various motion and how that translates into race car movement.

The highlight of the session was a demonstration of a GALE FORCE Spring Smasher.  This is a device that uses an electric motor to manipulate a coil spring and shock to get information such a static load.  Static load is how much weight the car is putting on a spring with the car at rest.  They also explained dynamic-load, which is how much weight the car is putting on a spring at full travel.  That’s usually when the car is in the middle of the corner.

They ended with how a setup can be changed to get the car to obtain the desired amount of travel and transfer that puts force into the tire.  Subsequently, that puts force into the racing surface, thus making the car turn.

Finally, as a wrap-up on the previous topics, Bob Slack of Bicknell Racing Parts and Joe Matthews now with Fox Shocks discussed full chassis preparation.  The two went over everything from unloading off the trailer, usage of checklists to ensure no items are missed or completed twice, and different setups for heavy {wet} track conditions, dry-slick and everything in-between.

There were several door prizes available during the seminar for attendees, including a set of exhaust headers from Henry’s, a wheel from Keizer Racing Wheels, a complete outer body panel assembly from MadSkins, a set of coil springs from Swift, and a set of Fox Shocks from JAM Performance (formerly owned by Matthews but now by Elmo’s Speed).

All of these were up grabs to some lucky people who not only left the seminar with knowledge but some excellent additions for their race cars.

The gifts kept on giving with some speakers giving out their personal phone numbers with the open invite for questions.

The information gleaned by all attendees from the over one-hundred years of racing experience making presentations on Saturday will no-doubt make its way to many of the teams competing on a weekly basis at race tracks all over the East Coast.

As a personal note from those putting on the seminar, Chris Reckner of Elmo’s thanked everyone who attended.  He also thanked those who spoke and to the Staff at the Polish Community Center in Albany for providing excellent hospitality and a wonderful venue to hold the seminar.

If you weren’t able to attend, those looking to purchase any of the above-mentioned products, or to have their race cars / equipment serviced, you can get in touch with Elmo’s Speed and Supply in Burnt Hills, NY.