The Van Diest building at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds in Webster City was the site last weekend for the first of two racing chassis schools put on by Bob Harris of Harris Racing Enterprises located near Roland.
More than 50 racers and crew members from Iowa and eight other states attended the two-day school to learn about fine tuning their Sport Mod car chassis' to gain the winning edge. The youngest attendee was a 14-year-old who will transition his many years of go-kart racing skills to a Sport Mod on fast dirt tracks this year.
Many of the Sport Mod race cars utilize "crate engines" which must remain unaltered and sealed to meet the sanctioning organizations' rules, so the racers must depend on fine tuning the car chassis to be a top competitor.
As part of the classroom instruction Harris demonstrated the use of the various chassis components on cut-away car frames along with under-car videos to demonstrate how the parts perform in actual race conditions.
Students were also able to get hands on experience with a full body Sport Mod on display in the VanDiest Building during the final afternoon of the school.
Next weekend Harris Race Tech Info brings a one-day stock car hobby stock chassis school to Webster City. Earlier this racing season, the firm presented similar schools in Kansas and Minnesota and have their final session set for March in South Dakota.
Assisting at the school on Saturday were Webster City's own Rocky Caudle - the No. 99 Sport Mod and Harris employee, and Brett Meyer of Lytton, the 2010 IMCA Super Nationals Sport Mod champion.
