Northeast Metal Art serving region’s short track teams with quality Powder Coating
Sam Gooden and his sons building stellar reputation among racers
SOUTH PARIS, Maine (Mar. 10, 2020) — There’s a hot new trend taking place among northern New England race teams as the 2020 season draws ever closer. It’s not one that involves some trick part, suspension theory or secret engine program, yet it sure improves the appearance of a new chassis.
Over in Whitefield, New Hampshire, short track veteran Sam Gooden and his sons Sammy Jr. and Michael are servicing teams from the Pro All Stars Series, the American-Canadian Tour, the Granite State Pro Stock Series and racers who compete at weekly tracks with their high-quality powder coating skills.
Gooden and his Northeast Metal Art company have been powder coating new Port City Racecar chassis for several customers at Crazy Horse Racing (CHR) (approx. 16-18), and their work truly sets the gold standard. Not many teams care to fool with the standard painting process any more; powder coating is simpler and easily produces better results. Gooden’s results make CHR customers happy.
“We really appreciate each one of the chassis we get from Crazy Horse,” Gooden said. “Even though race cars are a small part of our business, that part of it has really grown. We’ve been doing this kind of work for about six years now. After a little trial and error, we’ve got the process dialed in.”
For those uninitiated with that process, powder coating is a dry finishing processthat uses finely ground particles of pigment and resin that are electrically charged and sprayed onto electrically grounded parts. The charged powderparticles adhere to the part and are held there until melted and fused into a uniform coatingin a curing oven. It is a process which delivers an unsurpassed final finish.
“It’s a combination of the quality of the powder you use and the temperature in your oven that gives the great end results,” Gooden added. “There are techniques and skills required to get the look we want and to have it last. We learned as we went along, got better, and today produce a nice finish.”
Gooden is now 52, Sammy Jr. is 25 and Michael is just 19. Together, they service local fab shops with quality coating for hand railing, seats and various other metal products. In 2020, they’ve also lit up the radar screens of race teams around the region with their work on newly fabricated chassis, especially from Port City.
“We’ve got one cooking in the oven right now,” Gooden said. “They’ll probably send a man over to get this one tomorrow, and we have one to coat in bright yellow to to for them after that. We’re happy to keep working for CHR and these great race teams, and welcome others to our service.”
Crazy Horse Racing was first launched in 2008 by Mitch Green, a former school auto shop teacher from South Paris, Maine. Mitch’s son, Mickey, bought the company from his father in March of this year. Mickey is a world class fabricator, innovator and a seasoned crew chief.
To keep up with off-season news and read about more of the teams running new Port City cars from Crazy Horse Racing in 2020, be sure to ‘Like’ our Facebook page and follow CHR on Twitter. To learn more about the Port City Racecars brand, go to www.portcityracecars.com.