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Click here for more pics and for the author's impression of riding in the truck! Pete Albano's passion for off-roading started when he was a kid, spending countless weekends modifying his remote-controlled cars at the local RC raceway. His father took notice and quickly had young Pete turning wrenches with him side by side in the family garage. As the years went by, Pete hooked up with Peter Kay and Todd Wittman and assisted them with pit support for their Superlite Series race car, which was a fan favorite in the short-course races at Glen Helen Raceway. This was his first real introduction into the world of dirt and he was hooked. He quickly packed up his bags and moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he could help Todd with his racing career for a couple of years and soak up as much experience and knowledge of fabrication as possible.
It just so happened that Todd was very close friends with Rick and Jeff Geiser of Geiser Brothers Racing, a pair known for turning out some of the top Trophy Trucks and capturing titles in the likes of the Baja 1000. The brothers had been lending Todd a hand at building his race cars. Pete knew it was the opportunity he was looking for. He was now spending time learning from some of the best in the business, which would help his design, geometry, fabrication, and shock-technology education grow by leaps and bounds.
Spending time surrounded by numerous race cars, Pete quickly found a love for modifying shocks. His experience inside a race shock was very confusing and frustrating at first, but patience and persistence paid off when people started asking him for his advice. He soon realized that making a car go fast meant a lot more than a high horsepower number and a lead foot. Pete became fascinated with the infinite adjustability of shocks and the ability to make such a drastic difference in a car's capability by making the proper adjustments.
Today, Pete is the owner of Precision Shockworks based in Upland, California. He has worked on numerous race cars since his Superlite days and is very well known within the local desert racing scene as being the guy to call when your truck isn't taking that whoop section just right. Recently, he completed building his '89 Ford Ranger 4x4 into a prerunner we knew our readers would appreciate.