Hi, I’m Lou Herfurth—drag racer, fabricator, and founder of HARM Fabrication. I’m married to my amazing wife Sheryl, and together we have a son, daughter, and stepdaughter. We enjoy Caribbean vacations, shooting sports, the occasional winery or brewery, and good times with family and friends. But above all, racing is our passion.

Sheryl raced her ’67 Camaro for a bit, but these days she’s my biggest supporter at the track. I’ve been fortunate to win five track championships, several index and bracket events in the Northeast, an NMRA race, and even a prestigious NHRA Wally.

When I’m not at the track, I help run our family’s meat company which has been in business for more than 50 years. Earlier in life, I worked in fabrication, welding, and even ran three hearing aid centers during a 20-year stint in audiology. But my love for metalwork and race cars always remained constant.

Around 2012, I started building aluminum exhaust systems out of necessity—to lighten my car for the 10.00 index class. At the same time, a friend of mine was also chasing a lightweight build to set a “stock engine” record. Since both of our cars were street-driven, a full exhaust system was a must.

We discovered that an aluminum system could save nearly 50 pounds—huge in racing terms. While some people told us it wouldn’t last, we were determined. We tried, and it worked. My friend ran his for months, even commuting to and from the track. Eventually, I built my own system, and you can still find a 2013 video on my YouTube channel showing me cruising around in my 1984 Mustang with an aluminum exhaust!

Durability wasn’t the problem—the mufflers were. At the time, the few available aluminum mufflers wore out quickly. After about a year, the internals would literally blow out, so we started prototyping our own, seeking a more reliable option. That challenge turned into an opportunity—and we rose to meet it.

As interest grew, people started asking me to build mufflers for them, too. That’s when we decided it needed a name. Half-joking, I called it the Herfurth Aluminum Racing Muffler—the HARM Muffler. The name stuck. Later, during the COVID-19 lockdowns, we released our first slotted core design, and my friend Ed dubbed it the VIRUS VENT—that one stuck, too.

Not long after, HARM Fabrication LLC was officially launched. Since then, we’ve expanded our lineup with Titanium-core “Drag and Drive” mufflers, offering a quieter, street-friendly alternative to the race-focused Virus. Today, HARM occupies half my 30×50 garage and stocks a wide variety of parts, including standard and custom mufflers, tubing, bends, V-band assemblies, and more.

This is still a passion project at heart and fun for me. My goal is simple: to make the best mufflers possible—lighter, more durable, better sounding, and built for serious racers.

We’re just getting started—and new designs are always on the horizon!