NASCAR to Manufacturing: Ron Malec Shares Career Insights from the Track & Beyond

Introduction

Adam: So this episode of the WiLL Cast
is episode number 36, and our guest was Ron Malek.

Becca: Indeed it was. What an
interesting guy that was. It was a lot of fun.

Adam: I've known Ron for a few years
now. Ron and I met over at Road America. We both race cars over at Road
America. Ron is a racer, he's a mechanic, he's an engineer, he's a leader. He
spent 20 years at Hendrick Motorsports, which is arguably not only one of the
most successful racing teams in NASCAR, but most successful racing teams on the
planet. Specifically, he was car chief for Jimmie Johnson. They won seven
championships. It was Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus, and Ron Malek leading the
team. Ron was the floor general as the car chief. We talked about his days at
Hendrick Motorsports, talked about his early racing career in Wisconsin. He's a
Wisconsin guy, although we did find out he was from Illinois originally.

Becca: We did. You missed that. He
kind of slipped that in there in the beginning.

Adam: He's born in the Chicago area,
moved to Wisconsin, and then got into cars. He touches on that in the first
part of the episode, then goes into his time at Hendrick. We talk about his
racing, his cars, and then his latest career, which is in the manufacturing
business at Milwaukee Tool, which is about an hour south of here. He is the
senior manager for accessories engineering.

Becca: It sounds like a lot. It's an
interesting transition. The NASCAR stuff is just so cool to hear about as a
NASCAR fan, but then to hear him talk about that transition and how he applies
that skill set to manufacturing is a really great way to wrap up the episode.

Adam: He touched on what he looks for
in engineering hires, talked about the hands-on approach to engineering versus
people that prefer to be behind a computer, the importance of understanding the
tooling, the mechanical side, even if you're designing electronic parts. I
think it'd be great to have him back on and go into a few more details
regarding some of the specifics of his time at Hendrick Motorsports.

Becca: Yeah, a really nice guy. One of
the hardest-working guys on the planet. And willing to drive up here after his
workday — very gracious with his time.

WiLL Sport & The Ledge Games

Adam: This episode of the WiLL Cast is
also presented by WiLL Sport, which is our line of indoor and outdoor sports
lighting products here at Wisconsin Lighting Lab. Becca, what type of
applications does the WiLL Sport brand focus on?

Becca: All of the sports applications
— everything from field houses to basketball courts to football fields to
baseball diamonds to baseball stadiums and athletic complexes. Everything in
between. Anything you can play a sport on, we can light it.

Adam: It's also brought to you by the
Ledge Games — my personal favorite.

Becca: Becca's personal favorite.

Adam: The Ledge Games is a lumberjack
competition that we host every single year. We've raised tens of thousands of
dollars over the years, and all the money made from the Ledge Games goes to
support local trades education, technology education, other types of
engineering and manufacturing causes.

Becca: It is the last Saturday in
September every year, at Red Cabin and Green Acres on Fourth Street Road in
Eden, Wisconsin. And if people want to sign up or sponsor — LedgeGames.com.

Adam: Well, enjoy this episode of the
WiLL Cast with Ron Malek.

Data Collection & Cameras on the Car

Adam: What does that look like in
testing versus during a race? Were you allowed to use the camera system?

Ron: Oh, yeah. Honestly, it was
sometimes just a GoPro. We would strap those things to things that you probably
wouldn't want to strap it to — inside wheel wells, on the actual suspension and
things like that. But there was also — we used a Pi data collection system, and
actually there were cameras you could put right in line with that. The biggest
issue with our Pi systems was we were usually maxed out on channels. That's why
we went to the alternative cameras, usually, because our channel system — we
had everything instrumented under the sun for the limited amount of testing we
could do. All the data we could collect, we did.

Where Racing Started

Adam: So where did racing start for
you? How far back does it go?

Ron: Obviously my dad was racing at
the oval track level back in the mid-70s, kind of when I was born. He actually
lived in Chicago, so he raced at Waukegan Speedway. I think that closed down in
like '79 or so. I was born in '74. We moved up to Wisconsin in '76, and my dad
was trying to race at Hales Corners in the early 80s. He had put together a
dirt sportsman and tried racing — he'd run maybe once or twice a year in that
first couple of years, '80–'81 range. And of course we would help him try to
build these cars and go out in the garage and get in the way. I'm sure, now
after having a little boy myself, I realize they hinder — decreasing
productivity, not increasing.

Ron: That's what gave us the bug. We
were brought up around it. Obviously we watched racing a lot in our house. Then
we moved to go-karts. My brother was two years older than me, he started first
in go-karts when he was nine, and then I followed at eight years old at
Dousman. We raced there. I raced there until I was about 15–16, and I moved
into cars when I was 16. I started racing at Lake Geneva as a sportsman,
Mid-American Series car, asphalt ovals. My brother had raced dirt at Wilmot,
and then he also had a Mid-American car that he had raced prior to me starting.
We weren't very successful.

Ron: We kind of had an obstacle in our
life — my dad was a big Ford guy, and it was a lot more difficult to run Fords
back then than it is now. Engine costs, parts costs, all the above. There
really wasn't a high-performance engine of choice for Ford, so we ended up
running a 351 Cleveland, and it was kind of a chore.

Adam: So he was brand-loyal, but it
ended up hurting you guys.

Ron: It did hurt us, but I think it
helped me in a way that nothing was given to me. I had to work for it. The
first engine I built myself, when I was 16 years old — it came apart the first
night out, and I learned a lot from that. I learned the downside of motorsports,
how much it costs, and it taught me to appreciate when things do go well. Every
dollar counts, and how much effort it really takes to race. It isn't once you
get the car done, it's over and you just go out and have fun every weekend.
It's a constant battle. It's not going to get easier unless you make it easier
on yourself by hiring more people, but I never had that opportunity.

Midwest Racing: A Feeder System

Adam: What does Midwest stock car
racing look like in terms of the feeder system into some of the higher ranks,
and how does that compare to the Carolinas and the South?

Ron: That's a great question. It's
amazing, the quality of racing up here in Wisconsin and the Midwest area. With
the different series — the RE/MAX Series and things like that, the ARCA Series
up here — that was based in the Midwest. There is such a good feeder system for
drivers from the Midwest, and the racing at short tracks — I just came back up
here to live now. I took my wife and child to Plymouth the other weekend, and
she goes, I can't believe how good racing is here in the Midwest compared to
down south. A dirt track down there might get 10 sprint cars. You go up here
and there's 35 cars on a weekly show. It's just a different feel. People love
racing here. Motorsport's grown. And they earn it.

Ron: Down south, it seems like people
take things for granted. Like, they want it handed to them, or I want to be at
the top level tomorrow and don't want to work for it and get there the correct
way, so you appreciate it. When I was in the business, I would strive to find
people from up north, because I knew they had that ethic built into them from
racing and what it takes. To earn it, to volunteer on a race team instead of be
paid — that kind of work ethic is difficult to get nowadays. Unless somebody
has a lot of funding, really the only way a lot of people are able to get into
racing is because they have friends and buddies that are going to show up every
Saturday and help wrench on the car.

Adam: Right — the combination
mechanic-driver, and then a bunch of friends that can help out. That's probably
just the way things are done. It makes it fun. When you have to start hiring
people, or they really don't want to be there for the right reasons, it's not
always fun. It's that team camaraderie that really makes it special.

Pro Power Engines & Meeting Jimmie Johnson

Adam: When did you start to dabble
with larger teams?

Ron: I got the opportunity — I
obviously had a real job, but I got an opportunity to work in motorsports
basically in '95. I worked for Al Schill down in Franklin. I was good friends
with his son. I'd help him at the track. He owned a team in the Midwest. Al was
based in Franklin, Wisconsin, and he also owned an engine shop. I kind of
part-timed at both and got a great education. I couldn't thank that family
enough for giving me that opportunity, and Bill Schlieper at Pro Power Engines,
to give me that opportunity to learn at an elevated pace. Because I really
didn't have the best teacher — my dad was great, very mechanically oriented,
but the racing part wasn't as in-depth, because he didn't have a lot of
experience. That really elevated my education level and got me to a level where
I felt confident — I can work on race cars for a living. I can actually do
this, and I enjoy it, and I'm getting the knowledge to do that. That's where it
all started.

Ron: Through Pro Power Engines, we
built engines for the off-road trucks also, and that's how I met Jimmie
Johnson. We were at a race in Crandon, and I got introduced to him through Bill
Schlieper. I was just an acquaintance. He knew that I was up here. He'd come up
here because he raced mostly in the Midwest with the off-road series — the SODA
or CORR series back then. He was also under contract from GM, but that's what
he was contracted to do — race off-road, because he started in the Mickey
Thompson series and things like that out west.

Ron: Through that, he raced for
Herzogs, which was a construction company in Missouri, and they also owned that
off-road truck team. They wanted to get into NASCAR or asphalt oval racing.
Chevrolet was teamed up with them, and they wanted Jimmie to drive. So they
found an existing ASA team up here that they wanted to purchase — Baker
Motorsports, based out of West Allis. One of the deals was, if they bought the
team, Howie, the crew chief, was going to have to stay in Wisconsin — he didn't
want to move, and that's where the team was going to be based.

Ron: Jimmie had to move up here too
and work on the cars. That was part of the deal. So he knew Bill Schlieper up
at Pro Power, and he knew he needed some people to work on this race team. He
visited Pro Power one day in the winter, I think it was November, just started,
winter of '97. He was looking for somebody to work on this team, and Bill's
like, well, I've got your guy for you. He works here. I think he'd be a great
fit. He's got no ties right now.

Adam: Is this when you were sleeping
in the shop?

Ron: Sleeping upstairs on the Schill's
house, yeah. And I was like, yeah, I'll interview for the job. It sounds great.
Travel the country, be on a professional race team. Sure enough, Howie went for
it, and it was just basically me and him that worked on the cars full-time.
Jimmie obviously helped also. That's when I moved in with Jimmie. We got an
apartment out in Pewaukee. We worked in West Allis for a while, then we bought
a shop in Sussex and built an ASA team there. I actually — we had two teams the
second year. I was a crew chief for Rick Johnson. And then obviously Jimmie got
his Busch deal at the end of '99, and part of the deal was for me to go with
him. He wanted me to help him start his career and be a mechanic on his team.
So then we moved down south, and it's all history after that.

The Busch Series & Getting Hired at Hendrick

Adam: How long did you guys race in
the Busch Series?

Ron: We were in the Busch Series for
two years. That was also under the Herzogs. They had this escalated program —
they wanted to get up to the big leagues and make it to NASCAR at some point,
the Cup Series. They never quite made it. Some things happened. But Jimmie,
through his two years in the Busch Series, obviously impressed Jeff Gordon and
Rick Hendrick. He got the opportunity at Hendrick Motorsports. One of the
things — he said, I want to take this guy with me. He's done a good job, he's
been at my side, very committed. I was actually hired before Chad was ever
hired. I actually did the last race of 2001 at Atlanta on the pit crew — the
first week I worked at Hendrick Motorsports in November. Then I worked there
for another 19 years and 11 months.

The 48 Team: A New Operation

Adam: So was the 48 car a new team?

Ron: It was a new team. Jimmie was
driving, Chad Knaus was crew chief, and I was car chief. That was the first
basically first edition of that particular car. The first time that car
actually ran with Jimmie driving, Chad wasn't even the crew chief at that point
— Ken Howes, the competition director, was actually the crew chief. He did four
races prior to the 2002 season. That's when we all got together and worked with
Chad and Jimmie ever since, all through that time until basically 2017, when I
came off the road to manage the facility.

How Hendrick Motorsports Is Structured

Adam: Hendrick Motorsports — top tier,
one of the best racing teams ever. What does an organization like that look
like? Is it each car with a driver, a crew chief, a car chief? How is a race
team structured?

Ron: It changed a lot during the whole
time frame I was there. Initially when we started, the 24 team, the 5 team, and
the 25 team existed prior to the 48 car starting. They were all in separate
buildings, very separate. No information sharing. You basically weren't allowed
in the other buildings, or you were looked at funny if you went in there. When
the 48 team got formed, it basically became a two-car operation because it was
spawned off the 24 car. The cars that Jimmie got at the beginning of his career
were just old Jeff Gordon cars, basically stuff they didn't want to use.

Adam: How long was a chassis good for?
Would you run them for two or three years?

Ron: They would put maybe eight to 12
races on a car. They were actually used quite a bit, repurposed and rebuilt. It
wasn't to the extent of what we do now — now in the sport it's completely
different. There are cars that only run once and they're retired. NASCAR's put
a stop to that somewhat. But at the beginning, you would actually use cars that
were pretty old. One of his first cars were in the 200 chassis range, and when
I left we had built almost 1,300 chassis. It's amazing, the growth.

Ron: There were separate teams in that
facility. When we combined the 24 and started the 48, it was like a two-car
mentality. A couple years later, the 5 and 25 combined in a new building. And
then in 2017, we finally brought all four teams together, because of financial
and other reasons. It was ridiculous, the way we were spending money, not
sharing resources, not sharing designs, not doing things the same, not having
the same results on track. The point where I started to manage all four teams
is the first time all four teams started to work together, which was 2017.

Adam: Was it by design to create
competition within the team, or did it just happen based on how things were
pieced together over time?

Ron: I think it was more or less to
bring all of our cars up to speed and get everyone running at that same level.
Jimmie had run really well, Jeff had run really well, and the other teams had
their moments, but it wasn't consistent. They wanted consistent performance. To
bring all the teams to the same level — if it's running bad, we're all going to
run bad. If it's running great, hopefully we're all running great. As you can
see now, most of the teams are pretty consistent and all run really well. It's
paying dividends. There were some definitely stumbling blocks at the first part
of the transition. There were two different cultures — there was an old culture
there that was very difficult to change, for everyone to pitch in and work as
one. But I think we did a good job of that and turned the corner. It wasn't
always the smoothest corner to turn, but it paid off, and financially I think
it definitely helped the company.

Vertically Integrated: Tubing Rack to Race Track

Adam: From a mechanical operations
standpoint — when you say you fabricated 1,300 chassis, were you guys actually
making the chassis in-house?

Ron: From the tubing rack all the way
to the race track — it was seven weeks. We would control all that. There were
no outside vendors. There was very little outside influence. We were in control
of our own destiny. If we needed a car built, we could get it built. If we
needed a car fixed, we could fix it. The time frame was only set by us and how
hard we wanted to work. That was huge. You're vertically integrated as much as
possible. Even from the engine side, we were in control. If we had a problem
with our engine, we would take care of it. We chassis-dyno something on
Wednesday, pull the motor out, see an issue, we can have it back in the car by
Friday. That's the mentality. People would work around the clock if necessary.
Hendrick was a huge team, a huge family. Rick obviously built that with how he
is, and people would bend over backwards for that man, and we still do today.
That's how he has so much success.

Adam: Quite an operation.

Ron: I couldn't ask for a better place
to work for all those years. In no way or form did I leave on bad terms or
anything like that. I couldn't ask for a better career and a better place to
work at.

Crashing: Fix It or Scrap It?

Adam: When you guys would crash a car,
what was the determining factor for whether or not you would repair the chassis
or throw it out?

Ron: That one's easy. If the car was
really fast before it crashed, we'd fix it. If it wasn't, we'd probably get rid
of it. We honestly didn't get that scientific. We didn't twist every chassis
and give it a number or figure out what's good or bad about it. We just — if a
car was good, usually it was good for a reason, and they'd want to fix it. Now,
NASCAR started putting limitations on things. You had to run chassis for a
certain amount of time. At the end, they'd actually hold you to four races — or
if you had a catastrophic incident, you could get rid of it at that point. It
isn't the most cost-effective to, on a whim, say I don't like this car and
throw it away.

The Grind: How Hard NASCAR Teams Work

Adam: I don't think people fully
appreciate how hard NASCAR teams actually work. The hours, the travel — what
was that experience over decades for you?

Ron: It's a long season. In the old
days, when you changed engines, you changed stuff for qualifying — qualifying
brakes, gears — you had three practices, three-day shows. You leave on
Thursday, you're back on Sunday night late. Those were hard days. And as the
rules ramped up, it got harder and harder. Body inspections and — at the end,
it is cumbersome to be on a crew. There's a lot of pressure. Obviously, if you
don't perform — we're expected to win. Those hardest years, when we're trying
to back up championships and other things, the pressure on us was immense. Just
to perform, let alone do everything right at the racetrack. It's a pressure you
can't really describe to people. I almost try to block it out. I definitely
blocked out any of the success we had. People always said, why do you never
celebrate? Why do you always look upset? Right — there's work to do. I always
thought about the next step. What are they going to find in our car? There's
always something. But if you don't stay humble and driven, you're going to make
mistakes. Chad was really good at keeping us humble and in the right place.

Ron: If you don't stay driven — oh, we
won a championship, what else do we need to do? — that attitude, you're just
going to lose. You've got to constantly evolve, never stay stagnant. The guys
that are losing are trying really hard to get better. Nobody wants to lose.
It's all a sponsor-driven sport, and performance matters.

Adam: And you guys won five in a row,
seven total.

Ron: Yeah. The five in a row is just
an amazing feat. Now that I look back on it, to keep that kind of drive and
determination — and you're doing it with different people, because guys get
burned down or burned out. They don't want that pressure. It's not fun. Winning
is not always fun. You're in battle, essentially. You're constantly fighting —
all the teams are gunning for you. NASCAR doesn't want us to win five
championships. That's boring. People never thought about that.

Adam: You don't want the Bulls to win
every year.

Ron: Exactly. That's kind of the world
we were living in. Those are the bad guys, and you roll in every week and
you're the bad guy they're trying to get.

The Chemistry of the 48 Team

Adam: If you had to boil down a couple
other factors that made the 48 team what it was — was it the synergies between
you, Jimmie, and Chad?

Ron: I think there was something there
between Jimmie, myself, and Chad that kept the team grounded. Chad would push
the guys. I would somehow get them back on track when they'd get upset. It
wasn't always easy. There were arguments, and I'm sure everyone's heard the
stories. But I think I served my part. Obviously Chad served his part. And
Jimmie — we were all there for him, because that guy cared more about us, I
think, than himself at times. He was out there to make everyone else happy on
that track and not always himself. He was a servant to the sport. I think that
shows with the success. He never lost that drive, and he's still out there
trying to win in his new endeavors.

Adam: As far as crew chief, car chief
— what was the division of labor?

Ron: I'm the doer and he's the teller.
And when things go wrong, I'm in trouble. But no — they do a lot of the
marketing stuff, the office stuff, the higher-up talks. And I do all the
ground-level motivation and direction. I would do all the hands-on work. Chad
was very technically based because he had worked his way up through the ranks,
which was great. There is some division there with people that haven't worked
on race cars that are in the sport — sometimes they don't adjust well to that
hands-on part, or they're not experienced enough to see stuff wrong or give the
second opinion when maybe I was questioning something. He would give
reassurance or tell us we needed to fix something. There was definitely a
balance there. He was from the Midwest, so I think that helped. He could be
pretty coarse, and I could handle it, but a lot of people can't. You have to be
able to deal with reversing the negatives and making it into a positive or
energy to drive you to prove them wrong. There was definitely a balance there,
and some kind of chemistry that definitely worked. I'm gonna be honest — when
things went astray, we could always reel it back in. There was probably an
underlying trust. No matter how people reacted, the fundamentals didn't change.

The F1 Car Swap

Adam: What did the F1 car swap look
like in the Middle East?

Ron: It was such an experience. To go
over there and see that culture and those tracks, and the infrastructure those
cities have built in such a short period — it's just amazing. It was cool to
see the F1 team and meet the McLaren group and see what kind of infrastructure
they have. F1 racing's just amazing. I know Jimmie really enjoyed it. You can
imagine, driving an F1 car has got to be pretty cool. Probably gave him the
itch to drive Indy cars like he is — planted the seed. It was a very cool
experience. It was a big undertaking to get that car there — like three months
in prep, getting it in the container and shipping it overseas. Then you wait,
cut it open, and see how bad everything looks inside when you get there.

Adam: Did you bring one car?

Ron: That was it. One car. We brought
an engine, we brought parts, but we had one car. We knew we'd have to fix it if
something were to happen, but it went off without a hitch. I think we brought
eight sets of tires — that was a huge amount of tires to bring. The fuel we got
delivered there, so that was not something we had to bring. But it's a huge
undertaking, trying to think of everything you would need — especially when you
don't do it every week like the F1 guys. Their compartments are all sorted out.
They have all their parts ready to put in containers. But for NASCAR, we rolled
it in with wooded ramps and had to load it into the container with a rollback.
I have pictures of it. It's pretty cool.

Adam: What was the reason for the
event?

Ron: I think it had to do with maybe
Jimmie and Alonso talking about doing it once. I think it was all with them.
Obviously the sponsors helped fund it because of the publicity and everything,
but I think it was more or less just those two guys wanting to do it, which I
thought was pretty cool — to fulfill your dreams.

Racing at Road America

Adam: So you and I both do some racing
as well. That's how we met over at Road America. What do you have for cars?

Ron: I have my ALLSPORT Ford Mustang,
the Roush car, that I've raced against you. He beat me — I think we've run
twice. Beat me both times. And there's a funny story about the first time we
ran. So we had never met, and I think I beat you going into Turn 1. The move is
always, okay, well, then you've got to pass them going into Turn 3. You're way
more aggressive than I am. So I know he's going to pass me going into Turn 3,
and we ended up hitting — just a little bit. We did touch.

Adam: And it was funny, because
afterwards in the winner's circle, most drivers — no matter what level you're
at — will never admit to anything. It's always the other person. And the second
you got out of the car, you apologized, and I'm like, man, that is super cool.

Ron: It's funny that you weren't going
to apologize.

Adam: Why? It wasn't my fault. He beat
me. It was an aggressive move — it was good. But you usually don't get that
from people.

Ron: Like I say, if I'm not having fun
out there, I don't want to do it. It becomes like a competition thing. I've
done that my whole life, so I'll go out there and have fun. I don't want anyone
to have anything screwed up, because I know that feeling. I work on those cars,
I know how expensive they are, so much work — some stuff's irreplaceable. That
was a huge step for me, to be able to actually do that while still working down
there. I had never taken vacations or anything, and that's when we actually started
coming up here. That was our actual vacation — come up and race at Road America
in the summer.

Adam: It's a great spot for a
vacation.

Ron: And I've got a stock car as well,
and a Corvette — a Corvette Trans Am car. I want to probably try to run that
more. I have a vintage stock car and a couple other street cars that I mess
around with.

What Separates the Top Drivers?

Adam: What separates those guys — the
top 1%? What is that?

Ron: I've always wondered that. I saw
Jimmie evolve. I would go to the go-kart track with him, and I'd been to this
go-kart track 20 times. It's his first time in these carts, and somehow he
would be faster than me instantly. It's just something they have — a feel or
whatever it ends up being. But they definitely can adapt very quickly. Anyone
that's good — there are guys out there that probably never got a fair shake and
good equipment, they're good drivers. There's a handful that probably shouldn't
be out there but got the opportunity. But a true talent that jumps in a car, it
doesn't matter what it is, and they can just drive the wheels off of it — it's
something in their genes, I'm guessing.

Ron: Rusty really loved that car — I
used to have an old Group Six Mustang, like a 1970 Mustang, an old Trans Am
car. He just loved it. We brought that over when they tested with us, too. He
wanted to drive it, so I let him drive it. Within two laps, he was within two
seconds of my fastest time. He had never been to the track before. He was
retired. It just blew me away. He would come in and say, what's your fast lap?
I told him. He just got right back out on the track and tried to beat it. I was
just amazed how quickly he adapted. They're driven by competition. That's the
way they live their lives.

Milwaukee Tool & The Manufacturing Transition

Adam: So now you're in the
manufacturing business. Not manufacturing race cars — making tools.

Ron: Yeah, we actually make the
accessories. I work for Milwaukee Tool now. We make Sawzall blades and hole
saws. It sounds very simple on paper, until you actually start doing it in the
volume that we have to produce. That company's growth and development is
amazing also. I'm very fortunate to be part of that company. Their culture
there is very agile, very similar to motorsports.

Adam: Is it?

Ron: Very similar. Very fast-paced,
they're not afraid to make changes, not afraid to take risks. That's probably
why they've been so successful in the last 10 years. The ability to be able to
make changes and go with that risk — it pays off 80% of the time. It's been an
eye-opening experience. There's parts of the financials, the stuff I didn't
really have to deal with much in motorsports — budgeting, labor charges, how
they actually build the business unit on how the labor is charged to
productivity. I'm learning a lot. It might have even helped me in motorsports
to know that side, so I could understand exactly how the business is funded and
how it will actually make money. But we were very fortunate at Hendrick — we
had basically whatever we needed to go fast.

Ron: The manufacturing side is great.
It teaches me all different aspects of engineering. The lines we've constructed
are amazing over there. We actually build the lines right in our own facility,
because we're a pilot plant. We actually build the lines, develop them, and
then ship them to other manufacturing facilities down in Mississippi. So it is
cool to be part of that.

Adam: So you guys are kind of
first-stage product launch — product launch, product line construction, how to
actually build this new product?

Ron: It's built in a lab, so we have
to actually figure out the ways to construct that and the most cost-effective
ways to construct it. We actually build our own machinery, which is pretty
amazing.

The Importance of Hands-On Engineering

Adam: Years ago, you mentioned how
there aren't as many generalists out there as there used to be.

Ron: Very few. And NASCAR will do that
— they've made that sport specialty. They put people in places where they're
not well-rounded anymore. I always tell people, if they want to get into
motorsports, start at the lower levels and learn all aspects of the sport.
Because if you get in right at the ground level of NASCAR or at the Cup Series,
you're probably not going to get that exposure.

Ron: My crew chief for our Busch team
wouldn't allow me to go to the racetrack because he said I asked too many
questions. So he made me stay back at the shop and build the cars and learn how
to build the cars first before I actually went on the road. I'm kind of glad he
did that to me, because it made me appreciate and learn more about the cars
before I actually had to work on them at the track, and it made me more
valuable at that point.

Adam: One thing we talk a lot about on
the WiLL Cast and with other engineer and manufacturing people in the area is
the importance of the trades and how many people are getting out of the trades.
In the construction business, for every five people retiring in the trades,
there are only two people replacing them. One thing I've noticed is how
important working on cars has been over the last few decades to really educate
the masses on how to do things in engineering and manufacturing. As fewer
people are getting into that, how do you think that's going to impact the
feeder system for different types of manufacturing jobs?

Ron: I've already seen that at our
facility. Trying to hire engineers that can actually build things — that have
that hands-on knowledge. That's honestly one of the big things we look for now
— if anyone has any hands-on experience to go along with their degrees. It's
definitely a big help to understand the processes and to be actually more
valuable on the floor. There is a place for the engineer that designs and does
things at their desk, but if they don't understand what they're designing, or
even how that is going to be manufactured after they design it, it's a huge
detriment. And it takes a long time for that knowledge base to get accelerated.
If someone has worked in a tool-and-die shop and understood the mechanics
behind actually machining the parts, or making the dies, or the stamping tools,
before they actually design them — it definitely pays dividends. And they're
very difficult to find nowadays.

Ron: In our facility, we were building
assembly lines along with designing the assembly lines. One of the unique
things I found when I started there was a lot of the engineers were out on the
floor actually working on the machinery, which was something I hadn't seen in
the past. I thought that's a great asset. It definitely helps their careers.
They get that hands-on — so much more well-rounded.

Adam: They don't teach that in school.

Ron: They don't. Even with engineering
in motorsports — a lot of kids go to the motorsports program to get their
engineering degree, and it helps for sure, like the SAE programs. Anyone that
was involved with that was usually further ahead. But the guy that raced a late
model and got a mechanical engineering degree is miles ahead of the other guys.
Alan Kulwicki, exactly right — he kind of started that. When I was growing up,
that was what you based — I want to be like Alan. I want to race cars and be an
engineer and work on my own stuff and have all the right answers. But it's
definitely diluted now. Everyone wants to hit the easy button and everything
just happens.

Adam: There's so much of a push
towards software and programming. I think that mechanical skill set — at a
certain point something becomes a physical part. The more you can solve in the
digital environment before it gets to that point, the better. Even the controls
guys have to understand the mechanics. You can be a wizard on a computer, but
if you don't understand how the actual process works, you're not going to be
able to do much with your controls processing or programming.

Ron: And there are quite a few NASCAR
people that have gotten into manufacturing. Doug Yates, Brad Keselowski has an
aerospace manufacturing company, some of the Yates family.

Adam: I pay close attention to Tesla
and SpaceX and some of the stuff that Elon Musk is doing. I've seen a lot of
parallels to NASCAR — how hard people work, the hands-on mechanical aptitude
coupled with a lot of the digital engineering stuff.

Ron: You can see how NASCAR would be a
great feeder for that type of business. The level of expectation that's in
NASCAR — that's the same kind of expectation for the military or for the
aerospace industry. That's why they're attracted to businesses like that. The
big four auto manufacturers, when they come to Hendrick Motorsports to do a
program, they know what level of quality they're going to get. We have the
forethought to see things going wrong before maybe the next guy does, because
we've been through a lot.

EVs & NASCAR's Future

Adam: Speaking of Tesla — what are
your thoughts on the EV market, and when's the first time an electric vehicle
is running in NASCAR?

Ron: The new car that they've built is
built for a hybrid system. It's already designed into it — the space for the
motor and the battery and all that good stuff. I believe it's going to happen
soon. It may be a prototype version that is released at some point. I'm sure
they're already testing and designing that portion into it. It's just a push
from society for marketing. All the manufacturers are looking at that hybrid or
full electric vehicle platform. I don't have an opinion either way. I think
there will be an issue with electric, with the grid and being able to charge.
Obviously batteries have life, just like anything else. But I have a long
commute every day to work, so there's days probably electric sounds better than
gas right now with the price.

Adam: Especially if it can drive
itself. That's a booming market for us — whether it's charging poles or
chargers. We're developing complete systems with lights and poles and EV stuff.
It's coming. Obviously there's an infrastructure that has to be there prior for
it all to work out, but it's being pushed very heavily right now.

Favorite Racing Movies & Drivers

Adam: A couple random questions. What
are your favorite racing movies?

Ron: One of my favorites is Kenny
Rogers in Six Pack. Days of Thunder, obviously — that was based on your team,
right? The early days. That was right when I was in high school, when that came
out. I've seen it probably 50 times. The Ford v Ferrari movie was pretty solid,
really good. My wife actually got to do the Ford GT program, and I went to Le
Mans, the 24 Hours, back in '17, I think. She was part of that. I have a good
support system at home that likes motorsports. That's how we actually met — she
was an actual mechanic on a NASCAR team also.

Adam: And what about your favorite
drivers of all time?

Ron: Obviously Jimmie was — he's done
more for me than anyone else probably in my life. When I was a child, Mark
Martin and Bill Elliott were my big ones. Ford guys, obviously. Alan Kulwicki,
with his success — I really liked him. He was from the area where I grew up. He
raced at Hales Corners when I was a kid. I liked Dick Trickle too, because he
was a local hero — the short tracks around here. He was cool to see his
success, because he was kind of the guy that didn't fit the image and did
really well.

Adam: My favorites — Tommy Kendall,
for sure. My dad and I in the 90s would not miss a Trans Am race over at Road
America. NASCAR-wise, I watched quite a bit in the 90s. Dale Jarrett was a
favorite. Mark Martin, I always liked. But for sure my favorite is Tommy
Kendall. He was a road racer who ran cars back in the 90s similar to the cars
that we have now.

Ron: The ironic thing is, I lived in
Wisconsin growing up as a kid and had never been to Road America until I came
back and did that track day back in '16. That was the first time I'd ever been
to Road America. My brother goes, I can't believe we've never come here as
kids. My dad never took us there.

Adam: They've just done such a great
job of investing in that facility. It's a beautiful place. NASCAR is doing more
road courses now. They seem to be really well received. I heard a stat — the
race last year was the largest sporting event ever in Wisconsin.

Ron: I don't doubt that. I was there.
It was really cool to see. It looked like it was really well organized. They
were worried about the traffic issues, but it went off without a hitch. Chase
won. I was actually spotting for Chase.

Adam: I remember — I saw you in the
pits and you said you were spotting for Chase. He came from — he wasn't last,
but at some point he had to start last?

Ron: He had to start last, yeah. But
he's awesome. Road courses — he'd always bring up me racing. I'm like, man, if
I could drive half as good as you, I'd be great. He'd always ask me about road
racing my Trans Am car. He was really interested in it, which I thought was
cool, because those guys usually don't give you the time of day all the time.
He was really down to earth and a good kid.

Advice for Young People

Adam: Closing — any advice for young
people with a mechanical or electrical inclination about getting into whether
it's motorsports or engineering, or maybe someone that doesn't want to go to
college?

Ron: I think there's a place for the
schooling. If someone truly doesn't want to go to a four-year school and has
that hands-on ability, get an associate's degree in a technical field. Work a
full-time job while you're doing that, to make sure that's truly what you want.
Get your foot in the door somewhere. Don't chase the paycheck. Do something
that's going to make you happy for a long period of time. When you're 20–21
years old, it's a long period of time until you're 65. Not all good things
happen in two years.

Ron: Definitely try different things.
I had a bunch of different opportunities before I got into motorsports. I've
worked on heavy machinery, I've done machining, I've done welding. I got some
well-rounded talents before I even got into motorsports, and I knew that was
the avenue I wanted to go into. I started with engineering and going to school
for that, and it just wasn't 100% what I wanted. I wanted the more hands-on. I
wanted to work every day. I'm going to be honest, when I go to work every day,
I still go out on the floor and look at machines and check parts. I don't want
to be the guy behind the desk eight hours a day. I can't do it. I always have
that mentality — I always want to make things better, I want to understand
everything that's going on. If something wrong is happening, I want to
understand why and try to make it better and fix it.

Ron: If you have that kind of
mentality or attitude, I look for that when I look through resumes. What's your
hobbies? Do you work on your own cars? Do you have interests like that? Do you
fish? You have to be well-rounded. We look for cultural fits. If somebody
doesn't have a good attitude, that's probably not the guy for a team, because
it takes a team to make anything successful. It isn't a one-man army.

Adam: It's funny how much cars also
bring people together, even if it's not the car business. A high percentage of
our engineering team, our manufacturing team — they're into cars. Even though
it wasn't a profession, at night they're working on cars. If you combine that
with engineering skills and drafting skills, it certainly makes for a
well-rounded team.

Ron: It just shows that they have that
foundation of what it takes to understand the mechanical concepts. If you can
do certain things to your car, more or less it's going to apply — you have the
forethought, you've made mistakes, you've been through the adversity of trying
to do things that you're going to understand how this business works, just like
anything else. Cars are frustrating.

Adam: They can be. I've had plenty of
it. Well, Ron, thank you very much for coming on.

Ron: Yeah, thank you. We'll talk soon.
Come back anytime.

Adam: For sure.