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| Week ending May 11 Race Wins:
Billy Decker - Brewerton Speedway
Ronnie Johnson - Fonda Speedway
Brian Swartzlander - Sharon Speedway
Billy Decker - Can-Am Speedway BB
Larry Wight - Can-Am Speedway SB | TOP DESIGN.
TOP RESULTS. |
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What money can’t buy
A strong team is the only way to win
by Kim Enders
Why are some race teams wildly successful while others languish in obscurity always blaming this problem or that for their lack of results?
After years of being an important part of many successful race teams we have come to several conclusions here at Enders.
#1. It Isn’t Just About The Money.
Sure, it costs money to race. Lots of money. But money alone will not bring success. And there are many under budgeted race teams that consistently experience good results.
Some team owners feel that outspending the competition will mean beating them on the race track. Yet many owners are often sadly disappointed. They spend lots of money to secure top drivers and equipment and get consistently mediocre results. If only they had a particular driver or particular type of car or particular type of engine all of their problems would be solved. The reality is that what they are missing is a team.
#2 It Isn’t Just About The Driver.
We’ve all met the driver that is too big for his britches! It’s unfortunate but sometimes drivers get caught up in all of the hype surrounding them. The celebrity goes to their head. They forget that it took an entire team to get them to victory lane. A decent driver that has an extraordinary relationship with his crew is more valuable than a great driver that can’t communicate with his team.
#3 It Isn’t Just About the Engine.
Building a competitive reliable racing engine is our job as a part of your team. Our most successful teams ask what we recommend and allow us to use our expertise. We always discuss all of our recommendations with the team owner and/or driver. When a team specs out their engine, which they are certainly entitled to do, it never seems to be as successful.
We can build the most powerful engine, it could be 50 horsepower better than every other engine at the race, but, without a good driver, a car that performs well and a competent team… all for naught! We’ve had several teams through our doors that bought the best engine available but could not produce results.
#4 It’s about the Team.
Let’s look at a team that has the whole package…
Kevin and I have always tried to pattern our business after those that are more successful than ours. We pay close attention to any business that is highly successful to determine what the factors are that play in that success. One such company is Ferrari. I bet that you didn’t know that Ferrari builds sports cars for just one purpose, to finance their racing. If you want to learn the team concept then look at the Ferrari Formula One team headed by Jean Todt, it’s managing Director and Michael Schumaker, it’s driver.
Jean Todt has built a team with the 800 employees at Ferrari. Each one feels personal pride each time Michael Schumaker or Rubens Barichello wins a Formula One race. This comes from a team manager who realized that he needed the best in each area of his race team and drivers that realized they needed a team to become champions.
Each team member has very specific duties and knows the job he is to perform inside and out. Rarely do you see a mistake during fuel stop or tire change.
The engine department is expected to produce reliable, powerful engines and they are left to make all decisions in that department. The same expectations accompany every other department that makes up Ferrari.
Following a recent Formula One win that clinched the record breaking 7th driving championship for Michael Schumaker, he thanked the cleaning woman on international television for her contribution to the Ferrari team.
When Jean Todt’s Ferrari team wins a Formula One race there is a banquet lunch served free to the 800 employees at Ferrari. In 2004 there have been 13 banquet lunches served to date. With only three races remaining in the 2004 season Ferrari has won 13 of 15 races. They have locked up the driver’s championship and constructor’s championship.
Michael Schumaker is one of the highest paid athletes in the world yet his involvement with the inner workings of the racing program at Ferrari is completely hands on. In other words, he does not show up at the track with his helmet, just in time to race and play the part of the Prima Donna.
All of this adds up to incredibly high morale at Ferrari where employees come in early, stay late and basically bleed Ferrari red!
The end result is that Ferrari has money, the best driver, the best team, the best equipment. They have been nearly unbeatable in recent seasons. They are breaking records and rewriting the history books.
Interestingly enough, none of this was the case prior to Jean Todt’s reign. In years prior the team suffered horrible internal politics, finger pointing and so so results. There was such a reputation for internal conflict at Ferrari that Michael Schumaker had to be convinced and enticed to take the top driving position for the company. Jean Todt and Michael Schumaker knew that they had to build a new team from the ground up and earn the respect and trust of those 800 employees/team members.
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
This is called synergy. All successful teams experience this whether racing or sporting. It almost seems like a good luck charm is with them.
When the personalities gel and the equipment and team are in good shape the results follow. It’s a momentum that builds.
Teams are not built overnight, or even in one season. In fact, it often takes many seasons to accomplish the goal of building a team. Each time there is a major change on a team -whether it’s a new driver and crew or engine and chassis - there is usually a transition period to get through. Changes include everything from the driver and crew to the engine and chassis.
Let’s look at the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team. They are no doubt the best basketball players in the world. It would be an owner’s dream to assemble such a team right? Wrong. If they can’t play together and communicate, they won’t win. The U.S. did not have a TEAM at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. What we had was a group of talented individuals. As the world saw, there’s a big difference between the two.
There are many owners who focus on getting the best equipment for their team and then are disappointed with their results at the end of the season. The owner that places equal focus on team building will reap the rewards many times over. It’s actually exciting to watch what happens when this phenomenon occurs. That multiplying effect called “synergy” takes over and an average group becomes above average!
It takes the whole team.
Build a great team, buy the best that you can afford, let your team members do their jobs and the results will come. Consistency automatically follows which in turn leads to championships.
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