Hello from Crossville, TN
Since 1984 I have made my living building performance vehicles in the professional motorsports industry, at last count over 200 cars - from the first piece of tubing in the chassis to the decals and all the wiring and plumbing in between. I have personally trained 1,700 technicians working in the NASCAR touring teams, and another 300+ that make a living building hot rods, concept vehicles, war birds, or modern art. In 1987 I got the opportunity to be involved in a program General Motors called The GM Tech Team. The Tech Team was made up of technicians that specialized in dedicated areas. Fabricators, thermal dynamics, drive train, engine tuners, chassis dynamics, all worked together to make the GM Cup Teams faster, or at least understand the dynamics of the various systems they were using.
The minute I walked into Bell Paint and Body in Titusville, FL at the age of 5 years old my fascination with wrecked cars, Claw Plast body filler, Lucite lacquer, and the amazing pile of parts took over. One afternoon we visited the shop while the frame of a wrecked Cadillac was being straightened when a chain broke loose and shot across the shop. I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest but I couldn’t wait to see them tie up and make another pull. It was almost like my Dad and his head man wasn’t going to let it win. That was 44 years ago and a million miles or more later and a lifetime of experiences. I have looked straight into the grill of a stock car at 200 mph on pit road in Daytona, ate lunch with Richard Petty and shed tears on the day Dale Earnhardt died.
Hot Rods, Street rods, among other performance vehicles, are my passion now. At the Metalcraft Skill Center in Crossville, TN, I train student technicians the skills necessary to design, fabricate and assemble – frame to turn-key vehicles – every day. Great site! Been looking around it for a while now! Glad to be here.
