5.0&SF: Since your background is in engineering, have you had to do anything special for management skills?
BW: You know, it's trial and error. I really haven't had any special training; I didn't go for an MBA. I remember one of my buddies, Tom McCarthy-a really smart guy that works here, the kid's a genius-he was getting his MBA at Michigan, and he said, "You know, when I take my management training classes, everything they tell me not to do, you do." He gave me that helpful coaching that only a friend can give.I think being in management is really no different than life. Tell people the truth. Be honest. Do what you say you're going to do. And always keep the company's best interests in mind, even if that makes your job or your team's job more difficult.
Probably getting an MBA and getting the training would have made me a better manager, but I think the fundamentals are based on some pretty simple stuff.
5.0&SF: Do your duties at Ford Racing leave you enough time to turn a wrench on your own stuff?
BW: Not at this point in time, not really. Remember, I was just informed that Dan [Davis] was going to retire and I was going to be coming to this role at the beginning of July. I was transitioning out of my old job and into this in July.
It's like drinking from two fire hoses. When you're an enthusiast, you know. I didn't know all the teams, I didn't know the people, I didn't know the sanctioning bodies-I wasn't that connected-so [there was] lots to learn real quick. And also, you feel loyalty to your old group, and you have to make sure that job is handed off well. So July was pretty hectic. Now getting into this job full time in August, there's a lot to learn.
I think I'll be able to get back to the point where I have time for my own stuff, but obviously the first few months of the job are the most critical. The few spare minutes you get have to be what the family wants you to do more than what you want to do. For the old job, I'd be in Europe one week a month, but I was home most weekends. Here I'm pretty much in the office five days [a week] and also gone three or four weekends a month. So home time is at a little more of a premium right now. But I do plan on it. I still have the red car-the red car is running, it's ready to go. The blue car turned into a black car, and it's really a sweet piece that I'm trying to get out. It's a street car but a pretty aggressive one.
The best [the red] car did was 8.30s at about 165 mph with nitrous. The exciting thing to me is that I was the guy who thought he was born 10 years too late-I missed the muscle-car era. Then I was fortunate enough to become an engineer, work for Ford, and start making enough money to play right when the fuel-injected Mustangs were coming out. So as it turned out, I couldn't have been born at a better time.
The red car, which was featured in the Jan. '90 issue of Super Ford [Due to its upgrades, it was revisited in Feb. '92.-Ed.], was the first fuel-injected Mustang to run in the 11s, the 10s, and the 9s naturally aspirated. As we started to do heads-up races, you had to go with a power-adder. We went with nitrous, and that's when the car ended up going 8.30s. I still have the car-the nitrous is off because its not really legal for any class-and I take it out to bracket races and have fun with it. It's gone 9.19 on the motor at 151.
5.0&SF: Have you done any other racing since you were active in Pro 5.0?
BW: No, no sanctioned-type racing. Just bracket racing, Open Comp. I always like to go to Joe DaSilva's racing camp in Canada, but mainly for an Open Comp or bracket-racing perspective because, again, the car is not really set up for any of the current heads-up classes. It's back-halved and doesn't have the stock rear suspension.
The black car that we built, which is the old blue car, that one has the stock rear suspension, and if time ever permits, I might race it in the some of those heads-up classes.