Dave Estep had forged a career intervening in some of the biggest and most lethal rail and truck catastrophes in the nation. His Response Management Services team were industry leaders in the prevention and management of the potential impact of hazardous and toxic chemicals present in accident scenes.
Even in the most trying of circumstances Estep had learned to analyze situations with a clear eye.
Alone with his thoughts after a difficult 4-Crown Nationals at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, he realized he had to put those same skills to work in an entirely different context. The stakes were not nearly as great, but the situation was still troubling.
Estep’s USAC National Midget team appeared to be lost at sea, and he needed to get things back on course. In a refreshing response to his squad’s lackluster performance, he looked squarely in the mirror.
His self-assessment, albeit harsh, required immediate action.
“After Eldora I drove home and did a lot of soul-searching,” Estep said. “I felt I had let my team down. In fact, I let both Justin (Grant) and Thomas (Meseraull) down.”
More than anything he felt he knew how it all happened. He traced it to the work that went into developing a new engine. His intentions were good, but the residual impact was costly.
“I spent my time helping develop that Ford engine and by doing that it affected the Justin Grant team,” Estep said. “It was like I abandoned them and we weren’t even ready to run fast with the Ford engine because we were still developing it. So now Thomas was getting down and everyone really was just slumped over. Eldora was embarrassing for our team. We should have been running up front and we weren’t.”
The first corrective step, while perhaps not dramatic, required a return to the basics.
“I looked at things real hard,” he said. “Lacey (Doyle) went into one room with Justin’s car and I went into another room with Thomas’s car. We spent two days non-stop on the cars and then just left it alone. We got to Indianapolis and I had a meeting with Justin and Lacey. Things were getting torn apart. It was me. The drivers were trying as hard as they could. Lacey was trying, Thomas was trying, Tim Engler (engine builder) was trying and we were looking at the wrong stuff.”
The nuts and bolts of a racing operation are vitally important. No one disputes that. However, something else was needed. It was here that Estep drew, almost unconsciously, on his previous management experience. He also considered the example set by others around him who had the knack of getting optimum results.
“I have people in my life like my son, Matt, who is very successful,” he said. “Then you have Roger Penske, who I have known for years from back when I drove Super Vees. How are they successful? Their hands are not in the toolbox every day. They have good people to do the job. It is like disaster work. You must have the right people to put the puzzle together then you step back.”
The long hours in the shop were exhausting. To get things on track, Grant recruited his friend Robert Brown Jr., and over pizza and beer they left few stones unturned. The bottom line is that Estep’s RMS team entered the BC39 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a new attitude.
The first moment of redemption came when Meseraull carried the Ford to a victory on the opening round of the three-night affair. It was the first win of the season and a huge relief. Then Grant topped an absolute slugfest 24 hours later. Suddenly a group that couldn’t find their way out of the dark, was the team to beat.
Saturday night arrived and the big money and prestige was on the line. When it mattered most the RMS team delivered. In the early going it looked like a question of who was the bravest. The only problem Estep faced was that the combatants were his own drivers. He wasn’t concerned.
“Those guys have so much respect for each other,” Estep said. “You have Justin who is so technical, he reads, he watches video and looks at shock data. He does all of that. Then you have Thomas Meseraull who is 180 degrees different. He just has so much raw talent.”
Somehow Meseraull survived hard wall contact in the late going, and while he gave up the lead, he finished fifth. Grant took the checkered flag and earned the right to kiss the bricks.
Estep is still stunned.
“There is nothing I have ever felt in my life like this,” he said. “I never dreamed that I would ever win anything at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and we took all the trophies and all the checks. I am still trying to digest it.”
The significance of this race is obvious, but it may signal even greater things ahead. Lessons have been learned. What Estep knows is that he has the right people in the right places. He also understands his role.
“I am going in the right direction,” Estep concluded. “I have Donnie Gentry who is incredible. We have Lacey and we also have Jeff Walker helping on the midget side. I think we are a team that can win a championship.”
Understandably, that will be the focus going forward.