Manage to Manage

 The 2009 Monster Energy Supercross series is underway and as usual, there are surprises and then there are things we knew were going to happen. I think one thing different is that we’re not seeing too many new teams in the pits. Every year it seems three, four or five new semi trucks pull into the pits and jump into the fray, eager to see what they have for the established teams. The economic downturn we’re in has resulted in some major NASCAR teams coming together to save money and combine sponsors. You have to know it’s only a matter of time until it affects the supercross/motocross teams. Just off the top of my head, I can think of Moto Concepts, based out of Oregon as one new truck that has shown up and began the odyssey. The challenge is great, the amount of teams that have come and gone in the 11 years that I was a pro mechanic was staggering. They all want to work their way up the ladder, they start off with bikes from a dealer, some non salaried riders, a small parts account and, pardon the cheesiness, a dream.

For a team such as Star Racing Yamaha out of Texas, they started just like the above. Some bikes, some Johnson brothers from New Mexico and they were on their way. Now, seven long (and expensive) years later, they were rewarded with the title of official Lites team for Factory Yamaha. They will now, finally, start to make some money and have all the respect of the pits.

Why does it seem that some teams come and go quickly and others stay around year after year? To be sure, some of the teams that have come in have been very impressive either by their ownership (The Edgesports.com) or their set-up (WBR Suzuki) but they were here today gone tomorrow. You had some teams that had some impressive names on the side of the truck (Subway, Coca-Cola) but when you looked behind the curtain, there was nothing there but some smoke and mirrors. What do all these teams do that causes them to fail? There must be one factor that ties in to the unpaid bills and skeleton bikes left after the dust clears. In most cases there is and to me it all starts at the top when the first decision is made.

More than a few times, you have an owner of a dealership who wants to help his business grow, gets hooked on the adrenaline rush of owning a team and wants to make a difference. Then they go out and hire the one person that can make or break a team and they almost all miss the mark. That one person is the team manager. Think about it, this is the guy that makes the budget, he decides what goes on the motorcycle and it’s his opinion on what riders should be hired to represent your company. Read that over again, what I’ve listed is pretty much the most important things about a race team. You have to watch your dollars, have good equipment and have good riders. When the man making all those decisions isn’t experienced enough or knowledgeable enough, you are doomed to fail.

It’s not exactly the same, but I can’t help but feel more motorsports teams should treat their managers like the mainstream coaches. If it’s not working, find someone who will make it work. NASCAR has gotten this and you’ll see five or six crew chiefs changed in a year, sometimes the owner will move them to another driver, sometimes they’ll be fired outright. If you have a team and the bikes are breaking or the riders aren’t living up to their potential, find another manager and see if they can push the right buttons. Or maybe, and this is not exactly a brand new idea, go to an existing team and offer one of the existing managers more control, more money-whatever you have got to do. It’s not a coincidence that Mitch Payton’s Pro Circuit team keeps winning year after year. They have the team to beat and even though they’ve had different managers (Alley Semar, Dave Osterman, Jimmy Perry) in some years, they keep winning. They can take some of the other teams’ scraps and make them championship contenders. It starts at the top, they have a winning attitude and nothing is overlooked. That is what a prospective team owner needs to look at, instill a culture of being excellent at everything the team does. I remember a highly paid Suzuki support rider telling me a couple years ago that he’d been riding with his teammates suspension- and his teammate was twenty pounds less! I asked him how this is possible and he said the manager told him it would be ok and that they didn’t have the parts. This was a team directly supported by Suzuki and it boggled my mind how this could be allowed to happen.

A man who would know a thing or two about managing would be Paul Lindsey. Paul was the manager of the now defunct Motoworld Yamaha team and I almost hear you guffawing now. What does he know about running a team? Like you said, his team is defunct! Well true but after hanging up his boots from a more successful then he should’ve been pro racing career, Paul first managed Tecate Kawasaki and Planet Honda before starting his own team. The reason we should pay attention to his words is because he managed a completely independent (IE-no OEM paying his riders salaries) privateer team for seven years. That would be equal a lifetime in privateer years.

“I definitely believe that it’s the most important hire you can do” says Paul “At the end of the day, the manager is the guy who calls the shots. The team manager can only put together the best staff possible (riders and mechanics), and then let them do their job. I guess the point is, if I had the mechanic of the year on my team and he was just the greatest thing ever, my team wouldn't have benefited from it if I hadn't hired him.” The teams should realize this and really think about who they want leading their charge into battle. In his time, Paul has seen the best and worst of the new hires. When asked what he would think about if he had to hire a manager he takes both sides of the coin. “I think the question would be do you promote a guy who is hungry to do it and already with the team (an example would be Yamaha of Troy’s Chris McIvoy) or do you hire someone who can shake things up by bringing in his years of experience. The truth is in our sport, there just really aren't that many guys out there (like ex Pro Circuit manager Dave Osterman) who have prior experience and who are actually willing to do the job.” Paul does see some of the same things that I have and the example of strike number one in a team manager is hiring a buddy “I think some of these teams don't put much thought into "who's on the free agent list" of team managers. I guess they would rather promote from within or hook up a buddy who they think they can trust and will do the job” says Paul.

The fact is hiring an experienced manager pays off for an upstart team and why some of these new teams don’t go that route. Take it from someone who has been down that road-experience pays “Atypical team on the circuit goes through tons of free product and motorcycles, literally hundreds of thousands of dollars worth. There are so many situations that are new to you, for example negotiating a contract with a high end rider, that you just cannot prepare yourself for no matter what you do” says Lindsey” I made plenty of mistakes when I was a manager and I'd like to think those mistakes made me a stronger, more knowledgeable team manager.” The biggest mistake I see happen is often made in the first days of starting team and one that is entirely preventable.