One-on-one question and answer interview

Story and questions © by Dwight Drum

Photos © by Dwight Drum
Web work by Gary Larsen

Driver No. #37 Timber Wolf Chevrolet/ Brewco Motorsports

Brewco Motorsports is an established and respected team in NASCAR Busch series known for developing young talent like Jamie McMurray, Casey Atwood, and Kevin Lapage who graduated into Nextel Cup. Sometimes it seems like it’s hard to tell if it’s Brewco Motorsports or Brewco University, but the team isn’t all about development. Brewco’s current drivers David Green in the No. 37 Timber Wolf car and Johnny Sauter in the No.27 Kleenex brought their experience and brains to this car campus and drive well for this organized team.

It’s no secret that what makes a good team tick lies in its personnel and sponsorships. Brewco has kept sponsor Timber Wolf on board for nine years and Kleenex for three years. Good teams also pay attention to details and have skilled team members with active team chemistry from the top down. Owner Clarence Brewco Jr. seems to have perfected the art of delegation and motivation and it shows up in team members. Brewco’s PR and marketing staff have been exceptional in coordinating this Zoomster.com interview with David Green. Simply put, team chemistry seems to be a science at Brewco Motorsports .

David Green, the 1994 Busch series champion while driving for mentor Bobby Labonte and former Cup driver has rejuvenated his career at Brewco last year with a near win of another championship and is in contention again this year. Green is deep in experience and character. His words reflect his polished strength.

Dwight asked David Green:

“A lot of times NASCAR fans know everything about NASCAR drivers with all the TV time. As I thought about that, I’m just a normal guy from Kentucky. The thing I enjoy the most is traveling across the country to meet fans and people associated with our sponsors. I get such a thrill talking about our team and success and being involved in NASCAR. It’s not really like a job. I’m just a normal guy. My wife, Diane, was in racing doing PR for Valvoline and Winn-Dixie for Mark Martin. We got married in 95. I have a daughter seven and a son three. I’m a family man, a husband and a father on top of getting to drive a racecar. It’s about having a good time, so I’m thankful to have the opportunity to do this, because if we did not have good sponsors we could not do this without Timber Wolf and Kleenex. It’s just a ball to go out and be myself. I want people to see me as just a regular guy instead of a racecar driver.”

“I have to say, I have two brothers Mark and Jeff. Mark drives in the Busch series on a part-time basis. He actually was the first driver of the Timber Wolf car 10 years back. My youngest brother Jeff drives the No.43 Cup car for Richard Petty. Having two brothers, everything we did as we grew up was competitive whether riding a bicycle or racing a tricycle, whatever it may be. We were always trying to outdo the other, so I think that’s where my desire to win came from.”

“But as a competitor in nature whether you’re a basketball, baseball or football player or whatever, it’s your goal to always be better than the next guy. As a team sport our team has to be better than the next team. When you’re able to win you understand what it took to get you there. Once you have it once, you don’t want to stop at one. You want to keep on going. I think also as I learned the desire and the accolades of winning on the racetrack, but I’ve also learned and been so appreciative of having sponsors and having the opportunity to win off the track. Winning off the track is simply being surrounded by good companies and good people. Those employees and customers don’t ever have the chance to sit behind a wheel of the car, but I can share with them what it’s like as a team as we win races. A lot of times that kind of gets overlaid on their work ethic on a day to day basis. Maybe there’s one person that I’ll be able to touch and help them have a better day at work and be more productive. That will carry on the winning tradition on the racetrack and off the racetrack.

"What I like best about my job is the travel, seeing fans across the country, and going to a lot of neat cities. Then lastly being able to get in the car and drive it. We have 30 or more people at Brewco who work and build these cars and I enjoy watching cars being built and developed and all these personalities working out. The true satisfaction is getting in it and driving it, achieving goals and seeing smiles on faces. It's fun to be the driver, but I've been on the other side of the fence as well. It's fun to see people get excited about their job after a good day. That's really satisfying for me personally."

"That's a good question. I think there are thousands of drivers across the US that can do the job that I do and any of us in this garage do. It's all about having the mindset to never give up. Not that any of them do, but I've been close to giving up at times, but having the mindset to never give up and being open and saying, hey, I still want to learn. The ones who seem to rise to the occasion are those who never give up, and keep on striving when sometimes can get the best of you and you want to kick the dirt and say that's it. Some of us are hardheaded and keep on digging. Thank goodness I was hardheaded and never gave up and look what's happened now."

"When I'm not at the track what I miss the most is the competitive spirit or competitive nature of being here. We're all competitors and want to do better than the guy next to us. When I'm at home it doesn't really happen, but I do have quality time outside the racetrack. I have a daughter seven and a son three. Those two are almost as good as winning races."

“I think for the most part, I just race. As soon as I say that, I think it’s my style and personality to be patient, take care of my equipment throughout the race. That’s what we all learned early on as my brothers and I raced go-carts. We did things on our own. We didn’t have the luxury of big sponsors. You had to take care of your stuff. If you wreck on lap one, you’re not going to be there on lap 200 or whatever it might be. “

“The other thing is I try to race other people, my competitors, like I would hope and expect them to race me. I been criticized maybe for being too nice a guy on the racetrack, but nice guys do win. When it gets down to the last few laps, I guess my strategy is real simple. I always give 110 percent to my team because I know they give that to me, and never give up. If that gets us into victory and the win, that’s what we’re there for. But if that gets us a second place finish or a third place finish then we gave it our all that particular day and there will be another race around the corner.

“I think those are too far numerous to even mention as they have come and gone, but I think one that comes into my head is early in my career in 1992 to 95 I drove for Bobby Labonte who now drives the Interstate Batteries car for Gibbs. Bobby and his family thought taught me a bunch behind the scenes working on the car. I worked for him in 92, not driving but just working on his car. He taught me how to win off the racetrack and then in 93, 94 &95, I drove his car, back then the Slim Jim. They taught me the importance of sponsors and the obligations that come along with sponsors. I think that was embedded in my brain back then in my work ethic that I’ve come to appreciate and enjoy it. A lot of drivers don’t, but you’ve got to have a sponsor, so it’s fun to be able to pay back the sponsors.”

“He also gave me the tools when I started driving his car to win races and he made me a champion in 1994. I think at that point he taught me how to be a successful driver. That’s kind of carried on. Just that stuff and I can’t overemphasize again how I was taught back then the importance of your team. They are the guys that surround you and support you and sponsors too.

“As I fast forward, I’ve been reminded of all that and reiterated all that when I joined team Brewco last year and our whole Timber Wolf team. These guys have surrounded me like no others. They’ve given me the support so I can go out there race on a day to day or race to race basis and know that they are doing all they can do. They’re pulling the ropes just like I’m pulling and we’re all pulling together as a big team. You learn something every day. I think in racing, it never stops. I’m continually learning so I’ll be able to continue to answer that question down the road.

“Absolutely. There were times when I got in then subconsciously and I didn’t have it on, it quickly hits me. It’s almost like feeling naked or when you go walking barefoot through a gravel parking lot, it’s not going to feel good. Racing has helped remember and focus on a lot of stuff and safety is one of them. I try to do everything that I do inside the racecar inside my passenger car, but contrary to what people might think, I don’t like to go fast in my passenger car. I’m not a speed freak you might say. So racing is left to the racetrack. I get a kick out of driving slow and being cautious and having my seat belt on.”

“They have no idea what they are dealing with,” Garlits said, “I do. I stay away from people on public highways. I like to ride in the right lane and let them all go by. They don’t know about pieces, chips and bolts on the highway that can knock their tire off. They have no idea about high-speed driving and when a car goes out of control, they always crash.”

“I think what’s different is in a racecar you always have to look ahead. You always have to be observant of not only what you’re doing with your vehicle, but what’s going on around you. On a racetrack there are 42 of your not-so-closest-friends, so you have to be really tuned in. I think that’s the biggest difference. I look ahead and I’m observant of what cars are doing around me or ahead of me and try to just be always cautious of that. I think that’s the key to being a safe driver on the racetrack and off the racetrack. You have control of your own vehicle, but it’s the surroundings that we have no control over. I think that’s the biggest difference. Like “Big Daddy” said too. If I see somebody coming at a high rate of speed, I’m going to make sure I get out of his way. He’s going to find out that’s not really the thing to do, whether that’s a policeman pulling him over for speeding or a minor accident.”

“As I think through all these questions, it’s really obvious I really like my job. I get be a part of my team racing in the NASCAR Busch series. I also enjoy the time off the track with my guys. Along with that comes interacting with our sponsors, and you’ve heard me say it many times already, the employees and customers on a personal basis, whether it be hospitality business prior to the race or trade shows I go to for our sponsors. That’s the thing I love to do and so many racecar drivers or people in racing think that the main thing they have to do is what you do on the racetrack. Now that’s number one, but also being number one in my book is taking care of our sponsors and our people. I understand more than anybody that’s the reason we’re here and without their help we cannot do this. So it really makes me feel good. The satisfaction at the end of each day, whether that’s an appearance at a trade show or a race and to see the smiles of not only my team, my sponsors and my sponsors’ employees and customers, everybody involved, interacting with our team—to see a smile on their face. I know they’re going to be back next week and they’re going to spread the word. The accolades that come along pump me up to keep me going week in and week out.”