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Back From Detroit |
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By Chip Hanauer |
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I'm sorry it has been so long since my last blog. I had a number of family obligations waiting for me immediately upon my arrival home from the Gold Cup in Detroit.
I have to say that my week in Detroit truly has to go down as one of, "Chip's most excellent adventures." The first person we all have to thank, is the owner of the restored Atlas Van Lines, John Goodman. John is a remarkable and generous individual, seemly never asking anything for himself. John is like a father who has a really nice Ferrari and Don Mock, (the crew chief) is like a teenage son who asks his dad if he can take the Ferrari out and cruise around, like across the country, to Detroit! John simply throws him the keys and says "have fun, don't hurt it." Now, that's a bit over simplified, but John has been the best person in the world when it comes to sharing his beautiful boat with the hydroplaning world. John has spent a great deal of his own money to bring the Atlas boat back to life and we all owe him a great deal of thanks for sharing it with us all. As far as the crew goes, I can't tell you how proud I am of the whole bunch of them. These guys have that magic, "something" that I've seen in all extraordinary race crews. If we were all younger guys, with no responsibilities in the world, I'd follow this group anywhere and race anybody, any time. By working with many different teams in racing and in business, I have found that groups of people tend to fall into one of three categories. There are groups that are very competent, but no fun to be with. There are teams of people who are great fun to be with, but they aren't the most competent bunch at what they are trying to undertake. Then there is the most rare of all groups and that is the team that is hard working, competent and a joy to be with! This Atlas team is of this third variety. They are dead serious when it comes to making the boat run and look great, but also great fun to be with when the work is done. One of the great joys in my life has been the privilege to work hard with a group of people, then, when work is over, enjoy spending time together, laughing hard and sharing our thoughts and lives. It was nice to relive that for a few days. Both boats ran great on Saturday, but we had some mechanical problems on Sunday. These were problems that were no ones fault, simply sixty year old, very used engine parts breaking. So I want to thank John Goodman, my Atlas teammates, (those that were there and those that couldn't be) and the wonderful fans in Detroit. So many of you came by to express what seeing the boat run again meant to you and that meant a great deal to myself and the entire team. Thank you. I was left with some intense impressions about the racing I witnessed in Detroit and I want to share some of those thoughts with you in the upcoming week. So please check back here next week and I'll share with you my impressions and thoughts. Chip Hanauer has won the Gold Cup a record 11 times. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1995 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2005. |
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