Despite growing up in prime racing country (south Georgia) and attending a car-crazy school (Georgia Tech), Tom DeLoach, ChE 69, didn’t go to a race until well into his career at Mobil.
But one taste of the track was enough to hook him. He became a fan and headed up the Mobil Motorsports program. In “retirement,” he launched Red Horse Racing, which competes in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. DeLoach also started up Performance Instruction & Training, a pit crew training facility in his hometown of Mooresville, N.C., that also offers Six Sigma and other training lessons for business professionals.
When did you get into racing?
I never went to a race until I was vice president of marketing for Mobil in the United States. I needed to make an appearance at a race because we had some big customers in attendance. I went to the time trials at the Indy 500, and it was just going to be: Go in, say hi. Two weeks later I came back for the 500, and I’ve been a race fan ever since. I have no interest in driving. It’s more the technical side and the marketing side. I see the incredible appeal that the sights, the sounds and the smells have with a customer.
How did you get more involved in the sport?
At the time, we were trying to sell Mobil 1. No one wants to smell a lubricant, but put it in a racecar, and suddenly you have a lot to talk about. We could tell customers, “There wasn’t a drop of water in the radiator, but the lubricant was so good we managed to finish the race.” I went from marketing to heading up strategic planning for the entire corporation. I’m worried about where we’re going to find oil, refining, how we’re going to make cleaner products. The corporation decided that racing is like everything else—it’s based on relationships. You want to maintain a consistent face. So even though I changed jobs, I maintained the race portfolio. There was the five-day-a-week job, and then there was the weekend job.
When did you decide to retire?
When we merged with Exxon, I was one of the senior executives, and usually the senior executives of the smaller companies aren’t going to be around much longer. I knew that, so I took a package and retired at 51. That was good for about a week, then I couldn’t stand it. So I called Roger Penske and said, “Will you sell me a piece of a team?”
Was it hard transitioning into racing?
I’m a chemical engineer. I’m having to learn a lot about aerodynamics. We’re trying to make the tires think they’re carrying a 45,000-pound vehicle. If they think they’re carrying a heavier vehicle, they grip the road better. It’s fascinating to me. That’s the natural curiosity that’s characteristic of Tech engineers.
Are there similarities between business and racing?
It comes down to people. You put the right people in place to make something happen. I’ve got guys working for me, and I have no idea how to do what they do. My job is to put all the best players on the field, even if I can’t play.
How did the business-training endeavor get started?
I did a lot of business training in my career. You go into a nice classroom, and you go through training, and you have another class, and another class. There’s too much classroom. We built something around business training that has corporate executives doing pit stops. You’re going to discover, “Wow, I really need some training here. I’ve got to have the right tools, and they have to be in the right place. And I have to know what my colleagues are doing.” Everything you do in business I can show you in a pit stop.
Are there some things in racing that are totally different from the business world?
Everyone likes to demonize big corporations. I tell you, the big corporations I worked with, I ran across people with tons of integrity. If you shake hands on it, it’s a done deal. The race industry, you don’t see near the degree of integrity. It’s more of a Wild West deal. It’s not as developed with the systems and processes. I’m going in and that [corporate model] is my standard of behavior. We live by the same codes of behavior from the corporate world. I’ve had some lessons that this world doesn’t always work by the same rules.
Most of your employees probably come from the racing world, though. So how do you teach them those corporate standards?
We spend a fair amount of time coaching these folks. These are not your graduate engineers. These are guys that are in racing from the grassroots up. These folks have more of a street sense and know how to put things together. I thoroughly enjoy it. At the end you go through a winnowing process. You realize after a period of time that they don’t fit, they don’t work with the people that are here. And if you can’t work with this group of folks, I’ll help you find a job elsewhere.
How do you pick drivers?
It’s assessing their skill base and the equipment they were trying to drive. You can put an incredible driver in a piece of junk, and he’s going to show up as a poor driver. … I look for a patient-aggressive driver. We’re going to give you a vehicle that’s capable of winning a race. You don’t need to drive through someone to win, because you’re going to wreck. The guy in front of you is going to make a mistake, and our equipment is superior. You’re going to be able to go past him. It’s the same in business. You don’t need to roll over everybody to get to where you need to be. Don’t hit me with bluster.
How did this season go?
We came within six points of winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. It’s frustrating, because you can look back over the season and say we left a little on the table here and a little on the table there. We didn’t lose the championship; it was just that time ran out.
What do you drive?
With the race team I have a Toyota Sequoia. At home I have two Mercedes. That came out of work. Mobil was working to build an account with Mercedes-Benz. I rolled an oil filter cap across the table to the chairman of Mercedes, and it said, “Mobil 1 recommended for use with this vehicle” on the cap. Everyone in the room about passed out. We ended up with the contract to have Mobil 1 in every Mercedes dealership. That was a big win. I enjoy playing the game. I say, we go to the racetrack to win. If you’re not playing to win, I don’t understand it.
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