My phone rang the other day and I have quite a few distinct ring tones for different people so I can easily identify who is calling. The ringtone, Mission Impossible from the Tom Cruise Movies just happens to be the one that plays when Forrest Lucas calls me as that’s how I felt for my first few years there. Many years ago, that seemed appropriate but nowadays Forrest and I have a great relationship and I always look forward to his calls.
Forrest had a spell a couple weeks ago and had been under the weather after taking a tumble at our MLR Fab Shop so I had left him alone the last couple of weeks as he healed but I was so happy to hear his voice and he was in such a great mood. As I talked to him and told my wife that he called, I started thinking back to so many of the things that have happened in my life thanks to Forrest and Charlotte Lucas, but also several humorous things that not everybody knows.
I will start by saying that Forrest Lucas is the absolute most down to earth, genuine, caring person I have ever met. Even though our relationship is technically Employer/Employee I have never felt that way. He and his wife Charlotte have always treated myself and my family with the utmost respect and appreciation and I will be forever thankful for all that they have done for us.
I began working for Lucas Oil Speedway in March of 2007 running their computerized scoring system. Of course at that time, the speedway was still basically brand new and going through some of the growing pains any new business might. Never mind the fact that it was a multi-million dollar dirt track located in a town of just over 300 in Southwest, Missouri owned by a corporation in California. Lets just say at that time the expectations were high for all involved, and it didn’t always go as planned but I knew that the potential was unlimited there.
I spent the next couple of years there running that scoring system and doing some PR work as I was also doing that for Harriett and Cowboy with MLRA. During that time, I was able to really see what Forrest expected and see the areas that were deficient to meet those expectations. I don’t think the challenges or failures doing those first few years were anybody’s fault but they just hadn’t found their groove yet and figured out what the expectations were on both sides. I knew I loved working there and I was so proud to be involved with Lucas Oil but even through 2009, I hadn’t really had conversations or got to know Forrest personally.
In 2009, I knew things were kind of rocky at the speedway and I was working at the time for Mike Mittler. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I knew that was coming to an end and my first love was being involved with racetracks since my early days of working for Bill Willard at Lebanon I-44 Speedway and Bolivar Speedways. I didn’t hide my ambition at all, I WANTED TO MANAGE Lucas Oil Speedway despite the fact that I never had run a race track before.
Thankfully I had a great relationship with Harriett Chancellor at MLRA whom Forrest really respected as well as Gary Hubert who had moved his family to Missouri from California to manage the Lucas Cattle Ranch as well as to build Lucas Oil Speedway. Gary is a great guy and loves construction but operating a racetrack day to day was not high on his list of things he hoped to do in life I don’t think.
In late 2009, just before the championship banquet, our talks got very serious and at that time I think Gary decided I was worth taking a chance on so between Gary, Harriett and Mike Mittler I got on the Lucas Oil radar. I will never forget the phone call as long as I live. I was standing in my kitchen at my house on 675 S. Colony Ave. in Bolivar and a guy by the name of Tom Fredrickson (“The Tom” as Dylan Robinson used to call him) called with Forrest on the line as well and we did a phone interview. I’m so weird that I still have the notes on my folio pad from that call. We went through several items and they offered me the job right then. I turned around and I exclaimed to my wife Dee Ann, “I’m the General Manager at Lucas Oil Speedway!” I could never have known not only how my life would change but how much I would come to bond with Mr. Forrest Lucas.
So fast forward to the 2010 season, I went to work in November of ’09 and found out just how little I really knew about running a racetrack. My learning curve was steep at first. My third day on the job, I went and finished our deal to move the Show-Me 100 from West Plains to Wheatland. Ritchie Lewis had put the deal together but Don & Billie Gibson and I made it official that day. I spent the winter prepping the facility and building trust and getting ready like any new promoter would do. I don’t really have much recollection of those first few events but I would soon get initiated and this is where Forrest and I would really begin what has become a long and lasting relationship.
Our 5th event of 2010 was the 19th Annual Show-Me 100 and if it weren’t for Billie Gibson’s guidance, I would have never gotten through it. Expectations were high as we had huge shoes to fill for sure and I loved the Show-Me 100 at West Plains so I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. We didn’t know what to expect but we set our expectation of 3500-4000 people. Well about 7,900 showed up and we were put to the test. My first real interaction with Forrest was him calling me on my phone to tell me there was a plugged stool in the Men’s bathroom. Keep in mind I had been running like a scared dog all night and I’m intimidated as hell still by Forrest so I tell him I’ll be right there and so I race down there and go to open the bathroom closet and guess what, I had LOST my keys to the whole facility! That wasn’t a good start for sure. I found them eventually but I’m sure that didn’t make a good impression on my new boss. We were also out of water and I had to have a coke truck delivered to the facility at 9pm but that’s just part of us being under prepared that day.
I don’t want this to turn in to a complete history of my time coming up through Lucas Oil but as my wife and I talked the other day when he called, we just started laughing at so many funny things that people may not realize or believe about Forrest so I thought I would talk about some of my favorite personal memories of Forrest and my family. I don’t intend or mean anything that follows to be embarrassing or disrespectful to Forrest at all as I have the absolute utmost respect for him but when you hear someone else or myself say he’s the real deal and a genuine person, we really mean it. Many of these instances are random and not in any chronological order but just memories I have with Forrest.
In the early days at the track, the kitchen wasn’t always as prepared or as efficient as we should have been but if Forrest was there and he saw we were backed up, sure enough I would walk in and there would be Forrest grilling hamburgers. I would get upset because I didn’t want him to think he needed to worry about that as that was my job but honestly, I think it enjoyed doing it a little bit. One thing I’m not sure he realized was that because he was trying to help get things caught up, some of those burgers he cooked might have been a little on the rare side. We would actually collect them in a pan from him, slide them back to his grill and he would recook them to finish them off. I’m thankful those days are over and he no longer needs to help in the kitchen. I’m much happier to see him come in and grab a Budweiser and Burger himself and enjoy his dinner.
One thing I have always done is to attend and represent Lucas Oil Speedway at the season ending championship banquets for all of series that run at Lucas Oil Speedway. The Pro Pulling League Banquet was almost always held at the Hyatt in Indianapolis and Forrest almost always attended as he loved the Pro Pulling crowd. Since he now lived in Indy it was convenient for him. We always had a specific bartender there named Elise who knew us all well. The PPL Directors would always set up a tab for our select staff and certain sponsors at the bar before the event that was charged to Lucas Oil of course as part of the event expenses. Well on one particular occasion, Forrest just happened to be the first one there so he slides up to the bar to get a drink but either doesn’t have any money on him or has too large of bills, I don’t recall exactly. Either way Forrest orders a drink and asks if he can start a tab and if she knew who he was. She smiles and said sure I know who you are and you already have a tab going! Whoops.
During one of these events, I had wanted to meet with Tom Fredrickson and Forrest to talk about a few things and so we tied it in on that Saturday before the PPL Banquet to drive to Forrest’s estate to meet for lunch. A few years prior, we had bought an old 2008 Impala to use at the track almost as a rental car for guests, sales calls, etc. and that is just what I happened to take to Indy that weekend. So we go outside to go to lunch and I just assumed Forrest would drive us in his Suburban as he always did but we get out there and he says, “you can drive.”. Hell, I’m even nervous about driving with him so we leave the estate with me driving, Forrest in the front, and Dee Ann and Tom Fredrickson in the back seat in an $8,000 2008 plain jane white Impala. Just making casual conversation, Forrest says “Is this your car?” and I’m like “no actually it’s yours!”. He busted out laughing and the ice was broke that day.
After Forrest and Charlotte acquired the estate in Indy, my family and I would frequently stay there if we had functions there or went to Colts games or whatever but we always stayed out back in what we call the “Sports Barn” where most of the banquets were held. There are two bedrooms and two bathrooms up there and I was more comfortable there than being in the main house. It may have been our first or second time to stay there but I never wanted to impose on them as guests so I mentioned that we were going to go out and grab some dinner I believe on a Sunday night.
Forrest says no need for that, we have food here! I reluctantly said OK again just not wanting to impose. Next thing I know Forrest is bringing out all the leftovers out of his fridge and in this 25,000 square foot house, we all microwaved leftover Spaghetti, Meatloaf, Chicken Noodle Soup and what ever else they had! It was great and again, he’s the real deal and none of us thought anything of it. Following dinner, I believe he also decided to feed me a little extra Gentlemen Jack to loosen me up but I’ll keep that part to myself.
One of the first years after I started with Lucas Oil, my family and I made one of our first trips to Corona, CA to the corporate office and again at that time, I’m still pretty timid around Forrest but we met a lot of folks for the first time and had a great time the whole weekend. I was wearing some Nike button up golf shirt that was gray on the front and black on the back with neon green accents. I never thought a thing about it but as we’re telling Forrest good bye, he says “Nice Shirt”. Not I like your shirt?, Where’s your Lucas Oil Shirt?, “Nice Shirt”. I think I obsessed about that for about 6 months! I guess he just liked it.
Forrest and I have been through some really traumatic times as well. We’ve had a few really bad drag boat crashes, a tornado or two and of course the worst thing we have had to deal with there was losing our helicopter on a Friday night of the Show-Me 100. It was a terrible night that many of us will never forget. Forrest wasn’t there when it happened but he was there first thing on Saturday morning and I’ll never forget the look on his face. It wasn’t about losing a piece of machinery, it was losing two precious lives, one that he knew well and one that he didn’t but he was very upset by it and very solemn that morning. He came there to be with us and lend a helping hand where he could.
There are so many stories about Forrest’s many achievements in his business world including building a booming oil additive company to owning his own television station to starting a foundation to help protect he rights of farmers, ranchers, and hunters that they are too numerous to mention. I know that his world is huge and we are just a tiny cog in the wheel but to me and my family he is everything to us. My kids have grown up with him, thanks to him they have been able to go to college and prosper, we have a wonderful home that we love, and have made so many great friends through the years because of my relationship with Lucas Oil. I will forever be grateful and indebted to Forrest and Charlotte Lucas for all that they have done.
A couple of weeks ago, it was announced that Morgan Lucas had officially become the new President of Lucas Oil. Knowing what I know about Morgan and the values he has for family and hard work instilled in him by his parents, the future continues to shine brightly for Lucas Oil Products, Inc. I don’t have a ring tone for Morgan yet but the right thing will come to me. I need to change mine for Forrest as it’s no longer Mission Impossible, it’s more like “Mission Accomplished.”
Thank you Forrest and Charlotte for all that you have done and continue to do for myself and my family. I can’t wait to work side by side with Morgan and Katie as they steer the ship into the future.
DR
RacerDan’s Ramblings 