Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

I would never have expected that when I wrote my last blog post on Dec. 7th, 2020 what changes were upcoming in my life but there have been a lot of them. While it has all turned out well, it had been a fairly turbulent time for me personally.

As I moved on from my 50th birthday as referenced in my last post the idea of quitting drinking had been in my mind for several years but there was no way that was possible for me right? I’m Dan Robinson, RacerDan, Harold, everywhere I go people expect me to have a beer with them right? But deep down in my heart I wanted to and I don’t know how to do things half way so leading up to Easter Sunday, 2021 I had educated myself through various audio books and online articles on how to quit drinking. Ultimately, I made the decision to stop drinking on Easter Sunday, 2021. I need a placemark and Easter is a good one.

I had a couple easy beers that day but through the use of an Audio Book entitled “Easy Way” by Allen Carr I didn’t quit drinking, I chose to only drink water and coffee. I was no longer going to consume alcohol or soda, I am just too compulsive so whatever I start I had to go all in so that is what I did and I have not had a drink of alcohol or soda since Easter Sunday, 2021. My health immediately improved, I lost 40 pounds seemingly over night, I started sleeping better, my blood pressure improved to 120/70 and I shed all medications that I was taking unnecessarily. The first 30, 60, 90 days etc. were hard but it eventually faded away to one year and now I don’t really think about it all. It was one of the best decisions that I have ever made and I have no regrets.

As I tooled along that summer with my newfound self, working seemingly harder than ever, I began to feel as though something wasn’t right with my long time employer, Lucas Oil Products. This was a company I had put my heart and soul in but toward the late fall, something didn’t feel right. After a series of meetings, and conversations about staffing, financials, etc. my “position was eliminated” just like that on November 4th, 2021. Keep in mind, I had just got promoted to this position in February. I took the call at my desk and I no sooner answered the phone than my computer went blank and the words nobody wanted to hear, “we are moving on from you” rang though my phone. Not thanks for all you have done, you’ve been a great asset to the company, nope we just don’t need you any more. Basically a line item on a spreadsheet. So much could have been just talked through or worked out but they obviously don’t work like that so I was just out at 11am on Thursday, everything I knew and worked for, gone in one 2 minute phone call.

Having never lost a job like that before, it can stir up emotions that I never knew could exist but thanks to my family, we persevered and came out stronger on the other side. There were so many things that I look back on now that don’t add up but they made their decision and I was out.

As I looked for suitable employment, I became acquainted with Barry & Jennifer Braun with the upstart XR movement and the week prior to PRI in December, we agreed to terms that I would become the new COO of XR Events. Many people in the racing industry were a bit skeptical or actually just plain upset that Barry would challenge the status quo and shake up the dirt late model world with high paying events largely in tune with his subscription streaming service racexr.com. I found out real quick who your true friends were and who they weren’t and I still remember who was and who wasn’t and always will. Lets just say walking the halls at the 2021 PRI show was quite interesting……

I officially started with XR on January 3rd, 2022 and hit the ground running as we had events at Las Vegas, Bristol, All-Tech, Charlotte, Belleville, and Stuart and things were going reasonably well. Our attendance wasn’t where we had hoped it would be but things were positive and we were focused on putting on the upcoming events at North Wilkesboro Speedway in August but as the calendar hit July, a very chance meeting happened in Twin Lakes, WI that altered my course once again unexpectedly.

I had made the decision to go up to Wisconsin to see my Dad, bring him back to Missouri for the weekend and then fly him home on Monday around the 4th of July holiday. I made a casual stop at Five Star Race Car Bodies as I had many times in the past to see my old friend Phil as well as to talk to Carl and Corey Schultz about some of the body rules in place in Dirt Late Model racing. Some sort of epiphany came over me as I stood in the showroom of their magnificent new coatings building. I am like “Why do I not work here?”. I have grown up in the Five Star family since I was 12 years old, I helped Fran & Carl for years, worked on their trucks, hung around them, etc. but I had never actually been on the payroll making direct contributions to the company. I basically sat down with Carl and Corey in the Five Star conference room and we talked through some needs they had and I offered some ideas I had to help them and we parted company that day, it was a Wednesday.

On Thursday morning, my Dad and I were driving back to Missouri and Carl called at 10:30 am saying they would like to talk more seriously so we talked while I drove and basically made a verbal deal that I would join Five Star following the Stuart XR event. On Friday, I received the formal offer letter and after really talking through everything over the weekend with my family, I signed the letter and became an Official Five Star employee which thrilled me. There was only one problem, I had made a solid commitment to Barry and Jennifer Braun to lead their company. One of the hardest phone calls I ever had to make was calling Barry to let him know that I had accepted an offer to go to another company.

Many factors were at play including my age, my background, my experience with Lucas, my exhaustion of managing events, etc that I just felt overall Five Star was a better fit for me and my family moving forward and that is really all there was to it. To my great relief, Barry was very understanding and supportive and I will always appreciate his kindness and class as we worked through the transition process. I believe in the 7 months that I was at XR, I helped them grow, organize and get better for the future and we still keep in touch and remain close friends, that’s how it should be. I know they taught me a ton and I will always value the time spent with XR.

As I write this, I am preparing a very busy stretch of travel to the IMCA SuperNationals in Boone, IA, the World 100 in Rossburg, OH, the Knoxville Late Model Nationals and many more so I hope to see you soon at a race track near you.

See you at the races!

RacerDan