PRO-MOTOR IBM and NASCAR
17 May 1999
Pro-Motor Engineering Combines NASCAR and IBM Experience MOORESVILLE, N.C. (May 17, 1999) -- Pro-Motor Engineering's(PME) Peter Guild has brought together the business principles of IBM and the raw determination of NASCAR under one roof. With more than 25 years of engine-building experience in the most competitive levels of stock car racing, road racing, drag racing and off-shore powerboat racing, Guild strives to make his company more competitive and more efficient than even the largest engine-building programs in NASCAR. In an age when many teams build their own engines, Guild believes his work ethic sets PME apart from the larger, in-house engine programs of multi-car race teams. "Working at IBM for five years taught me how to organize my corporation, set goals, be accessible to my clients and analyze past performance for future improvement"said Guild. "I applied IBM's big business concepts but shrunk them down for a small business. We do more and go further with what we have than most of the bigger teams". "The diversification we have had with involvement in different types of engine building has given us an enormous technological advantage over the people who build one type of race engine-- and we can look at the whole engine in a better light". PME, one of two independent engine-building companies in NASCAR, currently supplies engines to three NASCAR Winston Cup teams and one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team. Guild's Winston Cup stable includes Travis Carter Enterprises (driver Jimmy Spencer), Haas/Carter Motorsports (driver Darrell Waltrip) and Melling Racing (driver Jerry Nadeau). PME also builds powerplants for Gloy-Rahal Motorsports'(driver Ron Barfield) NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entry. PME employs nearly 30 people. Guild's involvement with engine building and interest in NASCAR took root while working at IBM. "I tinkered with engines on the side for years while at IBM", Guild recounted."I spent years at IBM but thought that working with engines and racing sounded interesting." Although Guild perceived NASCAR as more exciting than the computer giant, he still learned valuable lessons at Big Blue, two of which were organization and goal-setting. "It's so easy, especially in our business, to get wrapped up in the day-to-day circumstances," the Boston native said."But IBM taught me to constantly be organized and set goals, or risk being run over by the competition. In the racing business, that is even more evident because things change so rapidly. NASA is the closest business I know of where a task must be organized and accomplished in a time frame, despite what the atmosphere is doing. Likewise, we're constantly organizing, calculating and making decisions while the time window -- the next weekend's race -- is quickly closing." Guild knows that part of on-track success results from a personal, hands-on relationship with the teams and drivers. "We are always very accessible to our teams", the Mooresville resident said. "Each of our cars have a PME person at the track to tune the engine, advise the team, crew chief and car owner of anything that relates to the engine or its total performance. When I'm at the track, the teams and I constantly talk about the engine, weather conditions, how the competitors are running and how we can be better. I work as if it's my own car and I want it in victory lane." Guild believes that post-event analysis is just as important as pre-race preparation. He conducts conferences and de-briefing meetings with his teams during the week and makes frequent visits to the race shops. "We talk about the upcoming race and how we can improve at last weekend's race track" the 53-year-old said."We make a concerted effort to provide the very best service we can from all spectrums. When teams hire PME to provide engines, they get the whole package." Some of PME's biggest NASCAR Winston Cup accomplishments include driver Geoffrey Bodine's 1997 Atlanta Motor Speedway track-record pole speed of 197.478 mph and his two wins in 1992; six wins, including the 1996 The Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with driver Ricky Rudd; and the 1997 Winston Open at Lowe's Motor Speedway at Charlotte with Spencer. In the future, Guild envisions PME's engines powering increasingly more teams to victory. "One of my aspirations is to become the hub for a three or four-car team", said Guild."As I look four or five years into the future, my goal is to be involved with more and more teams and consistently bring home the checkered flag".