LEE BEARD: THE NEW ROLE
Fri, 2009-02-27 11:29
For many years Lee Beard played a harmony of horsepower with his instrument of tuning 
knowledge.
Now he’s facing the music from a different stage. He’s the conductor. The maestro, the man making sure all are in harmony. The man who can say that at least one one of the teams under his direction is undefeated in 2009.
“It’s certainly challenging, let’s put it that way,” Beard admitted. “For the past thirty years I’ve been a hands-on crew chief where I personally worked on the equipment and keeping them polished with all the system stuff. I was the guy that personally managed the things in the computer and I’ve done that everywhere I’ve been at.”
For many years Lee Beard played a harmony of horsepower with his instrument of tuning knowledge.
Now he’s facing the music from a different stage. He’s the conductor. The maestro, the man making sure all are in harmony. The man who can say that at least one one of the teams under his direction is undefeated in 2009.
“It’s certainly challenging, let’s put it that way,” Beard admitted. “For the past thirty years I’ve been a hands-on crew chief where I personally worked on the equipment and keeping them polished with all the system stuff. I was the guy that personally managed the things in the computer and I’ve done that everywhere I’ve been at.”
Beard isn’t in the trenches like he used to be. He’s watching from a distance and that just might be more of a challenge for him than it was making the tuning decisions on a red-hot, greasy racing surface.
“It’s hard because I always want to get in there and get my hands dirty,” Beard said. “It’s very different being a team manager than being a crew chief. It is pleasurable and I do enjoy working with all five of the crew chiefs at Schumacher’s and I enjoy all of the guys over there. They certainly do a magnificent job.”
Beard’s toughest challenge was not in gelling within the team as much as it was assuring the respective crew chiefs that he wasn’t there to take their jobs.
“I think that when I came into the program they all had a kind of fear that if the car didn’t perform well then I would be in where they were,” Beard explained. “So theoretically they thought I was just a back up crew chief. I convinced them that I wasn’t doing that and I wasn’t in a position to do that. It took them a while to understand that but they have.
“I think now that they have worked with me they understand me and believe me, they have gained trust in me. They don’t fear that I’m there to take their job, which has taken our program to the next level. It’s different for me, I’m learning a new role every single day and I’m having fun with the new program.”
Don’t dare say he’s the Godfather of DSR tuners, he’ll set you straight in a hurry.
“I’m more of the cement between the teams,” he conveyed. “I don’t tell them what they can and can’t do, I don’t tell them they have to have their cars looking just like everyone else’s car. We certainly want them to be aware of what the other teams are doing. We’ve made some pretty big strides with the NAPA car. Mostly in the horsepower department, we made some engine differences after I got there. It has worked out with Ed and the thing has gone 4.05 at Pomona in the semi-finals to beat Robert Hight, who we think has one of the highest horsepower cars out there.
“That was a key run at a key time that won them a race. At Phoenix with him qualifying number one, which is something they did not do all year last year; as a matter of fact the NAPA car did not win a race last year which in fact now they have won two races and has a number one qualifying spot to their credit. They are tickled to death and I am to, I feel like I have had a hand in turning this around.”
Maybe working with Ed McCulloch came naturally. The two worked together in the early 1990s under the employ of Larry Minor. Beard was tuning and McCulloch was driving. They were later reunited as teammates in 2006 when Beard tuned Whit Bazemore and McCulloch was with Capps, driver of the Brut flopper.
Beard’s role could put him alongside McCulloch one moment and then conferring with Mike Green on the Army team the next. The one point he wants to reiterate is that he’s not making the tuning decisions.
“I kind of right now feel kind of out of place when I’m at the race track,” Beard admitted. “I don’t have a specific transporter that I work out of or a specific car that I work on. I do kind of feel like a fish out of water. I’m beginning to like it a whole lot more because of the magnitude of the Schumacher race team with five fuel cars. It’s very challenging; it’s not an easy position at all but I kind of like it. I’m not ruling out being a crew chief in a perfect position. You never want to say never.”
Beard isn’t ruling out the chance he could become a team owner one day. He told CompetitionPlus.com the sale of the Matco Tools team by Tim Buckley to Mike Ashley came as a total surprise.
“I had some times where I wanted to be a team owner,” Beard said. “The Matco dragster operation was for sale, which was totally kept secret from me, or else I would have purchased it. I wasn’t aware that there was even a sale.”
Beard learned in a hurry on the day the sale was consummated that when one door closes another can open.
“All in all, racing is a pretty small community,” Beard said. “If you take all of the employees on all of the teams that were out there with the Top Fuel and Funny Car teams, they probably add up to the roster of two NFL teams. We live out here in this racing world where we think we are this big entity but in reality we are very small.”
knowledge. Now he’s facing the music from a different stage. He’s the conductor. The maestro, the man making sure all are in harmony. The man who can say that at least one one of the teams under his direction is undefeated in 2009.
“It’s certainly challenging, let’s put it that way,” Beard admitted. “For the past thirty years I’ve been a hands-on crew chief where I personally worked on the equipment and keeping them polished with all the system stuff. I was the guy that personally managed the things in the computer and I’ve done that everywhere I’ve been at.”
Once A Hands-on Tuner, Beard Orchestrates The Symphony Now …
Lee Beard is adjusting to his new management role and finds the challenge of not jumping in the middle of the thrash to be a toucher challenge than making tuning decisions like he used to.
Now he’s facing the music from a different stage. He’s the conductor. The maestro, the man making sure all are in harmony. The man who can say that at least one one of the teams under his direction is undefeated in 2009.
“It’s certainly challenging, let’s put it that way,” Beard admitted. “For the past thirty years I’ve been a hands-on crew chief where I personally worked on the equipment and keeping them polished with all the system stuff. I was the guy that personally managed the things in the computer and I’ve done that everywhere I’ve been at.”
Beard isn’t in the trenches like he used to be. He’s watching from a distance and that just might be more of a challenge for him than it was making the tuning decisions on a red-hot, greasy racing surface.
“It’s hard because I always want to get in there and get my hands dirty,” Beard said. “It’s very different being a team manager than being a crew chief. It is pleasurable and I do enjoy working with all five of the crew chiefs at Schumacher’s and I enjoy all of the guys over there. They certainly do a magnificent job.”
Beard’s toughest challenge was not in gelling within the team as much as it was assuring the respective crew chiefs that he wasn’t there to take their jobs.
“I think that when I came into the program they all had a kind of fear that if the car didn’t perform well then I would be in where they were,” Beard explained. “So theoretically they thought I was just a back up crew chief. I convinced them that I wasn’t doing that and I wasn’t in a position to do that. It took them a while to understand that but they have.
“I think now that they have worked with me they understand me and believe me, they have gained trust in me. They don’t fear that I’m there to take their job, which has taken our program to the next level. It’s different for me, I’m learning a new role every single day and I’m having fun with the new program.”
“I think that when I came into the program they all had a kind of fear
that if the car didn’t perform well then I would be in where they
were. So theoretically they thought I was just a
back up crew chief. I convinced them that I wasn’t doing that and I
wasn’t in a position to do that. It took them a while to understand
that but they have. I think now that they have worked with me they understand me and
believe me, they have gained trust in me. They don’t fear that I’m
there to take their job, which has taken our program to the next level.
It’s different for me, I’m learning a new role every single day and I’m
having fun with the new program.”
“I’m more of the cement between the teams,” he conveyed. “I don’t tell them what they can and can’t do, I don’t tell them they have to have their cars looking just like everyone else’s car. We certainly want them to be aware of what the other teams are doing. We’ve made some pretty big strides with the NAPA car. Mostly in the horsepower department, we made some engine differences after I got there. It has worked out with Ed and the thing has gone 4.05 at Pomona in the semi-finals to beat Robert Hight, who we think has one of the highest horsepower cars out there.
“That was a key run at a key time that won them a race. At Phoenix with him qualifying number one, which is something they did not do all year last year; as a matter of fact the NAPA car did not win a race last year which in fact now they have won two races and has a number one qualifying spot to their credit. They are tickled to death and I am to, I feel like I have had a hand in turning this around.”
Maybe working with Ed McCulloch came naturally. The two worked together in the early 1990s under the employ of Larry Minor. Beard was tuning and McCulloch was driving. They were later reunited as teammates in 2006 when Beard tuned Whit Bazemore and McCulloch was with Capps, driver of the Brut flopper.
Beard’s role could put him alongside McCulloch one moment and then conferring with Mike Green on the Army team the next. The one point he wants to reiterate is that he’s not making the tuning decisions.
“I kind of right now feel kind of out of place when I’m at the race track,” Beard admitted. “I don’t have a specific transporter that I work out of or a specific car that I work on. I do kind of feel like a fish out of water. I’m beginning to like it a whole lot more because of the magnitude of the Schumacher race team with five fuel cars. It’s very challenging; it’s not an easy position at all but I kind of like it. I’m not ruling out being a crew chief in a perfect position. You never want to say never.”
Beard isn’t ruling out the chance he could become a team owner one day. He told CompetitionPlus.com the sale of the Matco Tools team by Tim Buckley to Mike Ashley came as a total surprise.
“I had some times where I wanted to be a team owner,” Beard said. “The Matco dragster operation was for sale, which was totally kept secret from me, or else I would have purchased it. I wasn’t aware that there was even a sale.”
Beard learned in a hurry on the day the sale was consummated that when one door closes another can open.
“All in all, racing is a pretty small community,” Beard said. “If you take all of the employees on all of the teams that were out there with the Top Fuel and Funny Car teams, they probably add up to the roster of two NFL teams. We live out here in this racing world where we think we are this big entity but in reality we are very small.”
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