Guests for Tuesday August 21st on the Autosportradio.com Show…
Mike Hull
Mike could rest on his record of success and live forever as legend of Indy car racing.
Hull is in his 26th year with Chip Ganassi Racing as managing director of the organization’s INDYCAR and sports car operations, and has played a key role in many of its greatest moments – four Indianapolis 500 victories, 11 season championships and 103 race wins, 40 coming as driver Scott Dixon’s race strategist. Hull helped the team win eight times in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, including this year to give the Ganassi organization its 200th motorsports victory. And in 2016, Hull managed the Ganassi Ford GT effort that finished first and third in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
If anyone has earned the opportunity to sit back and reflect on those triumphs, it’s the 68-year-old Hull. He’s a Southern California native who clears his mind from the pressure of big-time racing with a few hours on the golf course and a challenging workout in the gym. But he’s far from ready to leave his day (and night and weekend) job.
“I try to look after myself and work out a lot. I’m not exactly ready for ‘American Ninja Warrior,’ but that’s OK,” Hull said. “Golf takes my mind away from what I do every day. But after a couple of days of that, probably about the 12th or 13th hole on the second day, I’m already thinking about work. My back nine score on that day kind of falls away.”
Nothing lures Hull back to his job like the powerful will to win. But it’s not about him; it’s about accomplishing something as part of a team. When that happens, the euphoria stirs a fire within Hull to experience it again and never become complacent with success.
“Racing is a strange thing,” he said. “Everybody in this business works really, really hard. Winning is validation for how hard you work. The effort is the same but winning is really important. Probably more important than that, you should never take it for granted. You should always celebrate it because the race you just won might be your last, so you’d better remember that when you go to work on Monday. That’s what drives me.”
