An Inside Look at Galles Racing

It's been a long time since the last IRL race, and sometimes people wonder what is going on with the teams when there's no race to run. In this week's column, I thought we'd take a close look at the Rick Galles Team, get to know some of the people, and talk a little about what they've been doing as they get ready for the Excite.com 500 on October 15 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Team Owner Rick Galles was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on April 19, 1946. It's interesting that his driver in the Indy Northern Light Racing Series, Al Unser, Jr. was also born and raised in Albuquerque. Galles and Unser teamed up originally in 1981 to win the Super-Vee championship and now, 21 years later, they're together again in the IRL. Galles is a believer in teamwork, and is quoted as saying,"Our race program is built on a system. To be successful, we must work within the boundaries of that system and remember that no one is bigger than the team. Racing is a team sport, and it takes every person we have to be able to run at the front."

One of Galles's partners, Roger Elliott has a long history in racing, having been the Vice-President of Business Operations for Forsythe Racing in CART from 1994-1998. He then moved to Europe to serve as Director of Business Development for British-American Racing in the United Kingdom. He is committed to winning the Northern Light Championship and bringing another Indy 500 championship to his driver, Al Unser, Jr.

His other partner, Tommy Constantine is driver in the USF2000 Championship and has several business holdings. His business experience, combined with the racing experience at the top of Galles Racing gives a good balance to the upper management of the team.

The people actually turning the wrenches and pouring the fuel are the ones seen most often by the fans, however. Most of them are anonymous to the fans. Their critical role during a race, after races are won or lost in the pits, makes them worthy of recognition. These include:

Darren Russell Age: 32 Chief Mechanic/Team Manager
Russ Mar Age: 45 Rear End Mechanic
Martin Fox Age: 43 Gear Box Mechanic/Spotter
Tim Palmer Age: 28 Graphic Design
Tim Mcree Age: 39 Truck Driver/Tire Specialist
Blair Pershbacher Age: 28 Data Acquisition
Donnie Miller Age: 37 Front End Mechanic/Sub Assembly
Steve Esqueda Age: 36 Carbon Fiber Specialist Fueler

The copyright of the article An Inside Look at Galles Racing in Indy Racing League is owned by Thomas M. Sampson. Permission to republish An Inside Look at Galles Racing in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic