Crew chief Blickensderfer far from overnight success (cont'd)

And just like that, Blickensderfer became a crew chief not only at NASCAR's premier level, but a crew chief for one of the sport's best drivers and top teams. His success, though, is far from overnight. He's been preparing for this one job his entire life, really, with various people and experiences instilling within him the management and leadership skills necessary to handle the more pressure-packed position in NASCAR. There were his coaches in high school, former Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight, and his father-in law, former Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday. But it begins with his parents -- father Jack, head basketball coach at top-ranked Meridian High School in Illinois, and mother Laura, a motivational speaker in the health care field.

“

There's a time and a place where you kick someone in the butt and point your finger at him, and there's a time and a place where you put your arm around him. I've been fortunate enough to have good instructors kind of tell me when to do it.

”

-- DREW BLICKENSDERFER

"She's kind of been an influence on me -- not as much the speaking part as, knowing that certain people require certain things. And my dad's always been a fiery coach who at the end of the day will do anything in the world for you, but in the heat of the moment, he's going to tell you what he thinks. That's kind of how I've been taught. It took me a while to realize with all my good coaches, when they swear at you and scream at you, point their finger at you and want to kick you in the butt, that's their way of trying to motivate you. But at the end of the day, you can always count on them to be there for you. That's how I try to portray myself to these guys," Blickensderfer said, referring to his team.

"I've been around a setting where they've taught me how to deal with people. I think I've been very fortunate at the Big 10 level to have Bobby Knight 10 feet away from me all the time when I was in school. To have the football coaches and wrestling coaches I had in high school teach me there's a time and a place. I got mad today at something that was done, and I told him, 'I can yell at you and cuss you right now, but we're going to find out how to get it better.' There's a time and a place where you kick someone in the butt and point your finger at him, and there's a time and a place where you put your arm around him. I've been fortunate enough to have good instructors kind of tell me when to do it."

But when it came time to take the big gamble, to pack up everything and move to North Carolina and chase the dream, he was on his own. Throughout his wrestling career at Indiana, he had kept one hand in motorsports, finding time to race his modified car despite the training demands placed upon him as an elite college athlete. Despite his success wrestling in 126- and 134-pound weight classes, two knee surgeries and a few concussions had taken their toll. So after his junior season, he made the decision to move south. He finished college at a smaller school, worked at a golf course, and looked for a job in racing. Nine long months passed before Bobby Hillin finally gave him one. It was mostly office work, but it was something.

"Bobby put his arm around me," Blickensderfer said. "I didn't have anybody in Charlotte. I used to go to his house for dinner, used to hang out with his family, used to do activities on weekends when we weren't racing with Bobby's family. Bobby really put his arm around me and took care of me those first two years when I was getting my foot in the door, and really gave me an opportunity to do whatever I wanted. He really needed someone to do his accounting, to take care of his accounts receivable, accounts payable. But it also gave me an opportunity to go to shock school, to build shocks for him, to change tires for him, gave me an opportunity to go into the shop at 5 o'clock and do anything he needed help with. So Bobby was real influential in getting my foot in the door."

When Hillin's shop closed, Blickensderfer hooked on with Jim Smith's Ultra Motorsports, where he worked on Ted Musgrave's truck and changed tires on the Cup car. His wrestling background paid off, turning him into a tire changer good enough to draw the attention of Dale Earnhardt Inc., and later Roush Racing. Last season on the Nationwide tour, he just missed winning a championship with Edwards. Since joining the No. 17 team, he's brought a level of energy and enthusiasm that seemed to be missing last year.

"Even when we were just starting in the shop preparing our cars, you could just tell the morale was boosted already," Kenseth said. "It just had a better feeling, just felt like there was more energy there, more enthusiasm there, everybody was happier when they were at work. It just felt good. It just felt like it was the right move. We've always had a good group of guys here, but you've got to have the whole thing. I just felt that was the spark that was going to help us be more competitive and help us work better."

And it almost never happened. The first interview Blickensderfer had after moving to Charlotte was with Michael Kranefuss, the former owner of the No. 12 Cup car. Kranefuss had a family emergency and turned the interview over to his general manager, who Blickensderfer said lectured him about how he had no plan and was never going to make it in racing. The future crew chief walked out of the office shattered, wondering if he had made the right decision.

He knows now.

"That's motivated me from that day forward," he said, standing outside Kenseth's No. 17 truck, remembering the interview. "Whenever I see that guy and whenever I think of that time, I think, 'OK, that guy told me I couldn't do it. I'll show him.' That's been motivation for me."