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Life In the Carolina's Podcast


Dec 2, 2020

On this episode of the Life in the Carolinas podcast, Carl sits down with Don Miller, who served as the former President of Penske Racing South, alongside founding the N.C. Auto Racing Hall of Fame in Mooresville.

Originally hailing from Chicago, the American automobile enthusiast was attracted by the rich history of motorsports in the Carolinas, which led him to join Penske Racing in 1972 to work on the team’s stock car and IndyCar programs. Don takes a trip down memory lane, reflecting on the series of events that culminated in the legacy he left for the industry before retiring from Penske.

Tough love, humbling lessons, and the resulting changes from within dominate today’s conversation with Don. Asked of his decision-making framework throughout his storied career, he replies: “People, as they go through life, tend to wonder whether what they are doing is really the right thing for their family or simply out of ego. They would ask, ‘Should I rethink it?’ or ‘Should I have thought more about it?’ As time goes on, you have those thoughts if you are human.”

Don recalls that, years ago, he desired nothing more than to win races, each and every time. His business partner Rusty Wallace, on the other hand, who had just come off of a racing career in his own right, had more of an ambition to entertain through the company rather than to win at all costs.

Don and Rusty’s vision came to a head when a certain individual told them that they “were in the entertainment business. If somebody comes along and wins all the races, nobody is going to come to the show. I really do not care how many races you win, but if you win too many, it is not going to make me happy.” It was at that moment when Don realized that he needed to temper his ego with “the science of it all”—that is, the business of running an auto racing organization—if he wanted the business to thrive for the long haul.

Don also speaks on the inspiration behind the creation of the Stocks for Tots program in Mooresville in 1989. Initially conceived as a one-day event to collect gifts and donations as well as to bring race industry celebrities together with fans, Stocks for Tots very quickly grew into an established charitable foundation that is still going strong to this day.

Don remembers thinking, upon establishing Stocks for Tots, that “this is an opportunity for us, as part of the racing community, to give back to those who allow us to do what we do. It is what we should have been doing all along.”

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