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Work in the Stoops Racing pit was frenetic. Desperately seeking speed, the crew tinkered and tweaked the `88 Lola with a Cosworth engine. Watchwords pasted onto a toolbox nearly said it all: improvise, adapt, overcome.
Timing was the missing ingredient.
With stopwatch in hand, team owner Jeff Stoops leaned on the wall at Indianapolis Motor Speedway hoping driver Johnny Rutherford could shave a second or two off the time it took him to pilot the car around the track.
Lone Star J.R. couldn't, so the veteran driver and sophomore team owner were again on the outside looking in. It was one of the few times Stoops' timing was off.
Stoops' network of businesses, ranging from retail tire outlets to a heavy-duty truck franchise, have thrived, largely because they were started at the right time. From literally wheeling and dealing as a trucker in the early `70s to selling out a business while riding the crest, this former school teacher and his wife Teri have proven their business savvy.
Many have cast aspersions on the Stoops' racing efforts, but away from the track they are known as good competitors.
"He ran a good trucking operation when he owned Stoops Express," said one source who operates a freight line. "He has a good reputation."
In less than 10 years, Stoops had built the trucking company from a group of 12 owner-operator rigs to more than 600 trucks when he sold it in August 1985. Burlington Northern, which was looking to expand into over-the-road freight hauling, approached Stoops after enlisting a Chicago consulting firm.
At the time, Stoops was highly leveraged and considering a public offering to raise capital. Burlington Northern's offer was attractive, and Stoops thought that hooking up with its $10 billion in resources would elevate his trucking company, which specialized...