The Tour of a - Carolinas - Mercedes

SECOND QTR 2012
MBCA | Carolinas Section
THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
OF THE MERCEDES BENZ CLUB OF
AMERICA, CAROLINAS SECTION
The Tour of a
Lifetime
By Melissa Sprouse Browne
PRIVATE TOUR OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS
If you were one of the lucky fifty or so members
to attend the private, behind the scenes tour of
Hendrick Motorsports at 4400 Papa Joe Hendrick
Boulevard in Charlotte, North Carolina, you
know first-hand just how unbelievable it was. If
you weren’t there, then read on to find out how
complex and surprising their operation really is.
If the tour was so great, you may be
expecting detailed photographs from
the machine shop or the fabrication
areas. How about ones from inside the
museum?
There aren’t any.
Why, you ask? The entire campus of Hendick
Motorsports is highly secured and not open to the
general public. No cameras or recording devices
of any kind are allowed. Outside shots were
acceptable, and those pictures accompany this
story later in the publication.
Opening the doors to the secret world of
Hendrick Racing is a privilege bestowed upon
very few, and one for which the members of the
Mercedes Benz Club of America, Carolinas Section
are quite grateful.
We arrived at the Hendrick campus around
9:30am. Another beautiful day in North Carolina,
the sun was bright and the temperature was
already rising. One of the largest groups to ever
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
W W W . M B C A C A R O L I N A S . O R G
CONTENT
2
President’s Message
3
New Member Roster & Benefits
1,4,5,9,10
Hendrick Motorsports
5
Calendar of Events
7
Legends of the Autobahn
8
Odds and Ends
PRESIDENT
Richard Deiber
Huntersville, NC
(704) 948-1433
[email protected]
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Anthony Santagati
Beaufort, SC
(843) 522-9444
[email protected]
VICE PRESIDENT
Soren Pedersen
Waxhaw, NC
(980) 722-5651
[email protected]
SECRETARY
Position Vacant
TREASURER
Roy L. Davis
Columbia, SC
(803) 331-1852
[email protected]
MEMBERSHIP CHAIR
Fred Harris
Statesville, NC
(704) 902-6253
[email protected]
EVENTS CHAIR
Position Vacant
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Melissa Sprouse Browne
Columbia, SC
(803) 791-3800
[email protected]
From the National Business Office: With
every email and address update that we receive
at the NBO, we will send a 10% off coupon for
one item in the Club Store. One coupon per
member will be sent electronically (so it must
2
include
a valid email address). Please send these
updates to Geni at [email protected].
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
New Blood
We are turning the corner with
participation; the tour of Hendrick
Motorsports marking our first event of
the year with more than fifty people in
attendance. The very next event is our
Annual Dock Party, planned for Saturday,
z
i
b
.
r
June 9th at the home of Henry and
ibe
rick@de
Katherine Dunbar in Charleston. The
dock party is usually very well attended, so I hope to see
plenty of folks there.
With an good influx of new members over the past months,
we are excited about the direction the club is taking. As
my term is about to expire, as well as the term for vice
president, it would be great to see a new member who
wants to become more involved step up for a leadership
role. If you are thinking about getting more involved, please
contact me - we could use you as an officer or event planner
for the coming year.
I would like to thank Ed Keady of Hendrick Motors in
Charlotte for working so tirelessly to set up the private tour
of Hendrick Motorsports. You’re an asset to the Mercedes
brand.
Have a great summer and get out and drive your
Mercedes!
About MBCA
Established in 1956, MBCA has approximately 20,240 active members
and 9251 additional household members in 12 regions which are comprised of 80+ local sections throughout the United States and Canada.
Each region is adminstered by a regional director who is responsible for
assisting and inspiring the sections in the region. The regional director
also fosters the formation of new sections, coordinates regional activities and represents the constituents as a member of the national board
of directors. Hundreds of events are organized by sections, from social
gatherings to tech sessions, from car shows to driving events. Most sections publish a newsletter of information and events and each section
has its own officers and bylaws.
d
WHAT’S NEW: 22 NEW MEMBERS!
We are so pleased to welcome the newest members
of the Mercedes Benz Club of America to the
Carolinas Section!
Ellen BoydAugustaGA
William Cofield
Denver
NC
Charles FinkelRosmanNC
There’s a lot of good
to be had from your
membership!
Matthew Krieger
Harrisburg
NC
In addition to all of
Bob LindbergCharlotteNC
the cool things you get
from National, such as
Candace McKey
Highlands
NC
the loyalty discount you
receive on the purchase
Sherrod Morehead Beaufort
SC
of a new Merceds Benz,
your very own Carolinas
Patrick OwenColumbiaSC
Section offers special
Drew Phythian
Pineville
NC
benefits, too!
First, as a new
David RiceCharlotteNC
member, please feel free
to attend an event at
Judy RiceCharlotteNC
no charge. For activities
Erich SchmidtCharlestonSCthat include travel or
dinner, those expenses
will still remain the
Scott Segui
Rock Hill
SC
responsiblity of the
Thomas SetzConcordNCmember. But any cost
charged by the club
Tom Thornburg
Charlotte
NC
to participate will be
waived for your first
Patrick UliConcordNC
outing.
Second, your club
Herbert Van Der Ven Whittier
NC
officers have made
Jenner Wall
Charlotte
NC
some amazing
arrangements with
William Wentz
Charlotte
NC
dealers in our territory
to offer discounts above
Rugby Hodgkins
Gastonia
NC
and beyond the normal
extended to a club
member.
At Hendrick Motors of
Charlotte and Mercedes
Benz of Myrtle Beach,
members receive a
fifteen percent discount
on parts. AND, both
dealerships generously
offer a reduced hourly
labor rate of $99, which
represents a savings of
thirty percent over the
standard rate!
Finally, a chance
to meet with fellow
enthusiasts may provide
benefits you never
expected. One chance
conversation might
lead you to that one
piece of information you
needed; for example,
several of our members
are very knowledgeable
about parts and may
be may be able to point
you to a resource you
never knew existed
for that one part you
needed.
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W W W . M B C A C A R O L I N A S . O R G
BENEFITS FOR NEW
Tony GrayMatthewsNCMEMBERS
W W W . M B C A C A R O L I N A S . O R G
PRIVATE TOUR OF HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS
attend a Carolinas Section
event, we anxiously
awaited the start of the
tour.
William West Hopper,
Eastern Regional Director
of MBCA, addressed
the group and shared
his enthusiasm for the
unusual sneek peak we
were about to receive
into the world of NASCAR
racing.
Ed Keady, General
Manager of Hendrick
Motors of Charlotte, was
responsible for arranging
the tour and came along
to enjoy the sights and
sounds with all of the
members. He spoke to the
group immediately after
William Hopper and then
we stood together for one
of the few photos from
the trip.
Two tour guides from
Hendrick Motosports
were provided and
divided our group
into two sections of
approximately 25
members each. One
group started on one end
of the operation and the
other group started on
another end.
We walked up to the
machine shop and waited
for our guide to use her
security key card to gain
access to the building.
Once inside, the noise was
almost deafening.
Multitudes of high end
fabrication machinery
hummed away, tended by
expert machinists.
4
Provided by Haas Automation, the CNC lathes
and machining centers were hard at work
making parts for all of the race cars fielded by
Hendrick. Except for the engine block, they make
all of the parts for every single race car on site.
For example, they can make one oil pan per day.
Following the Japanese model of
manufacturing, the floor was perfectly clean and
white. Nothing was greasy, nothing was even
remotely dusty. You could, as they say, eat off
the floor.
We journeyed onward out of the machine
shop and up a long hallway, lined with large
prints of advertisements touting their many
victories and championships. Our guide
shared that whenever one of their drivers
wins a race, all six hundred and sixteen
Hendrick employees receive a bonus. When
one of their drivers wins a championship,
each employee gets a piece of championship
jewelry.
Further down the hall, we passed the
dynamometer, or “dyno” for short. The dyno
measures engine power and theirs was heavily
worked. Our tour guide explained engines are
built for seven teams. All engines are specified
to run within five horsepower of each other and
this spec is checked on the dyno before each
one leaves the plant. There
is a difference that can be
achieved during the last
ten races of the season but
exactly what the difference
was she didn’t disclose.
We had a chance to
take a souvenir, which my
husband and I accepted as
a fond remembrance of
the tour. What was it? A
spark plug from one of
Jimmie Johnson’s race
cars.
The engine assembly
area was next, with a
ceiling-mounted lift
to move completed
engines to their racks
for final inspection.
Each engine part is
numbered and tracked
for performance. In some
cases, parts can be re-used.
Once they have fulfilled
their usefulness, they are
melted down and the
metal reclaimed.
S
in progress on cars for Kasey
Kahne and Jeff Gordon. The
shop had an area in front
that was open to the public,
with a few show cars and
a window to see some of
the workings of the crew.
We took a few minutes to
explore the public area
and then continued our
privileged access into the
forbidden zone.
In the large open area
where the cars were
assembled and finalized for
inspection by NASCAR, we
noticed several large metal
plates in the floor. These
plates were perfectly
level so each car
could be completed
to the very exacting
tolerances required by
Hendrick standards.
Since Dupont is
a major sponsor,
Hendrick Motorsports
tries to paint as many
of their race cars as
possible. However, if
they’re not painting
a car, they will likely
use a full body wrap
instead. We watched
one being applied,
and it’s essentially
a giant sticker that
covers the entire body
of the vehicle.
One car that looked
ready to go was Jeff
Gordon’s car with the
AARP Drive to End
Hunger wrap.
In the areas above
the shop floor were
several private offices
CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
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W W W . M B C A C A R O L I N A S . O R G
We were there on a Friday of a race weekend,
so there were only seven completed engines on
the racks at the time. The rest had been taken
by their respective teams for the upcoming race.
On a normal day, three times as many engines
would be there.
We departed
the engine
assembly area
and made our
way out into the
bright sunshine.
The Raced Parts
building was
to the right
as we walked
out above the practice field for the pit crews.
The outdoor area was grassy and enclosed, but
again, not in use since the crews
were already gone for the race
weekend.
Up the hill and to the right were
the 5/24 and the 48/88 shops. The
numbers stand for NASCAR race
driver numbers, belonging to : #5,
Kasey Kahne; #24, Jeff Gordon; #48,
Jimmie Johnson; and #88, Dale
Earnhardt, Jr. Our group was given
a choice: what shop did we want to
see? We selected the 5/24 building and saw the
work
2012 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
JUNE
•June 9: Annual Dock Party. A Carolinas Section tradition, the annual Dock Party will be held in
Charleston at the home of Henry and Katherine Dunbar. Right on the water, enjoy sitting on the dock
while eating some of the finest LowCountry Boil anywhere. For additional details, please contact Henry
Dunbar at 843-670-6000 or at [email protected].
•June 23: Augusta/Aiken with Peachtree Section. Start at Mercedes Benz of Augusta at
10:30am for member car show, tour and lunch, leave at 1:00pm for Aiken for a trolley tour and ending at
Wilcox Inn at 6:00pm for dinner. Dinner is $35 per person. Contact Al Farlow, 706-860-6103 or at wlfacf@
juno.com.
AUGUST
W W W . M B C A C A R O L I N A S . O R G
•August 16 - 17: Road Trip to Alabama Mercedes Benz Plant Tour. The Mercedes Benz
Manufacturing Facility is located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The plant tour will be on Thursday, August 16 at
12:45p.m. Tour fee is $5 per guest. Transportation will be provided to Alabama.
SEPTEMBER
•Columbia, SC Member Barbecue. Hosted by Carolinas Section members in the Columbia area, this
Fall party is a must! Additional details will be forthcoming.
•Sept. 20 - 23: Charlotte Auto Fair. The Fall version of the popular car enthusiast event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
•September 29: Rock Around the Clock Car Show and Street Fair. Held on Congress Street in
Winnsboro, South Carolina, the car show portion is held on Saturday from 11:00am - 3:00pm.
OCTOBER
•October 5 - 6: Oktoberfest in Banner Elk, NC. Take in the beautiful fall foliage, cool, comfortable
mountain temperatures, and a weekend full of festival activities from 10 am until 5 pm each day. Be sure to
bring the kids because the event is for the whole family. Held at the Sugar Mountain Resort, Main Lodge,
1009 Sugar Mountain Drive. For details, check out http://oktoberfest.skisugar.com.
•October 20: Eurofest at BMW in Greer, SC. Finally, it’s our year! The honored marquee this year is
Mercedes Benz, so let’s have a good showing at the field in Greer. A three-day event, the Eurofest activities
are hosted by BMW North America.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER
•November 3 - 4: Hilton Head Concours d’Elegance. The Carolinas Section is an invited car club
and exhibits at the Car Club Jamboree on Saturday. Stay overnight and return for Sunday’s official Concours d’Elegance at Honey Horn.
•December 7 - 8: Christmas at Biltmore. The year concludes with the Annual Meeting and dinner
at the famed Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. Decorated for the Christmas holidays, Biltmore is
unmatched in its majesty during the month of December. Don’t miss it!
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LEGENDS OF THE AUTOBAHN
W W W . M B C A C A R O L I N A S . O R G
7
ODDS AND ENDS
MEMBERSHIP IS UP For the sixth consecutive month, MBCA membership is up. On March31st, our North American family grew to 19,765
members.
ONLINE ADVERTISING TEST Self-described Mercedes Benz enthusi-
asts will be targeted by the National Business Office on Facebook and two
Mercedes Benz websites. Unique messages will be delivered to males ages
45 -55 and ages 56+ and invite them to join the club.
NEWS FROM NATIONAL Effective January 1, 2012, MBCA membership
W W W . M B C A C A R O L I N A S . O R G
dues increased as follows: one year $49; two years, $95; three years, $139. It
has been twelve years since MBCA last raised its dues. This modest increase
represents less than nine percent over 2011. Operating expenses have increased, making it virtually impossible to avoid a modest increase today.
YOUR DEALERSHIP’S
ON HOLD MESSAGE
WIL SOON INTRODUCE
MBCA
The next time you call your
Mercedes Benz dealership and
are put on hold, you might
hear a thirty second message that touts the benefits of
becoming a member of MBCA.
The National Business Office
negotiated a special partnership with Applied Media
Technology to advertise MBCA
through Mercedes Benz dealerships that use AMT’s on-hold
messaging service.
SOCIAL MEDIA IS UP
We’re getting there. As of May
11th, MBCA had 3442 likes on
Facebook, 1308 LinkedIn Connections and 91 Twitter followers. This presence is in addition
to the many section Facebook
pages and Twitter feeds.
The list of MBCA member benefits and discounts has markedly expanded in
the last two years. Please visit www.mbca.org/member-benefits for a complete list.
NEWSLETTER EDITOR PUBLISHES
BOOK ON SENIOR CARE
Melissa Sprouse Browne, a Carolinas Section member since 2003, has written a
book on caring for aging parents.
The Caregiver’s Training Program: What
You Need to Know to Take Care of Your
Parents in Their Golden Years gives you
practical, immediately useful tactics for
caring for a senior loved one.
This book provides the step by step
instruction you need to understand what
to do, who to call and how to find help
when you need it. Written by Melissa, who owns Seniors First Home Care, this
book addresses the common issues you’ll encounter, incluing how to handle
a parent with Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson Disease, breathing disorders,
mobility issues, stroke, congestive heart failure and more.
Available in print on www.amazon.com, and through
www.caregiverstrainingprogram.net.
E-book offered on Kindle, Nook, Kindle Fire and all other e-readers.
If you have questions about caring for an aging parent, please feel free to
contact Melissa at [email protected].
8
PRIVATE TOUR, CONT’D.
RICK HENDRICK
PRIVATE AUTO
COLLECTION
Our new guide used
her security key card to
open the lobby door
of the building and
ushered us into the small room. Three brand new
Camaros were featured, the number one, two
and number sixty-nine off the production line.
They surrounded a fifteen foot tall trophy in the
center of the room. We crowded around the cars
and then our guide moved us into their private
conference room.
The most unusual take on a glass conference
table EVER, this abnormally large table had extra
thick glass with a base from the chassis of a 1963
Corvette. The guide joked that we could “start the
table” if we wanted. The table was built by one of
the original Hendrick employees, who at age 73
still works there today.
The rear door to the conference room opened
and there are barely enough words to describe
what was on the other side.
If you even remotely like cars or history, you
would have been in heaven.
The room we entered was so large it could
only roughly be classified as a room; a more
apt description would be super warehouse or
airplane hangar. To give some perspective, it was
large enough to have streets inside (i.e., Stingray
Way). Filled to the brim with pristine, perfect
vehicles, there were easily over two hundred cars
displayed.
As you moved around the room, there were
vignettes of scenes and important places from
Rick Hendrick’s life. Starting on the far left, there
was a full 1950s style Dairy Dream ice cream shop
that even served vanilla ice cream. Parked outside
of the ice cream shop were the vehicles you’d
expect to see from that era.
Next you encountered a full sized, working,
driveable modern fire truck parked beside the
General Store, replete with a fresh fruit dispenser;
put in a nickel, get an apple. Moving along, the
next diorama was the Virginia State Bank, where
Mr. Hendrick’s mother had worked as a teller. On
the wall at this set-up was a photograph of the
elder Hendricks’ wedding and a car like the one
Rick’s parents used when they were dating was
parked outside of the bank scene.
(If we describe every scene in the building, this
story will go on for much longer than we have
room!)
Representations of
Little Joe’s Cycles, a
drag strip complete
with a Top Fuel
dragster and video
of Rick driving on the
strip, a scene of City
Chevrolet, a drive-in
movie theater, and
even a scene featuring
the police car that
pulled him over for
drag racing when
he was a teenager in
Virginia were perfectly
executed.
One hundred and
twenty five Corvettes
were there, along with
a significant number
of Camaros and other
unique vehicles. The
Hendrick affinity
for Chevrolet was
obvious.
A newstand was in
the far right corner,
with every publication
prominently featuring
Rick Hendrick on
its cover. Above
the newstand and
running along the
top of the structure
was the “man cave,”
which was off-limits
to us. However, you
could see the engine
chandelier, the twenty
foot wide Ferrari
Pininfarina wheel
mounted in the ceiling
on the right and the
glass floor, under
which rested his vast
collection of guitars.
On the wall below,
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W W W . M B C A C A R O L I N A S . O R G
used by the race teams.
Trophies were visible in
some of the windows.
As was the policy in
every other part of their
facility, the shop was
perfectly clean in every
way.
Our tour guide pointed
out several of the almost
finished cars and focused
on the seats. Each race
driver’s seat is custom
made and will fit only that
driver. The average cost of
a single seat is $15,000.
She also shared
that their funding is
provided in great part
by sponsorships, to the
tune of eighty percent
coming from sponsors. A
title sponsor gets a logo
on the hood of the car;
smaller contributors get
proportionally smaller
logos on the car and fire
suits worn by the driver.
When we left the shop
area, we were led to a
large building at the end
of the campus with no
special markings other
than the Hendrick name.
Our tour guide then
handed us off to another
person who would handle
the rest of the visit with
us. Little did we know –
the best was yet to come.
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a master collection of music and
movie memorabilia. A full suit
worn by Elvis was flanked by gold
and platinum records from various
artists. Signed movie posters from
the casts of Tombstone and Top
Gun were framed beside a neat
picture of Mohammad Ali and The
Beatles.
All told, it was truly one place
you had to see to believe. What
an honor for the MBCA Carolinas
Section to be allowed access to this
incredible organization. Thanks
again to the amazing Ed Keady of
Hendrick Motors of Charlotte for
making all of the arrangements.
And better yet, at the end of
the tour our group was treated
to a terrific lunch at the brand
new Northlake Mercedes Benz
dealership, where we closed out
the day with one of our members,
Chris Arthurs from Greenville, SC,
purchasing a new vehicle! For more
on his story, please see the feature
on page 11.
10
A FIRST AT NORTHLAKE MB
OUR ADVENTURE AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AND NORTHLAKE MERCEDES
BENZ
W W W . M B C A C A R O L I N A S . O R G
While having lunch, my wife decided it would
be a good idea to take a look at some of the new
vehicles. And as you can imagine, when you put
car buffs in front of new toys, we ended up with
a new 2012 GL450. We had owned a 2007 GL450
by Chris & Sheryl Arthurs
that we had just sold in January so we were
familiar with the vehicle.
The improvements in the 2012 are fantastic. The
On April 27, 2012, The Mercedes Benz Club of
Bluetooth
works seamlessly with our iPhones.
America, Carolinas Section had put together a tour
The improved navigation system is fantastic, and
of Hendrick Motorsports in Charlotte, NC.
the handling has been greatly improved. A great
My wife and I thought this would be a great
vehicle.
experience and decided to participate. We had
As for Mercedes Benz of Northlake, you could
a great time touring the excellent facilities and
not find a better group of people; from Brian
seeing firsthand how the Hendrick organization
makes the engines that power a lot of the NASCAR Porta the General Manager to Chris Terry our Sales
consultant to Franco the Sales Manager, the whole
race vehicles.
experience was unmatched.
We also had a chance to tour part of “Papa”
We have purchased many vehicles over the years
Hendrick’s personal collection of vehicles, for a car
buff this was like a kid going to a toy store, a great including several Mercedes Benzs and BMWs and
we have never been treated so well. They have
time was had by all.
To top off the day we finished the tour with lunch definitely raised the bar in serving the customer.
We will definitely purchase more vehicles from
at the newly opened Mercedes Benz of Northlake,
the Hendricks organization.
while we were there we had a chance to tour this
What started out as a simple tour of Hendrick
state of the art dealership with a behind the scenes
Motorsports,
turned into a fantastic buying
tour of the service and parts departments, very
experience for our new GL450.
impressive.
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THE LAST WORD
W W W . M B C A C A R O L I N A S . O R G
Mercedes-Benz Club of America
Proudly Salutes Past &
Future Winners of the
Concours d’Elegance of America
at St. John’s
The Mercedes-Benz Club of America welcomes current
& future owners/lessees of new, pre-owned, classic &
collector Mercedes-Benz to join our global community.
Visit mbca.org or call 800.637.2360.
Richard Bahre receives the “Most Significant Mercedes-Benz” trophy from
Mercedes-Benz Club of America Executive Director, Doug Truitt
for his 1931 Mercedes SSK
More Than a Car. We’re a Community.SM
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