Dr. Jim
Logan, chiropractor from St. Louis and owner of Logan Racing, made
history in June 2000 by becoming the first African-American team
owner to qualify for the Indy Racing League. |
Corporate America Reluctant
to Back Minority Racing Entrepreneur
By Bob Moore, SLFP.com
© 2001 St. Louis Front Page
ST. LOUIS, MO (SLFP.com) Dec 5, 2001
- Open-wheel racing has always been the high end, expensive, upscale sport
for the extremely wealthy racing enthusiast. When the Indy Racing
League (IRL) was formed in 1994 by Anton H. "Tony" George,
president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Dr. Jim Logan,
a St. Louis chiropractor and owner of Logan Racing, saw an
opportunity to live his dream of moving into the high end of racing.
"I love
racing and the fact that we are able to make the history at this
level is just kind of a bonus," said Dr. Logan, owner of
Logan Racing.
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"The idea was to make this level of racing more affordable,"
commented Logan, in an interview at the showroom of Gateway Classic Cars,
located in Fairmont City near the Gateway International Raceway. The
showroom features over 250 classic, collector, antique, exotic and race
cars, including hot rods, sold on consignment.
"Indy Car Racing opened the sport to individuals who before couldn't
get into the sport regardless of how much money or backing they had
because the sport was closed by way of a franchise," Logan said.
He explained that to be involved in the high end of racing, you had to get
with someone and convince them to lease to you or sell you one of their
franchises. "That wasn't going to happen. So I watched it until 2000
and then decided to make the move and get involved myself."
Up to this point, Logan has personally financed the Logan Racing team. To
successfully compete in open-wheel racing, he is looking at every possible
option to raise the money. "We're currently discussing with various
corporations and businesses throughout the country different ways of
getting them to partner up with Logan Racing and become involved with our
efforts to fill the team next year."
"I have three cars here," said Logan. Standing next to his sleek
black #19 Indy car which ran in 2000, he noted that Logan Racing is the
first African-American solely-owned team in the history of Indy Racing
business, which goes back to 1911.
Logan added that he is also the only African-American owner in the Silver
Crown division of the U.S. Auto Club. "We started racing there in
1993. We used those cars to run a lot of young men who ordinarily couldn't
get to race with the big teams that are already funded and have the
so-called stars of series racing," he said.
"It's been a campaign of mine to give people a chance to get started
in racing who wouldn't ordinarily have a chance," Logan added.
"We're proud of that and now we are working on the 2002 season."
Logan's love of racing goes back to the seventies when he began racing
with his kids. "My young boys, Jimmy and Anthony, raced in the
Southern Illinois Quarter Midget Association and they both won
championships locally. We never went nationally because I had just started
my practice at that time. I got back involved in organized racing in about
'79 with sprint cars and then moved to late model dirt cars," he
said.
In addition to dealing with the complex business side of racing, Logan has
had to deal with social issues. He explained that there were black racing
series way before the more contemporary racing series were started.
"Just as with the baseball league, we had the Negro Leagues. Before
Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella broke the color barrier and came into
major league baseball, we had black players of major league caliber.
Because of discrimination and the sociological times, they were unable to
fulfill their talent in the mainstream where they could be paid on the
same level," he commented.
"Wendell Scott was actually the first black racer to race in
the highest level of NASCAR what is now called the Winston Cup Division.
He is also the only black racer to have won in that Division," noted
Logan.
"Racing is same way and at this stage of the game, auto racing is not
integrated to the degree that it should be. There are African-Americans
involved with various levels of racing. Again, I am the first and at this
point, the only black entrant as a sole owner in this series of Indy car
racing whether it be CART or IRL," stated Logan.
"Being
African American and in the health care business, there is
probably some reluctance to understand or give any credence to my
abilities in the technical end of what we have to know to deal
with a racing car," stated Dr. Logan.
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"I'm a racer at heart," he said enthusiastically. "I love
racing and the fact that we are able to make history at this level is just
kind of a bonus."
Although Logan personally has only done a little drag racing, his vast
knowledge and understanding of the technical aspects of race cars stems
from years of experience in aeromechanics. As a student at O'Fallon High
School, an experimental combined prep and tech school in St. Louis, he
learned about aircraft and all the elements that went into building and
maintaining aircraft.
"When I started there in 1958, I chose aeromechanics as my shop. At
13 years old, I was assembling and disassembling jet engines as a part of
my training. I was also dealing with composite materials at a time when
composites were unheard of in race cars," said Logan. He graduated
with a grade point average that allowed him to attend college. After
graduating from Logan College of Chiropractic in 1975, Logan joined the
Naval reserves and served during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
"Working on 18 cylinder radial engines in the Navy was a lot more
complex than working on a V-8 engine in a racing car," he laughed.
"My first job in manufacturing was at McDonnell Aircraft Corporation.
So those kinds of things were extremely beneficially in my knowledge and
understanding of how these race cars work."
"When I came into the auto racing business, a lot of folks who were
not aware of my background, looked at me and wondered how does he know
anything about racing cars. I probably have been exposed to more about the
principles that are employed in these racing cars through the aircraft
industry than at lot of these people have ever thought about," he
said proudly.
Undeterred by formidable obstacles, Logan set about entering open-wheel
racing by assembling top-notch mechanics, engineers, and talented drivers
in Indianapolis. "We call our integrated team, the Team of
Opportunity. We are bringing people on who have reasonable skills, and
mostly desire, and we will show them what they need to know." The
team includes chief mechanic, Jeff Collins, an official for the
U.S. Auto Club and for the Indy Racing League; and team manager Craig
Leeke, formerly a racing team owner and engineer.
Logan explained that he bought a used Dallara car from another team. The
crew quickly built the Logan Racing Indy car at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway in May 2000. "The car came in kit form already assembled. We
had to disassemble it and get all the pieces inspected and certified and
then reassemble the car and put what they call a setup on the car."
"You have to tune the car to the rules of the package of the series
that you are running. They have technical data that you must adhere to.
When we built this car according to the rule book, the first time it went
through technical inspection, it had only one defect. The rear wing was a
quarter of an inch too tall. That meant unbolting four bolts and dropping
it down to the next set of holes," related Logan.
"We were not able to get on the race track at Indianapolis because
I'm not known politically well enough through the powers that be that they
would trust me to get on the race track especially after building a car in
such a short period of time," he continued. He stated that their standing
driver, Billy Roe, was an experienced driver, but had not
run in the past year. "After we didn't race there, we went to Texas
and showed the racing community that we were capable of getting the job
done. And getting the job done with the handicap of not having the
financing that the established teams have." Roe qualified 27th and
finished 25th at the Casino Magic 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Stevie Reeves drove the car for the final three events of the 2000
season (and of forty-two entries, Logan Racing finished twenty-eighth in
points). USAC driver David Bridges and Indy Racing Northern Light
series driver Donnie Beechler have driven for Logan in the Silver
Bullet Series.
Logan acknowledged that he is currently talking with Pat Rummerfield,
the world's only known fully-functional and fully-recovered quadriplegic
who also holds the land speed record in an electric-powered car. He stated
that before a driver can be licensed in these cars, they must past a test.
"All the activities surrounding qualify him for testing is really
expensive. That's where Pat and I are aligning ourselves now in an effort
to raise the funds necessary to get him tested to the degree that he would
be able to qualify for a license," said Logan hopefully.
"I have talked with several corporations owned by blacks over the
years, including Wittnauer Watches. But it seems that there is a
reluctance to get involved with an area where there is not a lot of
familiarity. The black businesses are not interested."
"In fact, the reality is that auto racing is perhaps the least known,
best value in marketing in the world. It is the fastest growing sport and
has outstripped soccer as being the largest sport worldwide," he
added.
"As a matter of fact, from a business point of view, I think it would
only be good business. With the African-American community in America
fiscally being as powerful as the fifth largest nation on earth, I can't
see why any shrewd or astute business person wouldn't see this as being a
natural fit for any corporation," Logan commented.
"I'm sure that based upon the experience that my team has and the
knowledge that I've got about auto racing, the first company that comes on
board with us will be thankful that they did so. And the rest will follow
suit," stated Logan confidently.
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