During my years at DG, I never lost sight of the reality that DG was a business that sold racing products rather than a shop that raced for glory. My first few weeks at DG were all about organizing the race team. But after that task was handled, the creation of product and servicing of customers was job one. Like everything else at DG, I was doing jobs and creating protocols that never existed before. There had never been any such thing as a product development department. However, I was quickly realizing: that was me. There was also no such thing as a quality-control department that inspected the manufacturing accuracy and fitment of the many products we sold. Again, suddenly, that was me. I was never actually given any of these new jobs, however I was the first one to get yelled at if that job didn’t get done. Over the years of running the race team, the list of new and yet unnamed jobs I inherited went on and on.
Story Index (Click on any title to read the episode)
Episode 1: Understanding The 70s SoCal Motocross Atmosphere
Episode 2: My Road Into Motocross
Episode 3: Getting a Foot in the Door
Episode 4: Reality in the Race Shop
Episode 5: Building a Race Team
Episode 6: Building the Team Bikes
Episode 7: Understanding the Goals of a Racing Business
Episode 8: The DG Front Office
Episode 9: The Competition
Episode 10: Painting the SoCal Racer’s Atmosphere
Episode 11: From Mechanic to I.T. Before There Was I.T.
Episode 12: A Few Words About Engine “Formulas”
Episode 13: Mechanic Buddies
Episode 14: 1976 Turning Points at DG
Episode 15: Facing the “Race-Gas” Era
Episode 16: The Retail Chamber Birthplace
Episode 17: The Mammoth Motocross Classic
Episode 18: The DG/Saddleback Launching Pad