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Chip Ganassi Racing Team’s John Olguin

October 21st, 2009 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

I have to admit, I don’t really understand the racing industry. Let me be clear, I am not against it. I just never grew up in a hot-spot for NASCAR events. It is actually one of the few sporting events I have yet to see in person. One day I know I will get there. It just hasn’t happened yet.

One man who has made the jump is Chip Ganassi Racing Team’s John Olguin. John is in his fourth season with Chip Ganassi, as their vice president of communications. In his current capacity he leads all aspects of communications and new media for an organization with world-wide reach that promotes 14 championships and over 150 wins from a group of international drivers that represent five different countries. In addition, he is responsible for the strategic direction and oversight of both the team’s internal and external communications while overseeing the media relations for all their individual races teams and drivers. He is the organization’s primary media contact and spokesperson.

Chip Ganassi Racing Teams is an organization that competes in three different forms of auto racing, NASCAR (stockcars), IndyCar (open wheel) and Grand Am (sports car) while operating out of two different locations – Indianapolis and Charlotte. Because of the team’s international reach, Olguin has also been able to creatively implement media relations campaigns in Europe and South America to capitalize on the array of international talent that distinguishes Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Inc. from their racing competitors.

Prior to his time with CGR, the 19-year veteran of sports public relations, spent nearly 15 years in the Los Angeles Dodger organization where he worked his way through the ranks, ultimately to hold the position of vice president, public relations. He was also vice president and managing director of the Los Angeles office of Formula PR, a public relations firm based out of San Diego and with offices in Los Angeles and New York.

1. Tell us about your job and your responsibilities.

I am the vice president of communications for a race team that races in three different forms of racing – NASCAR (stockcars), IndyCar (open wheel) and Grand Am (sports car). I work for Chip Ganassi Racing Teams . I oversee all the internal and external communications for the team. Each driver in each series has a PR person that reports to me. I work closely with the owner, president, executives and drivers on all messaging and strategic planning. I handle all media as it relates to our owner and president. I am also the liaison between the team and our sponsor’s pr departments.

2. Tell Us What Your Average Week is Like?

I am actually one of the few that has come to racing and actually travel less than I did in my previous job (baseball). The NASCAR season is actually longer than MLB’s in terms of the calendar. It starts in the second week of February and does not end until the weekend before Thanksgiving so your “off-season” is really just two months. However anyone that works in the front office for a sports franchise knows that “off season” is a term solely for the athletes. Across our three series we have about 70 races and I try to get to two or three races a month. Since we fly private it is a little easier to get in and out of cities. Sometimes I travel early morning on race day which helps in minimizing my time away from home. Most of the race team travels from Thursday-Sunday each week so getting to go for Sunday only is great. It seems like my weeks are taken up with meetings as I manage people in two different facilities – one in Charlotte and Indianapolis and living in Charlotte it makes it a little challenging.

3. Tell us about your career path including jobs in the sports industry:

I started in sports as an intern with the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of my graduate degree from the University of Richmond. The internship went well and ultimately I was kept on and would gradually make my way from team archivist to publicity manager to assistant director of publicity. From there I left the Dodgers for one year for a PR agency that specialized in sports. I was Vice President and Managing director of the firm’s Los Angeles office. That one year was invaluable in that it taught me some of the more technical aspects of the public relations business, including how to pitch media, how to find out what they are looking for in stories and how to organize complete PR plans – all of which became invaluable for the future. I was then asked to come back to the Dodgers as director of public relations one year later. I was ultimately promoted to VP, public relations. It was from the Dodgers where I ended up in North Carolina in racing.

4. What was the best advice you ever received and let us know if you follow it today?

It wasn’t so much advice as it was just something that made me think. It was from Vin Scully, the Dodgers’ Hall of Fame broadcaster when he referred to those who work in sports as those who work in the “toy department of life.” I have never forgotten that and it has always kept me very grounded. Any time there is a big stress in my professional career, I always think of that metaphor he used and it makes me laugh. Despite the fact there are very serious issues that we in sports face from time to time, in the end this is still a game and is supposed to be fun. As they say about pizza – even when it is bad, it is still pretty good.

5. What are your top sports memories you are most fond of telling others?

Growing up in Southern California (that might be a stretch since I am from Barstow) I was a huge Dodger fan so that day I first drove into the Dodger Stadium parking lot after getting my internship might have been one of the greatest sports moments of my life. I still think about it often because it reminds of why I work it sports. It is something that I would do on my spare time…and I get paid to do it. Another really cool moment was one of our drivers Scott Dixon won the Indianapolis 500. Standing in victory lane at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was very cool. For those that have not attended an Indianapolis 500 or been to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, they are both it rather amazing. IMS is very similar to going to Fenway Park or Wrigley field as the track and races history date back 100 years and the race is amazing. There are nearly 400,000 people at this one event. The track is a 2 ½ mile oval. To put its size into perspective, 211 football fields would fit inside the track. The race is one of the best sporting events that I have ever been to.

6. Share with the readers, the similarities and differences between working in professional baseball and racing:

There are a lot of similarities between racing and baseball. The driver is like the player in baseball; the crew chief is similar to the manager; the crew is similar to the coaching staff and everyone feel that they are not given enough information from the front office – just like baseball! The biggest difference is the fact that racing is like an All-Star game every weekend. Every team is at the track every weekend – sort of like the traveling circus. Because this is the case you are fighting 43 other teams every week for coverage, which when you are not running up front can be very challenging. Subsequently, local media is far less important than it is with a baseball team.

7. If you were not working in sports today, what kind of jobs would you consider and why?

I often think that it would be nice to have a low stress job like a barista at Starbucks. Getting to listen to some Jazz music all day would be nice. However I don’t that would net me enough to pay for my kids’ college. Seriously, I know that I would be in PR and most likely for a big consumer brand. I feel like I am a better “in-house” pr person rather than an agency person.

8. Name a few mentors you have had and why they’ have had an impact:

I have an older brother that has worked in the public relations field for over 20 years and he has been a mentor for me from the time I was a kid. It started out as just wanting to emulate him as most young kids do with their older siblings but as we got older, he became much more of a sounding board and a career advisor. Because we are very different in a number of respects, it is always nice to get a fresh and different perspective. I have always admired his drive and the supreme confidence he has in his own abilities. He is also someone who addresses challenges directly. He doesn’t beat around the bush. If he has something to say, he says it. It is something that I have always admired about him. Another person that has always been a mentor to me is Peter O’Malley the former owner of the Dodgers. My first full-time job with the Dodgers was the team’s archivist and I reported directly to him and have stayed in very close contact with him ever since. What has always impressed me about him is the manner in which he does business. I have always admired the fact that “how” you do things is every bit as important to Peter as “what” things you do. Doing things the RIGHT way trumps all.

9. What is the best part of your job? What do you like the least?

I really enjoy creating a strategy and messaging for a given situation. Creating an appropriate response to challenging questions is fun to me. I also truly enjoy the interaction with media. What is great about team sports is the relationships you forge with media that cover your team daily. There is a real give and take that I find rewarding. I think the main challenge is that is not always easy to deal with professional athletes. They can surely be challenging at times but in the end, that is what I have signed up to do – it comes with the job.

10. Executives always talk about passion in your job. What are you passionate about and why?

First, I am and always have been passionate about sports. As a youngster growing up, sports played an integral part of my life both as an athlete and also as a spectator but I don’t think for a second I ever thought of being involved in any way other than as an athlete. As I grew older and realized that you could work in sports in other capacities, it was a life-changing revelation to me. The opportunity to turn something that I was passionate about into a profession was tremendous. Despite the long hours and tough travel schedules, there is still little better. I always tell people that this (working in sports) is better than WORKING for a living. When you do something you truly enjoy, you are never really working.

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Other past features include the following

Nicole Alison – National Hockey League Executive

Bill Chapin, Director, Seattle Seahawks

Fred Claire — Former General Manager and Executive Vice President, Los Angeles Dodgers

Lawrence Cohen — Sports Consultant

John Drum — Vice President, Arizona Cardinals

Buffy Filippell — Executive Sports Recruiter, TeamWork Consulting

Chris Hibbs — Senior Director, Chicago Bears

Jeff Idelson — President, Baseball Hall of Fame

Brad Mayne — President and CEO American Airlines Center

Tim Mead — Vice President, Los Angeles Angels