When I landed in LA LA Land in 1985, I quickly realized all Winston Cup teams were not created equal. My curiosity about the difference was answered shortly after I went to work at Baker Schiff Racing. Teams were in constant research mode; two tenths were only good if they turned into three tenths next week it seemed. We had engine builders capable of winning races and championships, Bob Burum, Randy Clary, J E Beard. The irony of Baker Schiff team was that by 1992 8 of 16 employees in 1985 had championship rings. After a few weeks in the body shop with Robert Gee Jr and Jimmy Gee, Robert Gee Jr made the statement that ole California Bob had a 600 hp thermostat. He called Bob an Osterlund refuge, and under Robert “Boobie” Harrington had made a number of questionable choices one that included launching a chunk of Mallory metal used for balancing a crankshaft through the hood and into a competitor’s tire. Bob took the head engine building job for Baker Schiff. I soon realized that racing has a strange rhythm. Some crew chiefs are shock gurus, some chase front end alignment, some are all engine, some chase tires, few master all, engine guys are the same. Baker’s team had a baseline engine, there was a history of lubrication issues. Randy Clary, a Jack Tant disciple had an answer to the oiling issue a grove behind the main bearings with multiple bearing shell holes. This cured the oiling problem, added life but very little power. Bob chased the parasitic drag associated with oil build up on rotating parts, his answer was a scraper. The team started using a Hamburger dry sump pan, Dave Roberts took a new pan that had generic scraper and cut the pan bottom off to make a fixture to make custom scrapers. Bob pre-assembled the short block Dave would spend hours fitting the scraper to the rotating assembly our original goal was .250 with a directional windage screen in the scavenge area. Conventional wisdom was being more efficient with minimum stages, this changed as teams realized that you share 2hp to gain 10hp, or in some instances gain longevity in the hp life in races.
Back to the mechanics of the system, chasing oiling system options in a rear steer car was an issue. Many teams started to migrate the oil tanks forward from the trunk area into the left front. As the car weights dropped the importance of the balance, car builders concentrated on location of key components between the wheels, moving the oil tank from trunk to left front saved about 40 total pounds and transferred another 30 lbs. from behind the wheels to in between the wheels. The Baker Schiff team’s first attempt with the 4 stage Hamburger/ Roberts/ Burum scraper and directional windage screen was 20 hp on every engine we tested across the board. This oil pan scavenge system also option dropped oil temperature across the board in dyno tests and at the track. The next step was to perfect the oil tank, the tank had to fit the car, left front, vulnerable area, transfers a lot of heat to driver/cockpit area. The mechanics of the tank include a baffle system that allows aerated oil/foam to turn liquid again on contact providing the proper volume needed to lubricate and cool the engine. Most custom oil tanks are scalene quadrilateral (no sides parallel) in shape, later versions included Oberg style filters, with complex baffle systems that drop in from the top, easy to clean, with plenty of surface area to complement air cooling of the hot oil. In race conditions the Baker Schiff data verified 30 degree reductions in oil temp from rear tank cars to front tank cars. 35 lb. reduction in total weight, 1% reduction in rear weight. The Baker Schiff car fleet consisted of 2- New Hutchison Pagan Front Steers and 2 – New Hutchison Pagan Rear Steers and 2 – Used Hutchinson Pagan Lead Sleds, and a Osterlund Custom built road course car. All the cars were fitted or retrofitted for front tank cars. The engine fleet consisted of 10 engines in rotation by mid-summer.
By March/ Darlington Bob’s “quote” thermostat had risen to a consistent 650 hp + or – 5 at any given time. Rumors were rampant that teams had hit the 700 hp mark, Buddy grabbed the bait. Racing in 1985 chased a few measures of success, winning races, finishing races, winning poles. Bob was on the team that had won the 1980 championship with Osterlund/ Earnhardt. Roland Wlodyka was team manager with a fast but dependable racing model. The Osterlund business model included a strong team/ talent pool, a consistent top five car, and a driver that can win with a top ten car. The Baker Schiff business model was Buddy Baker liked Daytona, Darlington, Charlotte, Michigan, Talladega, the rest he hated. The engine shop’ product was consistently in the top 10 in power, Robert Harrington/ Steve Crowe had top 15 cars no doubt, and Buddy Baker won 19 races from 1959 to 1985. Bob’s approach was 3 engine combinations, all engines in each combination were the same, on the safe side, reputation was based on finishing every lap, wins were a byproduct, and poles were not worth the investment.
The engine shop had real racers in the shop. Their nature was winning, building generic engines tested their very soul. Buddy wanted more, he drove for top engine builders, his 19 wins were all a product associated with a superior car and /or engines. The team optimized the ring tension packages based on gains in the scraper, scavenge, oil tank. The worked-on efficiency in cooling, oil/water, water pressure, this allowed the car team to adjust the front downforce by decreasing the grille openings. This still left Baker Schiff 20 -50 hp down on the others in the top 10 teams. The Baker Schiff engine shop’s “reputation first” centered approach to NASCAR racing proved they had legit dependable engines, 7 top 10, 11 to 15, no engine failure DNF’s, average finish 19.1 not making anybody happy. The Baker Schiff engine program compared to the top 10 teams was weak at best, no engine related dnf’s made them looked like superstars from an engine standpoint. By mid-year we started to see the team unravel, the car boys had a solid car but the 1985 Oldsmobile Cutless was the slowest of GM camp. The Olds, an engine shop protecting their reputation, and Buddy Baker put us in a pickle. Buddy’s boys worked for the team and added to the excitement, the oldest Bryan had an ego 10x larger than any spark of talent he had related to racing, Brandon chased the tire deal and was learning the day-to-day operation of the business, both were trying to live up to a reputation that didn’t exist.
Buddy was a cool dude, great stories, fun to travel with, part of the history of NASCAR to that point, his dad Buck Baker won 46 races, 2 championships his claim to fame was as a lover and scoundrel, combined the 2 fueled the reputation the boys chased. Robert “Boobie” Harrington own the facility, the spinoff of the Penske to Osterlund to JD Stacy’s 5 Racers fiasco. The shop in Enochville, NC was an above standard racing facility. Baker/ Schiff leased the facility and fragmented employees from the Osterlund Championship winning team. Robert along the way hired red headed fireball “Patty” as a business manager. Patty was a machine, an old school accountant, that knew where everybody was buried and every dime was spent. The business model was simple, Buddy couldn’t afford to own the place, or even lease the facility so Patty devised an al et carte approach to the team. Olds jumped at their only superstar option that would ride in the slowest GM platform. The deal was if Hutchinson-Pagan sold it we could buy it, and it, whatever belonged to Baker-Schiff. Buddy leased 3 cars/tanks and a road course, shop, race equipment, hauler, and 5 full time employees. Baker/Schiff budget consisted of 12 fulltime employees, salaried or contract, utilities, insurances, travel, all costs of operations. Rumors pushed that the two spit the winnings. We started the season with 4th at Daytona, a 4th at Bristol, shortly after the rhythm of the team’s performance became evident. We built a trick piece for Busch Clash, cheated beyond belief, Olds execs, Dick Hutcherson, had a deal, the deal turned out to be AJ’s cheated car or Buddy’s, we pushed it a half a mile to take pictures for Olds, loaded that pig back up for the trip to NC. The 500 car was pushed but not to the limit. The next 3 races were all Roberts rent-a-wrecks, electrical put us out 2 races same issue 2 different cars, lost a clutch at Atlanta. Bristol we put the Daytona set up, Herb Nabs front end alignment, and Roberts oldest POS. We finished 4th. After Bristol we had our best start of year, 10th at Darlington, in the race we crashed the best car we built all year, it was 3rd new car.
The new Winston race was on the calendar for Charlotte, Buddy got bumped from the Winston no wins in 1984. Charlotte was his home race, we started 26th, Buddy parked the car after being lapped multiple times, my notes just say parked from embarrassment. Right before Charlotte Patty got a bill for tailored pit uniforms, 1st class airline tickets, and rental car invoices. Patty passed them on to Buddy. Buddy told her they were not his, it appeared son #1 didn’t like the way the teams pit uniforms fit his chiseled body builder body. He also flew his next to be ex-girlfriend to go to the embarrassing Charlotte race. Along in the same time Steve Crowe sent Brandon to get stainless wire for grills, he ordered a $3,000 roll from Hutch. In the heat of the debate over the value of the boys to the team, Bryan questioned Patty’s frequency of male companionship. This lit off a firestorm within the team and separated many of the players, it wasn’t about racing from that point on it was about Buddy’s new team and the contract in hand.
As this festered, we headed to Riverside. The car was specially built for road courses that Tim Richmond won 2 times in 1982. Robert guarded the car like it was his first born. There were 2 of these cars engineered by Roland Wloydka for Osterland racing they both won with the second car owned by Mike Curb Racing. I remember early in the spring the team disassembling the car, we pulled the Pontiac front end sheet metal, deck and rear facias, put on Olds sheet metal. Buddy called putting a new dress on an old girlfriend, I painted it inside and out, put the stickers on the taco wagon, and it was ready to assemble. The car was assembled in total secrecy. Robert Gee Jr. said that Robert hid the shocks and springs for this car under his bed to keep folks from knowing, in all reality it wasn’t a secret, Roland told everybody he knew what the car had. Taking Buddy Baker to Riverside is like taking a mule to the Kentucky Derby. The trip out west was crazy at best, Buddy didn’t have a chance. I experienced a phenomenon in Winston/ Busch cup racing where getting that first win is a once in a lifetime. The deal is you go back next year, and it is yours to lose, you have the combination to the lock. Robert had in his possession Dale Inman’s notes from Stacy and Petty Enterprises, nothing Buddy did was going the change fact that the collective had won Riverside with that car, and he just needed to step up. Not many laps into the race an upper a arm mount broke putting us out of the race. It was a somber trip back, there were folks on the team that felt that was our shot. As I painted the Daytona 4th racecar, I took a break, looked at the team calendar, Buddy as a joke put the races that he liked and the ones he hated, Patty was keeping score, the only one Buddy missed on was Bristol, he double xxed Riverside. Buddy flew from Riverside to Pocono to fish with friends, we wouldn’t see him till Daytona. July 4th always used to be vacation week for families, by then I saw a lot of lobbing, first year in, I thought we are just halfway and folks are planning to jump the fence. We stayed at the Hawaiian, ton of teams there, a great place to network. Buddy had the 4th double circled, we qualified terrible 32nd, the Olds was junk by itself, within ten laps Buddy was in the top 10, I was amazed the way the old cats worked the traffic, like pied pipers to the front. Living in the industry from 1980 to 2023 looking back you start to see all the shelves and where the books should fit. I was an Earnhardt fan, I started in the game as he matured into his own, got to meet a lot of the folks that complemented his journey. Buddy compared himself to Dale, I considered Buddy a good employer, fair, decent driver, but even on Dale’s worst day was Buddy equivalent. As the season crested into the second half, we started running the front steer cars more often, Bob pushed Robert because of the HP gain. Robert used to say that he hated giving up handling for horsepower. The 2 Bristol races were the only races we were competitive with rear steers. After the 2nd Dover race the verbal battles between Patty and Brian, with Martinsville and North Wilkesboro rumors were flying around about Buddy leaving, Patty tightened the purse strings, including with 6 races to go, staging the cars for events. Not an uncommon practice if have a rental contract for certain cars to race. If you are going to crash, make sure it is his not yours. The heated exchange came when I was told to have all Roberts cars in primer ready to paint by Charlotte. Team members that were on next years team started to move into the 1986 season, Olds was going to the Delta 88 body and that at best took planning. Olds renewed their commitment, Buddy hired Roland to get the ball rolling this included David, Don, Robert Gee Jr, Jimmy Gee to build the first car. Construction on the engine shop would be facilitated by Bob Burum. At the Charlotte race my relationship with Mike Beam strengthened, many with in the group thought that connection meant I was committed to Curb Motorsports. Bryan had issues with Robert making plans for 1986 by upfitting his shop for a different or second team. He approached Patty and she was ready, Bryan’s loose interpretation of his importance was challenged, and he was told to leave, Patty ended up being the subject of years of dirty laundry.
After Charlotte Buddy called a team meeting, the first thing was to put rumors to rest, and to offer targeted team members jobs. I was told that he didn’t need a body man, a misunderstanding fueled by the Gee’s. Within a month I was working at nights helping Dave and Don at Bakers new digs, making $10 more per hour than he paid at the Enochville shop. Several members were invited but decided to chase other rabbits. The meeting ended with one of the most profound things I ever saw, Buddy made Bryan apologize to Patty for all the verbal abuse over the year, he went on to say Bryan or member of that team should never challenge anybody based on assumptions or their reputation. Buddy closed the meeting with the statement, “Whatever Patty does on her time is her business!”