Chupp assited Skip Arp’s team at Smoky Mountain on Saturday night.
Randle Chupp has been a fixture in Dirt Late Model racing for a number of years. And that continues still today as the once highly successful driver is now involved in multiple aspects of the sport through his Wolfpack Racing organization that he has recently moved from the Charlotte area to Cleveland, Tenn.
Chupp looks to assist racers in their careers, whether they be young up-and-coming stars or successful veterans simply looking for new ideas. Wolfpack can do everything from selling race cars to offering consultation services with Chupp’s considerable experience and expertise behind every aspect of the particular service rendered.
The move to the east Tennessee area actually brought Chupp full circle from earlier days in the sport.
“I lived in Knoxville for years, but through chasing dreams in racing and technology, I moved to the Carolinas in 1999 and stayed there until about a couple of months ago,” Chupp explained in an interview with InsideDirtRacing.com “I got an opportunity to get a new business partner and move closer to my kids, who live in Crossville, Tenn. It also put me closer to my mother as well. And I got to move to an area I’ve always loved and it’s an awfully good area for dirt track racing. I have a lot of fans and friends who live in the area, which makes it nice.”
Through his Wolfpack organization, Chupp offers virtually every conceivable service for Dirt Late Model racers. And now that he is back in this region, he hopes Tennessee drivers and teams will benefit from his efforts.
Chupp spent many years as a driver before going into the consultation business
“We do basically anything related to racing Dirt Late Models, Crate Late Models, Open Wheel Modifieds or Steelhead Late Models,” the leader of Wolfpack declared. “My business partner is Chuck Smith, who owns Performance Automotive Racing Engines, and he owns half of Wolfpack now. We’re a MasterSbilt, Longhorn and Rocket Chassis dealer. We can service or set up any brand of car anybody’s got. We basically just moved from one state to another and we kept doing the same thing we had been doing. We do driver consulting and we coach owners about what products to buy, and not just a chassis brand but the whole network of parts to have a winning program.”
Chupp says the basic premise of his business is a simple one.
“Having more brains thinking about some problem is faster than trying to fix it yourself.”
Chupp was at Smoky Mountain Speedway this past Saturday night to offer assistance to Skip Arp and his team during the running of the Southern Nationals event being held at that track. His Wolfpack organization has assisted the likes of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Joey Coulter, Brandon Overton, Scott Autrey, Luke Roffers, Ben Faircloth and many more.
Chupp was no stranger to victory lane as a driver.
So what key pieces of advice does the man known as the ‘Show Stopper’ offer to the drivers and teams he works with?
“One thing I try to tell everybody is to set realistic expectations and to realize what you’re biting off,” Chupp pointed out. “You know, don’t jump into the NFL with a college program and think you’re going to muddy up the water for the NFL guys. A lot of times that helps take some pressure off the driver when the owner realizes he has some team building to do.
“Look at Joe Gibbs and look at Rick Hendrick,” he continued. “It’s more than just a hobby, it’s a profession. The best owners are the ones who study and play chess up to other people’s level. What I can usually do, since I’ve been in all sides of it, is to help a team that’s struggling narrow down where they’re struggling the most and start working on that right away.”
Ultimately, Chupp wants those he works with to succeed.
“I have years and years of experience and I can use that to give people of all different experience levels a short cut to success. It’s hard to get it a day or two at a time when it takes thirty years to stack it up. That’s basically what a consultant is supposed to do for somebody, speed up their learning curves.”
