NASCAR.COM - Self-taught Ren prideful of adapting to different styles
There's no denying that Ron Hornaday, winner of six Camping World Truck Series races in 2009 -- including a record five in a row, is a unique talent inside the cockpit. But his veteran crew chief, Rick Ren, is the brains behind the operation with an impressive resume all his own.
Ren made history at Nashville, becoming the series' all-time winningest crew chief with 27 victories among five different drivers -- Hornaday (16), Johnny Benson (5), Andy Houston (3), Travis Kvapil (2) and Rick Carelli (1).
Despite Kyle Busch breaking Hornaday's streak at Bristol, Ren is shooting for the seventh victory this season for the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet on Friday at Chicago.
But unlike most championship crew chiefs, Ren can't thank his father or uncle for handing him his first wrench and showing him the finer points of using it. In fact, prior to his senior year in high school, Ren's mechanical abilities were limited to dismantling a bicycle, a skill he learned on his own.
"My dad was the guy who could barely change the oil and put gas in," Ren recalled. "We never had old cars or worked on cars. My extent [with cars] growing up was tearing a bicycle apart. When I got old enough to buy a car, I started with a '55 Chevrolet and started tinkering with it. As soon as I got old enough to drive, one of my buddies took me to the races and I've been doing it ever since. I'm pretty much self-taught."
NASCAR.COM - Self-taught Ren prideful of adapting to different styles - Aug 25, 2009
Ren made history at Nashville, becoming the series' all-time winningest crew chief with 27 victories among five different drivers -- Hornaday (16), Johnny Benson (5), Andy Houston (3), Travis Kvapil (2) and Rick Carelli (1).
Despite Kyle Busch breaking Hornaday's streak at Bristol, Ren is shooting for the seventh victory this season for the No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet on Friday at Chicago.
But unlike most championship crew chiefs, Ren can't thank his father or uncle for handing him his first wrench and showing him the finer points of using it. In fact, prior to his senior year in high school, Ren's mechanical abilities were limited to dismantling a bicycle, a skill he learned on his own.
"My dad was the guy who could barely change the oil and put gas in," Ren recalled. "We never had old cars or worked on cars. My extent [with cars] growing up was tearing a bicycle apart. When I got old enough to buy a car, I started with a '55 Chevrolet and started tinkering with it. As soon as I got old enough to drive, one of my buddies took me to the races and I've been doing it ever since. I'm pretty much self-taught."
NASCAR.COM - Self-taught Ren prideful of adapting to different styles - Aug 25, 2009
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