Cal Wells (Motor racing businessman)
| Calvin Wells III | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 12, 1955 Pomona, California |
Cal Wells (born October 12, 1955) is a businessman and former owner of PPI Motorsports. He later served as the Executive Vice President of Operations at Michael Waltrip Racing, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the organization's three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams and one Nationwide Series team, until July 2011.
Before partnering with Michael Waltrip Racing, Wells owned PPI (Precision Preparation, Inc.) Motorsports established in 1979, which became a top-performing NSCS organization from 2000 to 2006. As a team owner in the NSCS, Wells visited Victory Lane twice with Ricky Craven behind the wheel of his PPI Motorsports entry. His multitude of drivers also earned him 10 top-five, 26 top-10 finishes and three pole awards during his tenure as an owner in the top-touring division.
Wells founded PPI during 1979 in Westminster, Calif. At the time, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. needed to promote their tough, reliable technology driven line of trucks through participation in Off-Road Championships, the Score Desert Series, including the Baja 500 and Baja 1000, and the Mickey Thompson Off-Road Championship Grand Prix (MTEG Stadium Series). Wells had already been successful in winning Off-Road races in the U.S. and Mexico and Toyota selected him to personally lead their foray into truck racing in the American market. With Off-Road legend Ivan "Ironman" Stewart, internationally successful brothers Steve and Rod Millen and Off Road, Indy Car and NASCAR winner Robby Gordon, PPI and Toyota won 88 races, 11 manufacturer championships including three Baja 1000's, 11 Baja 500's and five mint 400's.
As Toyota's interests peaked to enter the esteemed Indy Car/CART World Series in the mid-90s, they looked to Wells and his PPI team to support their entrance into America's premier open wheel series. As a new manufacturer to the division, Toyota had to meet requirements and align with an existing CART franchised team before adding teams outside existing CART ownership. PPI helped overcome these challenges by leading to the acquisition of franchise rights through the formation of Arcerio/Wells Racing, a PPI-owned company. Wells organization led Toyota's efforts, along with Dan Gurney's All-American Racers towards establishing a competitive effort in Indy Car.
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