Jeff Crutcher - Team Principal of Cycle Zone KTM

Dale Spangler:

Welcome to Pit Pass Moto, the show that brings you deep dive interviews with the motorcycle industry insiders and racers that make the sport move.

I'm host, Dale Spangler, and this episode's guest is Jeff Crutcher, team principal of the Supercross and Motocross team, Cycle Zone KTM.

This episode is brought to you by MotoAmerica, home of AMA Superbike Racing, and North America's premier motorcycle road racing series. Watch every round of the 2023 series with MotoAmerica Live+ video-on-demand streaming service, or visit the MotoAmerica YouTube Channel for race highlights and original video content.

For the complete 2023 MotoAmerica schedule, head to motoamerica.com or follow MotoAmerica on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for real-time series updates. Let's get started.

I'd like to welcome Jeff Crutcher to Pit Pass Moto. Jeff, how are you today? And did you enjoy your weekend off from the Supercross Series?

Jeff Crutcher:

Yeah, I'm feeling great, man. It's been nice to get some time off because the thing is, like we're not just doing Supercross, we did the General Tire Arenacross series also. So, we did 16 nights of racing in Arenacross plus four Supercross races so far. Or I'm sorry, five. So, I'm already 21 race nights deep. So, this break has been absolutely fantastic.

Dale Spangler:

Yeah, because you have been doing Arenacross for the last couple of years with your team and you made this transition, which obviously, that's a big deal to transition from Arenacross to Supercross. So, tell us about this transition and how everything kind of went for you so far this year.

Jeff Crutcher:

Truth be told, the main thing is I realized that if I wanted to grow the race team, that we had to put our big boy pants on and go race in Major League Baseball and National Football League stadiums.

Not to say that Arenacross is not extremely competitive or a big honor to get to race it, but a lot of people just don't pay attention to Arenacross. And so, my goal here is to crush in Arenacross and then go have fun in Supercross and whatever happens happens.

And let's be honest, this is motorsports and the thing about motorsports is typically, it's 100% sponsorship driven, or you woke up on your way home from third base thinking you hit a home run.

And so, for me, I mean, I started this race team just — dude, I didn't have bikes, I didn't have money, I didn't have anything. I just said, “I want to do this and I'm going to make it happen.”

And so, as I continue to grow the race team and I want to bring in faster talent and guys that have higher notoriety and provide them with better equipment, it costs money. And I think we can all agree that people are more excited to spend their very hard-earned money on Supercross than they are on Arenacross.

Now, that's not to say that we haven't had fantastic partners for Arenacross, we have. It's just transitioning into both. I mean, the thing is, like do we go to Arenacross and like so much of the storyline is focused on us and my race team and what we're doing and the target of Michael Hicks and trying to beat him. And everything that we're doing to achieve that.

And in the process, I mean, we're just getting insane coverage from Fox Sports 1, and Daniel Blair, Justin Brayton, Kristen Beat. But whenever we go race Supercross, I mean, we're just LCQ fodder at this point.

And so, it's understanding we're really good at Arenacross, so I want to be the best Arenacross team that ever existed and then for us to transition into Supercross and be really good there also, but in a different metric than how we're going to measure Arenacross.

Dale Spangler:

Yeah, in a way, you could kind of draw a parallel between the NFL and Arena football. Like there's just that similar difference between the series. Obviously, Supercross, everybody kind of calls it the big show. That's where everybody wants to be.

For you, it's so new to you being a team principal. What did it feel like when you went to your first Supercross as a professional team?

Jeff Crutcher:

I mean, I would be a liar if I said that I didn't get emotional at some point during the weekend and have a few tears of accomplishment. And our first race as a Supercross team was in Tampa this year.

And at that time, Cheyenne was still hurt. So, I had just Carter Biese and I mean, dude, it was gnarly. I mean, like I've been to a lot of Supercross races as a fan. I've been to Supercross working for Feld doing video and then I've wrenched at them through the collective experience for Scotty Wennerstrom.

And so, I've done a little bit of everything, but I never raced Supercross myself. It's tough to race Supercross being from the Midwest and especially when I was growing up and getting fast, there were no Supercross tracks to practice on, so it was like out of sight, out of mind.

And so, for me to put riders on my Cycle Zone KTMs, yeah, it was very emotional. It was very rewarding and I mean, so much of it is where when you're in it and you're doing it and you're building the thing and you're working on the business and working in the business both, and then all of a sudden the motorcycle is running, the rider's getting on it, and right behind our pit is Raymond James Stadium. It's like, this is really happening.

Like the catalyst was me literally just being bored and not knowing what to do with myself one winter turned into, “Wow, dude. Like I have a team.”

Dale Spangler:

Yeah, I mean, you're literally, living the dream, it sounds like to me. I mean, you grew up in Kansas, you grew up riding dirt bikes, racing, you progress to a high level, like an expert level probably locally.

But really what impresses me is your sort of moto entrepreneurism. Like I think you started this graphics company and then I assume that's kind of where, like you're saying, you're bored, not sure what to do, but then you decide to start this race team.

So, just tell us a little bit more about that process, how everything came about.

Jeff Crutcher:

So, to give you the full story, I worked at FedEx for 10 years as a package delivery driver. And one of our regional managers came in and started going on about how they were going to change our 401(k) and our pension, which that was the whole reason I was at that company.

So, I realized, I was like, “Dude, like I'm not getting what I wanted out of this.” And not to say that I was miserable by any means, but I definitely felt like I wasn't thriving. I was existing, not thriving.

And on the side, I started doing stickers, just doing dirt bike custom sticker kits and little odds and ends, little social media stuff here and there, and flyers, and just whatever people were willing to have me try. I started doing that.

And I did that for three years on the side while working at FedEx also. And then whenever that guy came in and started barking at us about his trucks, his drivers, his employees, his this and that … which by the way, he didn't introduce himself, so I didn't know who his was. That rubbed me the wrong way so bad.

Dale Spangler:

I bet.

Jeff Crutcher:

And like that was kind of where I realized like, “Who am I kidding? Like I'm not set to work for a Fortune 100 multi-billion dollar, global corporation. Like I'm not supposed to be here.”

And I started looking at an exit. And whenever the pandemic shutdown started coming in … and what's funny is I had just gotten done from a riding trip with my dad. We went to Costa Rica and rented some KTM 1090 adventure bikes and rode all around the country of Costa Rica.

I had a lot of time on that motorcycle to think, and I thought, “You know what? There's never a good time to quit your job, so why not do it now?” So, as soon as I got back, I handed in my two weeks and my manager was like, “Are you serious?”

Like the people at FedEx are very intelligent and the shutdowns that were happening … well, obviously everybody's about to start ordering stuff online, which means there was never a higher demand for package delivery drivers. And I was about to bail on more overtime than I could legally take.

So, I was like, “Yeah, dude, I'm going to go into business for myself full-time.” And I launched Rippinruts, which is my sticker business, and did it full-time.

And I mean, March and April of 2020 was an absolute anomaly. Literally everyone was buying sticker kits and anything they could for their bikes because everybody's getting paid to sit at home and they're just spending money at the wazoo. And I really reaped that and that put me really far forward.

Then I got to ride a lot and was feeling very spicy on the bike and I was like … after summer was over and I had some winds under my belt, and was just kind of looking at the year-end review and thinking, “Alright, well it's about to get cold out. What the hell am I going to do?”

Like at the time, the who’s retired Arenacross series is, I'm looking at it, I'm like, “I've done one or two of those here and there and I don't know, maybe I could go back and live the Arenacross glory days again.”

And I was thinking about, “Okay, well, I'd rather spend somebody else's money than my own, so let's see if I can get some sponsorship for it.” And I knew that in order to have the sponsorship that I wanted, I would have to enlist a second man to race for me.

I got Brandon Yates to race for me, and he had a Husky, I had a KTM and we dressed him up to look identical and that was really where it started.

But yeah, I mean, it really goes back to sitting in that meeting room at FedEx and figuring out like, “I have to work for myself.” And the experiences that I've had and the places that I've traveled, and the friends and business partners that I've made, man, it's been a very wild ride.

And to think that at one time I was driving around in Gardner, Kansas delivering packages to the Intermodal Center thinking, “This is it.”

Dale Spangler:

Yeah. I'm a big believer in timing and I feel like this is one of those situations where you did yourself a favor in multiple ways because I think you escaped. That FedEx probably would've been a nightmare. I can only imagine going through COVID when everybody was wanting their packages yesterday.

Jeff Crutcher:

Right.

Dale Spangler:

And then like the timings, like you said, seemed right for you to start your business. You're able to hit the ground running and probably got some business right away.

But I wanted to ask you this though, because like your team, I think is really unique in that you have this statement here, and I want to have you explain this to me. You say, “Winning isn't everything to me. My racing operation focuses on long-term impact-based tactics to solidify generational brand loyalty.”

So, explain that because it sounds to me like you're thinking about this so much more as a business relationship with your sponsors.

Jeff Crutcher:

Yeah, so, something that I think about and I'm a big fan of using very words specifically. Instead of sponsors, I say partners. A sponsor is someone that does something that doesn't expect anything in return.

And there's a lot of motocross racers out there that are just looking for that $500 sponsor to get to one outdoor national. And, “Thanks, man. I'll slap the logo on the side of my bike.”

And whereas for me, like I'm thinking multi-year partnerships where we integrate with each other and develop a longstanding relationship. Perfect example is Joe Gibbs Racing and Interstate Batteries.

Interstate Batteries has been like the founding father of Joe Gibbs Racing. They were the first corporate sponsor of that race team.

And so, much of what I'm trying to do here is impact the next generation. And I have some anecdotal stories from growing up in the garage with my old man and we're farting around working on bikes. And just some of the brands that he chose to use be Bel-Ray Grease and UFO Plastic and whatever.

It kind of becomes like this thing of like, it's a relationship that every time that I buy a product, there's always something behind the decision to buy. Dale, let me ask you this. What's your thing? Like what's your favorite thing outside of … like do you have a niche hobby or something like that?

Dale Spangler:

I mean, really I just love music. I'm a music junkie. Like finding new bands, digging into what they're about. Love that aspect of music.

Jeff Crutcher:

How do you consume your music?

Dale Spangler:

Primarily, a Spotify guy.

Jeff Crutcher:

Okay. So, who told you about Spotify?

Dale Spangler:

I don't know where I saw Spotify now, that you mentioned it. But yeah, it's just one of those things where like the AI behind it is what I love so much about it because it's constantly generating similar interests and suggesting new bands.

Jeff Crutcher:

So, what I'm trying to illustrate here is odds are somebody showed you Spotify.

I remember hanging out with a friend, Lauren, of mine, we were talking about Pandora and she was like, “Dude, have you heard about this thing called Spotify?” And I was like, “Whatever. How can anything be better than Pandora?” And now, I'm actually in the 98th percentile of Spotify data users.

Dale Spangler:

Nice.

Jeff Crutcher:

Yeah. So, my point is, that like if you reflect on any brand that you choose to use, so much of like our decision to use this brand over that brand is based off of someone telling you about it. And it's a trusted source of information.

That's my job. That's my job to do to the public that follow me on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. For me to take my influence and represent the brands that I'm partnered with in order to create a long-standing relationship with their wallet and that brand.

There are so many of these like blown opportunities of these racers that are like heralded as these gods of motorsport. Dude, they don't know shit about their stuff. Like they don't know what it is they're riding, they don't know why, they don't know why their factory or their team chooses to use that product or what the benefit of it is. They just show up, ride the bike and leave.

And so, like that's where I have this opportunity to … dude, I mean, like when I'm in the pits and I'm working on the bikes and there's people standing there watching, I always make it a point to be like, “Hey, dude, you got any questions about the bikes?”

“Oh yeah, actually, I see that Wiseco sticker on your fort card.” “Yeah, dude, we're partnered with Wiseco. We use the Racer Elite Piston. It's a forage piston that's been milled out on the bottom side of it, shaves weight down. So, the revs go up faster than a Stock OEM Piston.” “Awesome, dude. Thanks, man. I'll look into that.”

And the thing is, like I am a motocross enthusiast and it's kind of almost like I don't really care if my rider know. At this point, it's not the rider's job to know about the product.

Whereas like me, not to say that I'm the face of the race team by any means, but like it's one less thing that they have to do and it's a great opportunity for me to actually have the right information and to be able to blend like motocross bro science and ad copy together.

And prove we're not just using this product just because, we're using it because we chose to use this product.

Dale Spangler:

Yeah. That goes back to that distinction that you made between a sponsor and a partner. And I feel like this is going that extra step in being a partner. But I also, know, like I love this statement that you said to your content team that goes racing. I mean, that just says to me that you're out to provide assets for your sponsors and give them some value.

And like I also, saw where you were doing featured sponsors at rounds. So, like you did Bel-Ray, you did ODI, some of these other sponsors of yours.

So, I mean, I could definitely see where you're taking it to that next level. And I think you even have some other ideas about activation type things that you might have alluded to in the pits already, where you're just being much more accessible and approachable.

Jeff Crutcher:

Thanks for throwing me that softball, Dale, because I want to talk about this very specifically. This is something that I noticed in Indianapolis. So, Detroit didn't have pits, but in Indy, there was a kid, he's reaching over the like the pit skirt of my easy up.

He reaches over and he's just touching like the front fender. And I was like, “Hey.” The dude like snapped his hand back and I walked up and I was like, “Hey, dude, here's the deal. If you touch that bike, that means that you have to come around here and I have to take your photo with it.”

And he was like, “What? Really?” I was like, “Hell yeah, dude. Climb on the bike, let's take your photo.” I mean, he was just some random kid that thinks that motocross is sick. He just wants to touch the bikes.

And then as soon as that happened, I had walked around the corner and I saw the line of people that were all in queue to get, I don't know whose autograph it was, but they're all lined up to get somebody's autograph and we're talking, there's a thousand people plus.

And it's like, “What a great opportunity for me to take one of my rider and one of my bikes and push it over. Well, while people are lined up to get Ken Roczen's photo, let's stick people on this motorcycle.”

So, I'm going to wheel it over with my rider. I'm going to say, “Alright, hop on, we're going to take some photos here. Whoever wants to sit on the bike and have their photo taken, I don't care. Get on that bike. You take it.” I'm not taking the photos, it's not for my social media. They are posting photos of my motorcycles in their social media feeds.

So, every time that Bel-Ray logo, for example, is on that front number plate, it lives forever as an experience that he had. And like every single one of his friends and fans or whatever, that follow him, they're seeing my stuff, they're seeing my partners. So, that's kind of my goal here.

And Supercross kind of already does this, but I don't know, it's kind of corny the way that they do it, where they set up like one of Eli Tomac’s bikes with like a backdrop behind it and you just go over and you sit on the bike and it's just a stock Yamaha.

And dude, there are a lot of people that jump on that thing and take a photo of it, but there's no rider, there's no interaction. It's just a random bike sitting on a stand with some checkered flags behind it. I'm like, “Dude, how tight would it be to put these people on the bike and introduce them to the rider that actually rides the bike? And also, that bike is about to go out on the track.”

It's totally different as opposed to just being some promo Yamaha, this is a real thing. Imagine getting to just walk behind the Monster Energy Yamaha tent, like the wall and just be like, “Hey, Eli, I'm just going to sit on your bike real quick for a photo.” Not-

Dale Spangler:

Snap the throttle a couple times.

Jeff Crutcher:

Yeah. Dude, not happening. And so, that's where I'm looking at this and I'm like, “I'm seeing something here. I'm going to make something of this.”

And with like those pull up banners that are retractable, I see this as an opportunity for as some type of like deliverable where it's like, “Okay, so, I'm going to get one of those made, pull that thing up, it's got a logo on it, maybe a QR code, something like that.”

“We've got the rider, we've got the random fan, they're sitting on the bike. We've got the logos on the bike. We've got mom and dad taking the photos and we've got a pull-up banner.”

Dude, it's just like, “Why is nobody doing this?” Like this is an experience that nobody is providing. Is actual hands-on interaction.

Dale Spangler:

I love that idea too because I feel like not only are you doing something unique, but you're creating these personalized memories. Like they're going to remember that for the rest of their lives as opposed to, like you said, waiting in a line, getting an autograph for five seconds and walking on.

I mean, you're having a conversation and interacting and I mean, that's those special moments that I feel like are going to be lasting memories.

Jeff Crutcher:

Absolutely. And then hopefully, in that interaction, I'm not going to be there and be like, “Hey, dude, have you checked out the Bel-Ray Thumper synthetic oil? But it's like they hopefully, that through that interaction and then just going back, looking on the photo the next time they're in the motorcycle shop, they reach for the Bel-Ray over the Motul.

Dale Spangler:

Before you finish today's episode, first, we have a word from our sponsor.

I wanted to ask you a question though, because I think I know the answer, but I'm going to ask anyways. Do you consider yourself a student of marketing? I mean, I feel like yes, but I want to know more about this like sort of Shakespearean way that you write and you tell stories because I love it.

Jeff Crutcher:

That's a hell of a compliment, Dale. I appreciate that. A student of marketing. I would say that's a very light way to put it.

Dale Spangler:

Obsession maybe, huh?

Jeff Crutcher:

Yeah, absolutely. And so much of it is I love marketing, but what I love more is consumer psychology and figuring out like what makes people tick whenever it comes time to stick that card in the reader. Like the final selling point, what is that?

And how many steps are there from first awareness and then entering the sales funnel, to completing the sale? I find that very fascinating, what motivates people to buy things.

And I take that fascination and the curiosity and then think, “Okay, ultimately, it is my job to give people a reason to Google our partners.” I'm not a sales guy, straight up. I never have been, I never want to be a sales guy.

And my argument is like I've passed on a lot of partnership opportunities because they measure success through units sold. Like ultimately, like the final goal is growth and wellness of the company that we're representing.

But that's not my job. My job is to make people aware of you, your brand mission and your product. So, I find it very fascinating, again, what motivates people to buy things. And yes, steward of marketing. Absolutely.

Dale Spangler:

I mean, I feel like you're teeing up the sales in a lot of ways is what you're doing. You're like generating that awareness, that brand affinity, what they stand for because I think that drives a lot of people these days.

Like if they're a good company, what they stand for, then people can get behind that, especially when they have a direct recommendation like you do with the people that you make relationships with.

Jeff Crutcher:

Absolutely. Yeah, there's a lot of factors involved in that purchase and yeah, marketing's the beginning of it. I will say as an example of like I'm sure listeners at home are like, “Well, dude, isn't it your job to sell stuff?”

And it's like, “Well, if I tell you about how awesome this company is and how awesome their product is, and then you log onto to their website and it's a train wreck in the point of purchase is nearly impossible and they don't accept PayPal or iPay, it's like, dude, that's not on me.”

Like it's my goal to land you on their website, but everything after that is out of my control. And again, there's been times where I've gone to people's websites and seen this and I'd be like, “If you want people to buy your thing, you have to make it easy for them to buy it.”

It's like the path of least resistance is extremely important. And that's even with partnerships. And this is where some of that sales aspect does come in and it's like, “Dude, if I get somebody that's interested and they're new, I am on them like white on rice in a glass of milk, on a paper plate in a blizzard.”

“You're interested, okay, let's close this thing out today. Let's get partnered up.” Because I'm thinking of all the stuff I got to pay for. And it's like, “Dude, if you're thinking about spending money with us, alright, let's get the job done.” Before they have an opportunity to go back and be like, “Ah, maybe I don't need this.”

Same exact thing of whenever you go to the store and you got some trinkets in your hands. But then you go, if there's a long line, you might set some of it down because you have time to consider your purchase. And like I mean, shoot dude, impulse buy are such a major part of our entire economy.

So, let's strike while the iron is hot and not give people an opportunity to think about how, “Actually, you know what, I don't need this.”

Dale Spangler:

I'd love to have you come back and we can talk some more marketing again because we can talk about this forever. But I wanted to kind of close out here with a few more questions about how your season is going to progress from here on out.

But you're competing in the East Supercross right now. And what's the goals for the remainder of 2023? And will you be taking it outdoors for the summer or is that going to be your time down?

Jeff Crutcher:

Yeah, so I'm still a racer. Like I want to get on the bike and go really fast and I want to compete. And after Supercross is over, I'll take a little bit of time off from racing both as a team and myself and spend a lot of time on my personal bikes and get fit and in ship shape.

And I think that Cheyenne and I are going to do four Canadian outdoor nationals this summer. There's four in a row in July. The travel's not super insane on it. And I've never raced outside of United States.

And at this point, dude, I'm almost 35 years old. I think the ship has sailed whenever it comes to qualifying for the Fast 40 at outdoors. And I'm not willing to spend the money and I don't want to get sponsorship on board to be like, “Hey, I might make it in on a wing and a prayer.”

Yeah. Instead it's like, “Hey, let's go to Canada. Let's absolutely crush up there.” Not to say that the talent is slow or that it's not competitive, but I'll be making Fast 40s every time up there and Cheyenne, he'll be crushing up there also.

And there's a lot of people at those races, there's a lot of people paying attention to Canadian outdoors. And like whether I'm at the track and nobody's there or I'm at the track and there's 40,000 belligerent screaming RedBud fans, like I'm going to do the same work on social either way.

So, it just gives us an opportunity to create more content. Now, it'll be different content, which is extremely exciting, but it gives us an opportunity to create more content. I mean, that's the thing about motocross.

It's like as long as you're going, you got an opportunity. Whether it's Chicken Licks Speedway just in your backyard or whether it's Unadilla. Either way, it doesn't matter. There's an equal opportunity to create content.

Canada gives us a very unique objective to go up, be competitive, be fast, get television time, interact with new fans, really doubling down on that international audience and getting to exercise opportunity for our partners that do sell their products in Canada.

I'm going to tell you right now, I'm already planning for next season. On Wednesday, I have a meeting with 10 people here in Kansas City. We're kind of going to do a little bit of a Catalina Wine Mixer and talk about the upcoming season.

I am so lucky that I have some of the people in my corner that I do and their willingness to join the ride. The thing is, like, dude, they're not funding my dream. They're funding our dream. And like I said, I'm really lucky that I've got people that have believed in me since I started this race team. And I think I think the 2023, 24 indoor season is going to be our biggest year of growth.

Dale Spangler:

Well, it sounds like you're getting the snowball rolling and just kind of building that momentum up. And where do you see this team going in the long term? Where do you see this heading?

Jeff Crutcher:

So, what I like about Star is that they have shown that you can build a team from the ground up. Bobby Regan, he started this race team paying for it with his — he owns car dealerships now. He used his own money to start, and then he did get sponsorship along the way.

And he kind of created this new model of, “I'm going to outperform the factories until the factory is paying me.” Do I see that happening with this race team? It's not the goal. That is not the goal. But am I open to that idea? Absolutely.

Something else that Bobby Regan specializes in is hiring people that are better than himself. And I think that that's a really good talent.

People that can efficiently run a business, every one of them that I've ever talked to that owns their own company that is successful and thriving, they all say the same exact thing is hire people that are better than you. And that their number one talent as a business owner is finding better talent.

Dale Spangler:

And putting aside their ego too. That's a tough thing to do sometimes.

Jeff Crutcher:

Absolutely. Yeah. And I mean, dude, I'm looking for success. I don't care about being the guy that like has the best idea for this thing. I want to start with an idea. I want to take it to my crew chief and be, “Hey, what do you think of this?”

I want to take it to my mechanics and say, “Is there a way that you would improve this?” I want to take it to my social media manager and say, “Dude, I think we have a really unique opportunity here. What are your ideas?”

And have this collective of like the best of the best of budding talent. I mean, the thing about being a broke privateer team is the other guys that like is in our class, I'll say, inside of the pits, are the other broke privateer kids.

Whether those are mechanics or riders, or friends, or business owners. There's a lot of talent of people my age that are coming in and like you can get this vibe by talking to everybody that's of this certain age. We all see things very, very differently.

Like I've made a lot of acquaintances and a lot of good friends looking around at like the other guys that are in the same boat as us. And I can tell you now, that like my Rolodex, dude, is just getting stuffed of amazingly talented mechanics, drivers, guys that are starting their own team and people that have their own small businesses.

And I'm thinking, “These are the people that whenever the time comes for me to hire, that's who I'm going to hire. I'm not going to throw a bunch of money at like a Brandon Zimmerman who's working for HRC and try to buy him away from Honda and working for Chase.”

I mean, essentially, here's what it is, Dale. I'm playing Money Ball and I have to get the best talent for the lowest price of people that are overlooked, that all are hungry and kind of have a chip on their shoulder.

And those are the people that I'm looking to bring into my organization to help me grow because I feel the same way. And I feel like this race team will be a disruptive technology and kind of do things the same way that Red Bull has.

That's who I look up to as a corporation, is Red Bull. And what they have done to go from just some energy juice out of Austria to now, like if Judith Red Bull’s involved. That's how you know that whatever they're being involved in is, it's the coolest thing possible.

And so, that's kind of what I aspire to be. But the thing is, whether that's 5 years, 10 years, 15, however long it takes, I don't care. And again, like I know that I'll hire guys that are extremely fast and the results will come, but I don't care. Like that's not my goal, is to buy wins.

Dude, we can buy wins. Like you can buy talent, you can get the guy that gets first place every time. I mean, everything that I'm doing right now, with this Arenacross team, it's our goal to beat Michael Hicks.

And you know what? I could probably buy Michael Hicks and I could have him ride for me and I'd have a shoe in for the title next year. Not interested in that. I would rather get somebody that's hungry, that wants to win, that wants to race, has a little chip on their shoulder, a little angry, and they want to defeat the champion.

And the content that I can create around that is so much better than just content of like, “Hey, we're winners now.” Everything is big picture. It's a very complex thing. Is thinking all of these steps about content creation, awareness campaigns, contributing to sales, going and doing the cool stuff that we want to do.

And just living the lifestyle that so many people wish that they could, but either can't make their own opportunities or just don't have the ability to do it. Well, hey, watch our channel because we're going to take you along for the ride.

Dale Spangler:

Well, Jeff, this has been awesome, really enjoyed talking with you today, and just looking forward to seeing what you bring to the table over the next few years with your team. And yeah, just it's been a fun conversation.

So, any last words you want to throw out there about any sponsors or anybody you want to give a shout out to? Now, would be the time.

Jeff Crutcher:

Yeah, you know what's funny, is I'm not a big fan of like rattling-

Dale Spangler:

The shout out to.

Jeff Crutcher:

Yeah. I'm not going to rattle off all my sponsors because the thing is, it's ineffective. Like if I said-

Dale Spangler:

They know who they are, don’t they?

Jeff Crutcher:

They know who they are. And the other thing is, like I mean, if I sit here and rattle off all my sponsors in a row, it just becomes a soup. Like the second that starts happening, our listeners, dude, they're just like, “Okay, yep, here we go.” Yeah, no, I mean, it's like I don't have to tell people how Google works.

Dale Spangler:

That's true. It's been an awesome conversation, Jeff, and definitely have to have you back on again because I love talking marketing and yeah, we could probably talk for a day on just one subject, so.

Jeff Crutcher:

I sat down thinking, “Oh dude, I'm ready to go three, four hours. How niche do you want to get?” So, no, I appreciate it. And it's an honor for me to get to come on the legendary Pit Pass and just be part of this. It's huge for me. And it's a cool seal of approval, being on here and having you guys quiz me. Yeah, it's an honor.

Dale Spangler:

Well, again, thanks for your time, Jeff. Looking forward to seeing, again, seeing what you do the rest of the year and yeah, all the best on a fantastic rest of the year.

Jeff Crutcher:

Thanks guys.

[Music Playing]

Dale Spangler:

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow Pit Pass Moto on your favorite podcast listening app, so you never miss an episode. And if you have a moment, please rate and review our show. We'd appreciate it.

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This has been a production of Evergreen Podcasts. A special thank you to Tommy Boy Halverson and the production team at Wessler Media.

I'm Dale Spangler. I hope you'll join us next week for another episode of Pit Pass Moto. Thanks for listening.