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Some might call Tom Rager Sr.’s management style old school, but in some ways it’s a bit like new age touchy feely management.
You see Rager, who will retire as Polaris’ race manager for snowmobiles at the end of this season, actually cares about his employees. However, he’d never call them that. They’re his team and everyone is important to the team.
Rager, now 61, believes in being accessible. He’s not some super brain organizer sitting in a trailer or booth calling all the shots. He’s out there with his riders and mechanics. They can find him at the track. They know he’ll always be there for them.
“I’m at the track all day long. I want to be available to the kids, to talk to them and watch them,” he says relaxing briefly inside the Polaris race trailer.
“I want to be there when they do well to pat them on the back, or if they have bad luck,” he says, acknowledging that sometimes he’s a father, or grandfather figure to younger racers.
Passing the Racing Baton
Rager is turning Polaris race team management over to his son, Tom Jr., following this season, but notes that his son negotiated most of the contracts for this season. He has no qualms about Tom Jr. taking the job that he has been doing for 12 seasons. Rager joined Polaris in August of 2000 after 15 years with BRP, managing the Ski-Doo race team.
How he got that job is a bit of a round robin in itself. The Ragers had run a BRP dealership in Nebraska for years, but moved to northern Wisconsin in 1981 to run a resort. It so happens that Russ Davis from BRP had a cabin in the area and remained friends with Rager. First he was invited to become BRP’s northern Wisconsin sales manager and then Ski-Doo race coordinator. But Marcel Parot left Ski-Doo a year later and Rager moved up to manage all race activities.
Becoming the Polaris race team manager took some doing too as the courts got involved when Rager moved from Team Yellow to Team Red. After the wrangling was done, Rager was literally off to the races.
He hasn’t looked back, and doesn’t see any value in it.
There’s not a big secret to his success, he says, in addition to working closely with the racers, making them feel he is in it to win it with them. Mainly he has tried to surround himself with high-quality teams and good people. He cites the longevity and success at such teams as Hentges Racing as an example.
Plus long-term friends and co-workers such as the late Bill Rader, who was Polaris’ Racing Coordinator until his death in early 2012.
“I believe in never under-delivering. I think you should do what you say you’re going to do and I talk to them (racers and team members) as people. It’s all about being a better person, not just winning,” Rager says with his typical slow deliberate delivery.
He feels former Polaris racer T.J. Gulla is a good example of a racer who bounced around quite a bit, but settled in at Polaris to become a 3-times national points champion. After spending time with Rager and his race team, Gulla learned to “stay within himself” as he raced. Rager says Gulla was smart, but learned to become patient.
Rager has always demanded that his young riders, those still in high school, maintain a 3.0 grade point average and graduate.
“I care about the kids … The part of the sport I hate is when people think of these kids as tools that are replaceable,” Rager says. He works to teach young racers patience and emphasizes that you “must slow down to go faster,” asking them to focus more on their actions and to think more.
“I tell them, ‘Don’t race with your thumb, but with your head.’”
Rager also doesn’t believe in pressuring his riders. He and his son set goals and look at spreadsheets all the time, but that’s not passed along to the racers.
“Everything we do as a team though. We win as a team and we lose as a team, it’s never one person’s fault if something doesn’t go well,” Rager says.
He’s not worried that attitude will change as he steps aside. His son, he says, “is far more technical than me. He was crew chief for Ross Martin. He’s also an excellent communicator and well liked and respected.” Like father like son, apparently.
But Rager admits he wanted Tom Jr. to be a high school teacher and coach football originally. But after watching him spend winters and springs in dealerships around snowmobiles and other powersports equipment, he figured that was not to be.
“It came to a head one day when there was a tech position open at Ski-Doo,” Rager says, a slight smile coming to his face. “There were 100 applicants for the job and Tom got it, with no influence from me.”
Rager’s pride continues with Tom Jr. about to step into his shoes.
“Our relationship is so strong, there’s no worry of me butting in. I’m thrilled and absolutely confident that he can run this program.”