Ted Marsh of Marsh Racing Went from Navy to Race Team Owner and Hasn't Looked Back
- 25 Jul 2017
Ted Marsh has been involved in a plethora of car racing series since the 1960s when he built modified race cars for racers. He worked for the U.S. Navy as a civilian serving as an engineer while also owning an auto parts store. He was interested in racing as he constructed the cars and did what he could to assist racers including volunteering to participate in crews. “At one point, I wanted to build a new race car for a guy who I was helping,” explained Marsh. “The guy wanted the car, but he didn’t want to own it. So I started a racing team so the guy had a car to run.” It was 1965 and Marsh Racing was born. His dive into team ownership started with a full staff of volunteers. “There was no full-time help,” he said. “We did everything at night after work and on the weekends. At most I probably had three or four volunteers, who were all from New England and we concentrated in racing in New England. As time progressed, we started to branch out into other states and competed in events in Martinsville, Virginia; Trenton, New Jersey; and in the Poconos. We raced on oval tracks and we also ran some road courses including Lime Rock and Watkins Glen.” The team first concentrated on racing modifieds. However, it wasn’t long before it branched out into road racing using other cars including Busch racing cars. In 1986, NASCAR became a full touring series for modifieds and Marsh Racing expanded into it, noted Marsh. However, over time it became difficult to continue. “It was difficult to get funding to run modifieds after a while. There was very little advertising space on the car. So we had a difficult time finding sponsors with enough money behind them to support us. So we gradually moved into racing full body cars. There is more room on the cars for the ads and for the most part ran in televised events, which among other things made us more sellable,” said Marsh. By the mid 1990s, Marsh Racing sropped running modifieds. Instead, the team transitioned into Busch Grand National North and Busch Grand National South. It was also involved in two other separate series. In 2000, the team made another transition.
About that time, the team’s main sponsor, Whelen Engineering owner Sonny Whelen, who was an accomplished driver in his own right, wanted to concentrate on road racing cars primarily. “We transitioned again and began building and running road race cars,” Marsh said. “We started with a Dodge Viper with Mr. Whelen in the early 2000s and we ran that along with the Busch Grand National cars. By then, I could afford a full-time staff.” Marsh Racing started competing in the NARRA Sports Car Series and eventually, in the SCCA World Challenge Series driving Corvettes. It was involved there for about four to five years, noted Marsh. It then moved on to Grand Am, which was a NASCAR series, and ran there until 2013. “That’s when Grand Am ended and transitioned into IMSA (International Motor Sports Association),” continued Marsh. “We ran a Daytona prototype in that series in 2014. Simultaneously, we decided we would build cars for the K&N Racing series both East and West. We started doing that in 2015.” The team is now concentrating on the K&N Racing Series. However, it continues to own two Corvettes that are fully ready to go any time Sonny Whelen wants to race them. Marsh volunteered that Whelen is now suffering from Parkinson’s disease. “We continue to support him with the cars and we go with him to certain day track events,” he said. Marsh guesses that through the years more than 30 racecar drivers have been associated with Marsh Racing. “Some are still active,” he said. “We had some of the greats race for us including Kenny Bouchard, Jerry Dostie, Steve Park, and Teddy Christopher. They were people with a lot of history behind them.
“I would say Kenny Bouchard was the second most successful of our stable of drivers. He raced NASCAR modifieds for us back in the 80s. “I guess then comes Teddy Christopher, who probably won a half dozen races or more in the Busch North Series.” Marsh has been finding drivers for his team for more than 50 years. He’s discovered over those years that the best drivers are those who have resources of their own that they can contribute to the team. “It’s hard to find drivers who can bring those resources,” said Marsh. “Now a days it is a big problem. When I select a driver the first thing I look for is a guy with a great personality. They have to be someone you can talk to, work with, and have fun with. If the guy is too intense and he doesn’t want to talk much, well I’m not as interested in guys like that. It is the personality of the driver that’s going to help our sponsors. Although performance on the race track is important, it is how the driver interacts with people he sees all the time that is paramount.” According to Marsh, “Driving ability is extremely important. Their record, where they come from and their history in the sport is definitely a factor when I am selecting drivers. We actually have done some driver development for NASCAR teams,” he said. Marsh observed that promotion is one of the most important parts of the business of racing. However, his focus is on promoting his sponsors. So he participates in trade shows including the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) and the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association (SEMA). They also do many car shows at various sponsor events. “I’ve exhibited cars at SEMA and PRI on several occasions and I have had cars in the NASCAR booths many different years,” he said. He’s proud of the fact that he has developed strong personal relationships with his sponsors through the years. Of course, as previously mentioned, Whelen Engineering Company has been his major sponsor through the years. He landed Whelen as a sponsor after doing some R&D work for them.
He noted that he still helps certify products for the company whenever needed. K&N is another sponsor of the team. Although the company has been sponsoring Marsh Racing since it first started racing in the K&N Pro Series, Marsh said that he has been using its products since the mid-1990s when he became aware of them. “We use their air filters, oil filters, and their breather filters,” said Marsh. Based in Old Lyme, Connecticut, Marsh Racing has three full-time crew members. He volunteered that this is the smallest crew he has had in many years. His drivers include Ryan Preece, Chase Dowling, Sonny Whelen, George W. Whelen V, Matt Bowling, and he also expects to have Andy Seuss. Born on October 25, 1990 in Kensington, Connecticut, Ryan Preece last competed full time in the NASCAR XFINITY Series driving the No 01 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports. In 2013, he won the Whelen Modified Tour Championship after being runner up in 2009 and 2012. Chase Dowling was born on January 15, 1998 in Roxbury, Connecticut. In 2015, he became the youngest Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the Whelen Modified Tour at the age of 17. He has raced competitively in the SK Light Modified Division, SK Modifieds, Legend Cars, and the World Karting Association (WKA). Sonny Whelen was born on June 2, 1953, and now resides in Old Lyme, Connecticut. He is also the owner of Whelen Engineering, a company that manufactures light and siren products for police, fire departments and rescue squads, the Department of Transportation, and more. He started racing Vipers in the Michelin Challenge Series in 2001 and was the Eastern Division Champion. He raced Vipers until 2004 and recorded 19 wins and 35 podium finishes. From 2005 to 2008 he raced in the SCCA World Challenge Pro Racing Series and consistently finished in the top 10 to 15. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when he was 53 years old, but continued to race for six more years. He occasionally competes in track day events running a Corvette. He is currently raising money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation (Team Fox), who created Racing for a Cure. Born on August 14, 1985, George W. Whelen V resides in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. The son of Sonny Whelen, he is CEO at Whelen Engineering. He has competed in the NARRA Series and has achieved a number of wins.
Part time employees include Terry Briggs, who is responsible for fabricating and the electrical systems; Jared Materas and Tom Bates, who are mechanics and tire changers; Lee Roy, who is a tire specialist; Nicholas Sowa and Josh Cappello, who are the team assistants; and Scott Taylor, who is the Public Relations Representative. Truck Drivers are Moe Hage and Eddie Hedge, who keep the team moving to and from events; and Dar Velozo, who handles all the driver credentialing processes. “The part time employees also work full time for other businesses,” said Marsh. “For example, one truck driver is a full-time employee with the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the other is employed by a city in Connecticut,” said Marsh. The skills of the personnel of Marsh Racing are an essential reason why it has been successful. The team actually has several cars that have been designed and built for different size oval or road tracks. When the team schedules a race, a car particularly engineered for that track is selected and scheduled to race. Once a car is selected, it is torn down to just a bare frame and body and all parts are checked. If a part is damaged or timed out, it is replaced. Once all components have been checked and new parts are substituted for damaged or timed out parts, the car is put back together. According to Marsh, two cars are taken to a racing event if possible. One is the primary car and the other is a back up should something happen to the first car. Although there is a period of time on the calendar at the end of a year when there are no races, the personnel of Marsh Racing is very, very busy. “When the racing season ends, it is a busy time for us because all the cars are updated and get fresh parts and paint and are rebuilt if necessary for the next year of races,” said Marsh. He noted that the team starts preparing for the following year in October. He also pointed out that the team’s following racing season starts as early as February in Florida. “There is a lot of pressure getting things ready on time,” commented Marsh.
“We pick and choose races we run based on our budget, which is based on our revenue from our sponsors,” said Marsh. He noted that in 2015, the team raced the entire schedule of the K&N Pro Series because it had the budget to do it. The team has had to run a more limited schedule in 2016 and 2017. | ||||||
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