BOB WILBER

the transporter. He set it down and he said,‘ Bob, what you got here is a book!’

That was when I realized someday, I am going to do this. I’ m going to write it all down, starting at three years old when I was aware of life around me, right up until the day I quit typing. I’ m kind of glad I waited. I did 20 years in the PR business. That was a nice, round number after the end of the 2015 season. I was tired of the travel and I wanted to do( write the book). Fortunately, just like you can’ t pick your parents, I was fortunate to marry the right person.( Barbara) had my back on it and she told me to go for it and here we are. We have a book!

There are three phases of your professional life chronicled here— baseball, soccer, and drag racing— and they’ re pretty different. How were you able to jump into these worlds the way you did?

The central theme of the book, which I did not know until I started writing – I spotted it as I was writing – was this mentality that I’ ve always had of plowing forward. Don’ t stop and overanalyze, don’ t think it to death. You overthink things, you get paralysis; paralysis by analysis. All through my life, whatever I was doing— whether I was a kid, in high school, in college, professional life— when I saw something I wanted to do and my gut said‘ That looks good, let’ s try that,’ I just did it. And some of those were failures, but you learn more from the failures than you probably do from the successes. Those are life lessons.

So all through that, I just kind of plowed forward. I had a baseball career that was nothing like my dad’ s and I wanted to be like my dad, so parts of six years as a player, coach, and scout. Then I was done with that. I was the youngest scout in Major League Baseball and I discovered quickly it was a really good job for 65-year-old exballplayers because to me, it was just incredibly boring. You can only watch so much bad baseball. By yourself. On the road. So I was always good at making connections and maintaining relationships, so I called in some favors.

One was my oldest brother, Del Jr., and I said‘ What do I do now? What do I do when I grow up?’ He pointed me in the direction of Converse shoes and I went to work for them. And then I fell in love with indoor soccer and was just a huge fan of the sport. As it turns out, after Converse, I went to work for my brother in Washington DC and we did some marketing work for the Three Musketeers brand and M & M / Mars and we put a sponsorship deal together for them with the Major Indoor Soccer League. Here’ s the connection you don’ t know yet, because you haven’ t read the book. Bill Kempling, the commissioner of the Major Indoor Soccer League, just a few years later became the president of Heartland Park( Topeka) and he brought me there to be the general manager.

So without Bill Kempling, I never get into racing. It never would’ ve happened.

Did not realize you were a track GM! How did that go?

I spent one year at Heartland Park. I loved it,

and we did a really good job, but all my life I’ ve been a team player— and I mean that literally, I’ ve been on teams, and we win and lose together— and I realized pretty quickly at the race track that it was very fun and exciting. It was hard work, endless hours, but at the end of the day, you didn’ t win or lose, you just hoped it didn’ t rain. You know? And that we sold a lot of tickets. That was winning or losing. Of all the types of racing we had at Heartland Park, I loved NHRA the most. It totally clicked with me and I knew during that year at Heartland Park, it started to seep into my brain, that I wanted to work for a team.

I had to start at the bottom. I went broke a couple times and went into indoor soccer a couple times and ended up in 1996 having a relationship with Whit Bazemore because I had done some contract work with him because we were both at the racetrack. When he got his first big deal, the Smokin’ Joes deal, he’ d never had a big sponsor like that, he called me and asked me to be his PR guy. That was 22 years ago. So that’ s how it all happened.

How does someone get those kinds of chances in their career? That’ s pretty incredible.

When people ask me how it happened, I tell

them, you can’ t force opportunities. You can’ t make them up out of thin air. But it behooves you, if you want to go do some exciting stuff, to always be in the way of the opportunity train when it’ s coming down the track. Just be in the way! Sometimes, it’ ll pass you by and sometimes, you can jump on.

I went through some really crazy stuff. I joined the Indianapolis Twisters’ indoor soccer team about halfway through their first season because they were hemorrhaging money. And I was supposed to be the white knight to ride in there and save the day. I was the general manager, and not much more than a month later, we held a press conference in my office to make a huge announcement. Instead, the owner walked in and immediately said,‘ I’ m folding the franchise immediately, I’ m out of money.’

That’ s one of those experiences where you learn a lesson, but had I not done that, had I not gotten that experience, the next domino might not have fallen.

They all got me here, and there were ups and downs and twists and turns, but I wouldn’ t change any of it, even the mistakes. DI

“ Bats, Balls, and Burnouts” can be purchased at Amazon. com or at NHRA events at the Stupid Fast merchandise trailer.

PHOTOS: MARK J. REBILAS, WILBER FAMILY ARCHIVES