Germain Racing Team
The Story
Germain Racing was established in 2004 by Germain brothers Bob, Steve and Rick. The Germain family has been affiliated with Toyota for over 40 years as Germain Motor Company, a top-25 automotive retail network, has four Toyota and three Lexus franchises. When Toyota entered the NASCAR field, the Germain family followed.
After only 26 months, Germain Racing delivered Toyota its first major NASCAR championship when the No. 30 Tundra and driver Todd Bodine won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title in 2006. Since joining the Truck Series, the No. 30 Tundra has been the top-performing Tundra over all other Toyota race teams. Germain Racing has collected 18 Truck Series wins and seven pole awards.
Today, Germain Racing is located in Mooresville, N.C., on a 3-acre campus with two buildings, 52,000 sq. ft of shop and office space, paint and body shops, multiple surface plates, a four-post rig, two epoxy setup plates and a chassis dyno. The team holds elite status as being one of a few teams that competes in each of NASCAR’s three national series as well as in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. Germain Racing is home to the No. 24 Camry driven by Zach Germain, No. 30 Tundra driven by Todd Bodine, the No. 9 Tundra driven by Max Papis, the No. 15 Camry driven by Michael Annett and the No. 13 Camry driven by Max Papis in NASCAR’s highest ranked division, the Sprint Cup Series. Visit www.germainracing.com for news, schedules and sponsorship information, or become a fan of Germain Racing on Facebook. You can also follow @GermainRacing on Twitter.
The Owners
STEPHEN L. GERMAIN
CEO & President, Germain Motor Company
Owner, Germain Racing
Stephen L. Germain (Steve) is a Columbus, Ohio, native who received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Denison University. He currently resides in Bexley, Ohio, with his wife Kim and has three children: Jessica, Zach and Austin. Upon graduating from Denison, he returned to Columbus and began working in the family-owned automobile business. Mr. Germain has spent the past 25 years working in all facets of dealership operations, and was named President and C.E.O. of Germain Motor Company in 1995.
Mr. Germain is regarded as a leader within the automotive business as well as the Columbus community, and has served on many industry and civic boards including Toyota Dealer Advertising Association, Toyota Dealer Advisory Council, Lexus Dealer Advertising Association, Cadillac Local Marketing Association, Bexley Education Foundation, Columbus First Night, Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation and The Columbus Zoo Association Board.
As a NASCAR team owner, along with his brothers Bob and Rick, Steve Germain joined the elite ranks of NASCAR champions in 2006 when the No. 30 Tundra, for which Steve is officially listed as the owner, clinched the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver and owner’s championships and contributed to Toyota earning its first manufacturer’s title in the series.
In addition to being a strong competitor with a love of racing, Steve is now the father of a racer. His son, Zach, drives for Germain Racing in the No. 24 Germain.com Camry in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
BOB GERMAIN JR.
Vice President, Germain Motor Company
Owner, Germain Racing
Bob Germain Jr. serves as vice president of the Germain Motor Company. He attended Miami University of Ohio and it was Bob’s passion for automobiles that led him and the Germain family to expand their business ventures into NASCAR racing by forming Germain Racing six years ago
In addition to automobile sales and racing, Bob Jr. and the Germain family are also involved in entertainment and ice hockey with naming rights to the Germain Arena in Estero, Fla., and in real estate with Germain Properties of Naples which is managed by Susan Germain Maahs, sister to Bob, Rick and Steve.
Bob has two children, Michael and Nicole, who work with him at Germain Motor Company and Germain Properties of Naples.
Though a native of Columbus, Ohio, Bob has been part of the Naples, Fla., community for more than 30 years. Today he shares his residency with Statesville, N.C., where he has a small farm with his wife, Gail, and two stepchildren, Sydney and Robbie.
When Bob is in Naples, he remains very active in the Florida community. He has taken up where his father, Bob Sr., left off in continuing to make charitable donations and efforts aimed at helping children. Bob is involved with the Juvenile Diabetes, Boys and Girls Club, Bosom Buddies, Pete Villani Memorial, Gift of Giving and many others.
RICHARD B. GERMAIN
Chief Operating Officer, Germain Motor Company
Owner, Germain Racing
Rick Germain has over 30 years of combined automobile sales and management experience with a history of significant profit, volume and customer satisfaction achievements. Rick’s leadership style involves effective team training, support and motivation to lead his team to exceed expectations. As Chief Operating Officer of privately held Germain Motor Company since 1989, he is involved in 21 retail locations which employs more than 1,400 associates.
Rick, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife, Libby, attended University of Denver and studied Environmental Science. He and Libby have four children: Paul, Maggie, John and Molly.
As a long-time member of the auto dealership trade, Rick has built a long list of professional affiliations as well as community affiliations. A few of Rick’s memberships are the Ohio Auto Dealers Association, Columbus Auto Dealer Association, Lexus National Advertising Advisory Board as well as Trinity United Methodist Church.
Team Leaders
Mike Hillman, Sr.
Position: General Manager
Hometown: Lockport, NY
Resides: Denver, NC
Married: Sandy
Children: Mike Jr., Mark and Matt (twins), Melanie
Favorite Past-time: Grandchildren
Mike Hillman Sr. played a key role in the founding of Germain Racing. As crew chief and general manager in 2004, he selected Todd Bodine to drive the team's only entry, the No. 30 Tundra. Hillman collected two victories in the team's partial-season schedule in 2004, and turned the crew chief duties over to son, Mike Jr., in 2005.
For over 25 years, Hillman has been involved in NASCAR racing. Throughout his career he has worked as a crew chief and general manager in each of NASCAR's top three series. He has worked with such drivers as Dick Trickle, Kyle Petty, Joe Nemechek, Mike Wallace, Robby Gordon and Brett Bodine.
In 1988, Hillman earned a NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship with driver Tommy Ellis. In 2006, with driver Todd Bodine at Germain Racing, Hillman added a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title to his collection.
Hillman's ability to build winning teams and organizations has made him one of the best in the business. In 2007, he helped Germain Racing prepare for racing in NASCAR's second-tier division. The team built their first NNS Camry, and ran five races. The lap-leading efforts paved the way for Germain Racing to field a full-time NNS team in 2008 that finished eighth in the NNS drivers championship battle.
Germain Racing now fields teams in each of NASCAR's top divisions. Bodine still wheels the No. 30 Tundra in the Truck Series while Zach Germain, Michael Annett and Max Papis drive the team's Camry entries in the K&N Pro Series East, NNS and Sprint Cup Series.
During a typical race weekend, Hillman can be found atop the pit box or team hauler of any of Germain Racing’s teams, monitoring team communication and offering advice to keep Germain Racing at the top of the speed charts.
- Championships: Tommy Ellis, NASCAR Busch Grand National Series, 1988, Todd Bodine, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 2006
- Career Highlights: Winning Consecutive Talladega & Daytona races, Truck Series (Talladega - 2007, 2008, Daytona 2008, 2009), Winning Championship, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 2006; Seeing NNS Team Finish in Top Ten in 2008; Building NSCS team at Germain, Qualifying for the Daytona 500 with Germain Racing’s Sprint Cup Series team (2010)
Mike Hillman, Jr.
Position: Crew Chief, No. 30 Toyota Tundra
Born: October 21, 1978
Hometown: Lockport, NY
Resides: Mooresville, NC
Married: Jennifer
Children: Trey, Lily and Mylee
Favorite Past-time: Spending time with his family
Mike Hillman Jr. grew up in the infield of many race tracks across America. He's been a part of countless overnight family road trips between race tracks and home - doing whatever it takes to win. He watched his father, Mike Hillman Sr., lead Tommy Ellis to a Nationwide Series championship. Today, Hillman Jr. and his father both play key roles in the success of Germain Racing.
The road to father and son working side by side at Germain took Hillman Jr. to victory lane with a number of other racing teams. He worked with a variety of drivers, crew chiefs and team owners and built a reputation for himself that's easily understood by watching him in the garage for one race weekend. Hillman seems to know no strangers and his commitment not just to his team's success, but to that of the sport, means his thoughts are solicited often by other team leaders and NASCAR officials.
Hillman Jr. brought his skill set to Germain Racing in 2005 and took over the crew chief position for the No. 30 Toyota Tundra. Though it's not unusual to see Hillman Jr. helping out in the NASCAR Sprint Cup or Nationwide Series garages, his focus is clearly on winning another championship for the No. 30 Tundra in the Camping World Truck Series.
To his credit, Hillman Jr. holds the team record of five victories in one season (which included an impressive three-race winning-streak to close out 2005). He earned the Truck Series crew chief of the year honors in his rookie season atop the box and followed it up by leading the No. 30 Tundra to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship - a first for Germain Racing, Toyota and driver Todd Bodine. Hillman has led the No. 30 team to 13 of its 15 victories and all four pole awards.
Championship: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (Bodine, 2006)
First Race as Crew Chief: Daytona, NCWTS, 2005
First Win as Crew Chief: Kansas Speedway, NCWTS, 2005
Career Highlights: Winning Championship, NCWTS 2006, Winning Daytona in NCWTS (Bodine, 2008) and in NSCS (Greg Biffle, 2003)
Ryan Fugle
Position: Crew Chief for the No. 15 Pilot Travel Centers Camry
Hometown: Livonia, NY
Resides: Salisbury, NC
Married: Carie
Children: Reed, Blake
Education: UNC, Charlotte, BS Mechanical Engineering (2006)
Favorite Past-time: Family time, Classic cars and anything Football - watching, playing, etc...
Ryan Fugle grew up tinkering on engines and cars around the family auto salvage business and still remembers his first car, which remains his favorite classic car, a 1971 Monte Carlo. As far back as he can remember, Fugle has been fascinated with cars. Fugle took his love of automobiles and his passion to learn more about making race cars go faster and set off on a path to become an engineer in the NASCAR arena. This path led Fugle to become a Nationwide Series crew chief in only his third season working in the NASCAR ranks.
The native New Yorker got his first taste of racing watching dirt modifieds in Central New York. At age seven, Fugle and his dad had a father/son vacation to watch the spring race at Darlington Raceway. At the gritty South Carolina race track, the Fugle’s favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt, earned the win. Experiencing this exciting NASCAR race set the foundation for the career path which brought Fugle to Germain Racing where he serves as crew chief of the No. 15 Pilot Travel Centers Camry.
After high school, Fugle left the grandstands and enrolled in the Engineering program at University of North Carolina, Charlotte, before heading into the garage when he moved to North Carolina. He worked in the ARCA ranks as a general mechanic, tire changer and tire carrier while attending classes.
Fugle first worked in NASCAR with Robert Yates Racing. There, he completed an internship and was subsequently offered a job. He worked for RYR as a support engineer with the Cup Series programs before being named as the engineer and shock specialist for Yates' Nationwide Series team. Yates closed its NNS team after the 2007 season, which brought Fugle to Germain Racing along with many of his former RYR teammates.
At Germain Racing, Fugle first served as a shock specialist, engineer and car chief duties. Working with Germain's first-ever full-time NNS effort, Fugle was part of the team's strong finish in the NNS points standings in 2007. The team finished eighth in the driver’s championship standings.
Fugle embraced the benefits of Germain Racing's team structure which keeps team members involved in many aspects of race car preparation and team management. The young engineer credits this open structure with his rapid rise to the crew chief position with the No. 15 Camry team. Fugle says team leaders like general manager Mike Hillman Sr. and research and development specialist Randy Goss have openly shared with him their volumes of experience and have helped him turn his ideas about chassis setup and geometry into race cars that are running fast, qualifying well and getting results that have his rookie driver on the verge of joining the top-ten driver standings in the series.
- First Race as Crew Chief: Dover, NNS, September, 2009
- Goals as Crew Chief: To be in Top-five in Championship standings and win races
Mike Abner
Position: Crew Chief, No. 24 Germain.com Camry
Hometown: Oran, MO
Resides: Mooresville, NC
Status: Single
Children: None
Favorite Past-time: Skiing, boating, spending time with friends, working on or watching dirt modifieds
From humble beginnings on the dirt tracks of the midwest, through a NASCAR Busch Series championship, Mike Abner's career has progressed steadily toward the crew chief role. Abner's NASCAR career began with Joe Faulk's race team in 1997 where he worked as a fabricator. Abner moved on to be a part of wins in NASCAR's top-three series as well as being party to a NASCAR Busch Series championship in 2002.
Abner joined Germain Racing in 2007, after working with drivers such as Greg Biffle, Jack Sprague, Bobby Labonte and others. His first order of business with Germain Racing was leading the No. 9 Tundra, then driven by Ted Musgrave, to its first win. After the victory at Texas in November, Abner started 2008 with a pole in the ARCA RE/MAX Series with driver Justin Marks. He now serves as crew chief for rookie driver Zach Germain and the No. 24 Germain.com Camry in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.
Before leading the team efforts for Zach Germain, Abner worked with other Germain Racing rookie drivers like Marks, Chrissy Wallace and Sean Caisse.
- First Race as NCWTS Crew Chief: Atlanta Motor Speedway, fall 2007
- First Win as NCWTS Crew Chief: Texas Motor Speedway, fall 2007
- Career Highlights: Winning Texas with No. 9 Tundra, winning Martinsville with Bobby Labonte in 2005 in the 47 truck, and being part of a Nationwide Series championship in 2002 along with fond dirt racing memories like winning the Thunder Ridge 100 and racing in Pevely, MO
