Ronnie Johncox is a racer to the core.
He didn’t drive a race car until he was a young adult, but he found success at the lower levels of open-wheel racing and eventually made eight IndyCar Series starts.
At the same time, Johncox built his business, Technique, Inc., into one of Michigan’s most successful manufacturing operations.
Eventually, his two worlds collided and his company began building pieces for race cars. Now, having created Technique Chassis, Johncox is overseeing the manufacturer of all chassis that will be used in the NASCAR Cup Series beginning next season.
“I figured out how to make money in racing and that was to stop racing,” Johncox joked. “Honestly, as a kid, I was a shop rat. I started racing late, when I was 20, and I just couldn’t afford it. I saved up what I could to make a run at it, but all along the way I had a second deal. I started Technique two years after I started racing.
“I had a parallel career path and there was a point where in 2000, I had to pick one. What’s the best for my family long term?”
With one eye on the dangers of auto racing, Johncox stepped away from driving and poured everything into his business. Still, he never lost his passion for motorsports.
“I hate to say it, but I was racing with Sam Schmidt, Paul Dana, Kenny Irwin, Jason Leffler — these are guys it gives me goosebumps just to think about it. Racing has been a big part of my life.
“For the last 15 years, racing was about three to five percent of my business but 90 percent of what I enjoyed, so when we had the opportunity to get involved, we had to do it. I love this sport. I can bring something more to this sport with my knowledge of manufacturing than I ever could as a driver.
“There are a lot of really good drivers — a lot of drivers who are way better than me, but there aren’t many people who are better than me at being able to manufacture and understand what we can do with manufacturing to bridge that gap.
“Racing is still very important to me. I look at a race and somebody may say it’s boring because somebody led every lap, but not to me because that guy figured it out better than everyone else and how did he do that?”