It's always tough to be the little brother. It's even harder when your sibling is a star, and few in short-track racing shine as brightly as Bobby Hearn's brother Brett.
Arguably the most successful DIRT Modified racer ever, Brett won 42 races in 2002, bringing him to the 600-win plateau in his career. He used his own Budweiser No. 3 on the DIRT Tour, ran Guy Madsen's Brioschi No. 20 in small-block events, and dominated Lebanon Valley (New York) Speedway in Jody Gable's Budweiser No. 1.
While the racing world marveled at Brett's success, Bobby toiled quietly in his TEO Pro shop, secure in the knowledge that he had built all three cars.
"I think that the people who really know what's been going on the last four or five years respect me," Bobby Hearn offers quietly. "They can look at the other brands of cars and see where they're getting their ideas from. They're not coming up with their own designs."
Building A BusinessBobby says TEO expected to build between 150 and 175 race cars in 2002, and will build at least that many in 2003, at the shop in Vernon, New Jersey. "I remember when I was younger and thought it was unbelievable that Budd Olsen could build 150 cars a year. Now I'm where Budd was," Bobby says.
"It started with my father, Gordon, who had a Modified with Rags Carter driving back in the late '60s. Then Brett got into go-carts, then a Sportsman car, and then into Modifieds. I worked for Brett for three years and started doing all the sheetmetal work. People began asking if I could make them a body like his and it snowballed from there.
"In '93 Brett was driving Olsen cars, and I did my first car for Dan Madsen at Dutchess Overhead Doors for Dave Blaney to drive," Bobby continues. "It was actually an Olsen 'cage that I put front and rear clips on with my own suspension ideas."
Ten years later, Bobby's cars are the standard in big-block and 358 Modified racing. His are the ones with the distinctive TEO emblem behind the driver's seat. His cars are ever changing as his fertile mind digests input from customers and employees.
After testing a new design with Brett at the 2002 season's last event at Delaware International, Bobby's starting a new run featuring rubber motor mounts to counteract the mount-breaking torque of the division's big-block powerplants, new suspension brackets, and external splines on the rear axle tubes. But to the average observer, the cars will look the same. "When you have a good baseline, you don't need to make big changes," Bobby says. "You're better off making subtle changes that don't make every other car obsolete."
TEO's cars are available as roller kits for $11,900, complete car kits for $16,900, and the top of the line Champion's Edition for $20,000. Engines, of course, are not included.
No Special TreatmentOne misconception Bobby constantly fights is that Brett gets "special cars" and is always a step ahead of other customers.
"I get a kick out of that because there is no different car," Bobby says. "If there was a design that was that much better, I'd build them for everybody. That's how I built my business. I started without Brett and it took me three years of being successful before he decided to try one.
"You need the big guys to showcase your cars on the Tour, but we really need the Saturday night guys. That sells more cars than Brett winning. The best ad is a competitive Saturday night guy. What helped us get to where we are is that whatever Brett or Steve Paine or Tim McCreadie have, everybody else can buy the exact same thing."
In fact, those who try to peek inside Brett's Tour cars for a look at what Bobby is developing are investigating the wrong car. It's much more likely that something new will be on TEO employee Jerry Higbie's car at Orange County Fairgrounds Speedway on a Saturday night.
"Jerry's a good, smooth driver and he really understands our cars," Bobby says. "He gives me a lot of feedback."