January 2012 will be ten years since I first put pen to paper on the business plan for Slowboy Racing Inc. Over the past ten years we have had extremely HIGH HIGH’s and extremely LOW LOW’s. Below I will summarize them in order to provide a quick read and get right to my POINT. 

Some of the HIGHlights include building Black Betty (1000 HP plus RWD 91 Mitsubishi eclipse that runs 7 second ¼ mile time slips) that now resides with my friend Ozzie’s at Horsepower sales of Orlando, building a nationally competitive rally car built for the Rally America series, being on ESPN’s X games two years in a row with our rally car, and making INC’s list of top fastest growing companies in the USA in 2007 at # 297. In this same nine year span we shipped over 80,000 orders to all 50 states and over 20 different countries. 

Since I don’t like dwelling on the LOW’s I will make it quick and easy. Over the past three years I have made a lot of mistakes, you name it – I probably did it wrong. Imagine the worst possible scenario short of losing your own life, I have made those kind of mistakes and take full responsibility for them. To sum it up, I have been on the bottom, made it to what I thought was the top, only to slide right back down to the bottom. I have no one to blame but myself – as a leader I take that responsibility. I have learned more in defeat than I ever learned in my success. 

Starting over is never easy but it gives us a chance to correct our course and do the things right we set out to do in the first place. To be honest I never wanted a HUGE company like Slowboy Racing Inc. got to be – I always wanted a small business where we could focus on the smallest number of customers possible while providing the best possible parts and service. 

The good news? Candy and I get to do just that now – we have put the past behind us and from here on out it is onward and upward! The same guy that was so passionate about this business ten years ago is FINALLY back and I must say it feels good. Slowboy Racing is now a DBA of our new business BUILT Industries Inc. We will keep the Slowboy Racing name going while building the new company BUILT Industries. Look for new websites every month like www.built4g63.com and www.builtej.com. 

If you are having a rough time in your life it is never too late to re-invent yourself. It all starts with YOU, don’t let outside influences bog you down. YOU can do it, push on regardless.  

Thank you for all of our loyal customers over the years – we look forward to working with you now and in the future!  

If you are going through Hell, keep going – Winston Churchill

Michael Huml

“Friendship is a ship big enough to carry two in fair weather, but only one in foul.”

-          Ambrose Bierce

I remember the “good ole days” when money was still growing on trees and home values were rising by the minute. Well, maybe not the “good ole days”, most likely it was just a flash in the pan all created by some really greedy people to which we will never really know the full story. Before I get off topic let’s talk about “fair weather friends”.

We all have had them; we all know what it means, and most of us have had their fair share of these types of people in our lives over the past ten years. The kind of people, who say they will stick by you no matter what, always be there when you need them, or would never leave your side. What most of us do not realize is that these types of people come with a disclaimer (Ah, the small print always gets you!).

The disclaimer reads as follows – Some possible side effects of FWFS (fair weather friend syndrome) include nausea, vomiting, irritating rashes, and blindness if you run out of money while on FWFS. In most patients side effects are minimal and while blindness is rare, in some extreme cases turning a blind eye may be required. The best way to avoid the side effects of FWFS syndrome is to have boat loads of cash; this will ensure you have a lot of “friends”.

For me personally, the money brought a lot of friends (or should I say “bought”). Out of the thousands of “friends” I have made over the past ten years in this business only a few handfuls of them are true friends and do not have FWFS. I know many of you reading this might think I am nuts for posting this, or think I am out of touch, or maybe you just think I am a bit crazy (you have me on the crazy part). One thing is for certain; the only thing I am really guilty of is wearing my heart on my sleeve and telling it how it is – I am a very easy read, and have never had FWFS.

Today I will not make a list of the people infected with FWFS as that would mean reducing myself to their level (and I don’t have the time for such a lengthy list). If they are reading this – they already feel their spine tingle and they know who they are.

I would like to thank a select few people for sticking with me along the way – a journey which I know has been harder as of late. First a few vendors who have gone above and beyond (and continue to for us) – Manley Performance, Brian Crower, Crower, Cosworth, Fuelab, Tial, DSMlink, FIC, Goodridge, JMF, Ksport, Precision Turbo, Quarter Master, and Turn 14 distribution. I am quite sure I missed a few people – no angry emails please, just send me a reminder and I will edit my post!

Friends that have stuck with me, my wonderful wife of many years Candy Huml, the best damn 4G63 guy the world may ever know Joe Shuler, the best damn cylinder head guy on the planet Tim Novak, the craziest rally driver on the planet Jim McClelland, and the 5000 friends I have on Facebook (that made the list an easier read, although some of you on Facebook may be in the FWFS category, if you have a question or need clarification email or call me).

And in case you were wondering, no – our journey is not over.

I am going to try to make the first blog for the new website easy to understand and right to the point. A lot of things have been said as of late, some of them true – most of them not very.

To say the past two years has been rough on a lot of us all over the world is a vast understatement. I don’t feel the need to go into any depth here, we all watch the news, we all know what is going on in the world around us.

The difference between myself (Mike Huml) and a lot of people is simply the fact that I don’t try to hide things and put on any type of front. For those of you who know me well, you understand this is just how I am. If I am having a bad day, a bad month, or a bad year, I say it like it is. I don’t sugarcoat things, I don’t “dance” for anyone – never have, never will. Things to me are very black and white with only a very slim shade of grey. With that being said the past two years have been a rollercoaster of emotions and things have not been going the way I was accustom to in the past. To put it mildly, things have really sucked (no, I will not mention any names, been there – done that, paid a lot of money, learned my lesson).

I know what you are thinking….. So what? You mean life has been terrible for the past two years? Join the club Huml, big deal – get over it. I understand those of you who feel this way – and for those of you who have lost almost everything in the past few years I feel for you, and I can tell you first hand it is not easy to deal with. I can also tell you giving up is not the answer, but sometimes starting over may be.

So, where does that leave Slowboy Racing Inc? Well, we just built a new website (it may not be complete but it’s up and it already had its first orders over the weekend, that is already more than the last website did). We are going to be adding new products to it weekly and sticking to what we do best for now – and that is the 4G63 and EJ platforms.

K.I.S.S is part of our new motto – KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID. We have complicated things too much in the past and tried to do too much, now we are back to doing what we know best.

The future? No one can predict the future (but if you can you should be doing something better with your power than reading my blog), however I would look for some very positive things to come from the SBR crew and I suspect we will be changing things up a little bit in the very near future (shaking things up, again – yes).

Three thing’s will never change

1. We will always put our customer’s first.
2. We will continue to build some kick ass engines.
3. We will always be here when you need us.

In closing, let this be said about my first blog – feedback is always welcome at mike@slowboyracing.com

For those who understand – no explanation is necessary.

For those who do not understand – no explanation is possible.