Get To Know Legendary Racer “Mad Dog” Mark Miner

Summary

Podcast Summary: Herm & Schrader – "Get To Know Legendary Racer 'Mad Dog' Mark Miner"

Episode Information:

• Title: Get To Know Legendary Racer “Mad Dog” Mark Miner
• Hosts: Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader
• Release Date: February 13, 2025
• Platform: SiriusXM, Dirty Mo Media

---

Introduction

In this episode of Herm & Schrader, hosts Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader delve into the remarkable life and career of legendary racer Mark Miner, affectionately known as “Mad Dog.” The conversation spans Mark's early influences, his transition from asphalt to dirt racing, the genesis of his formidable tow truck business, and his enduring legacy in the racing community.

---

Early Racing Days

Timestamp [01:03] – [02:43]

Kenny Wallace welcomes Mark Miner and sets the stage by highlighting Mark's legendary status in the racing world. Kenny reminisces about the first time he encountered the Miner family, recalling how Mark's father, Bob Miner, raced against Kenny’s father, Russ Wallace, at Lake Hill Speedway in Valley Park, Missouri.

Kenny Wallace:
"You your dad, Bob Miner raced my dad at Lake Hill Speedway in Valley Park, Missouri. And that's when I first remember the miners. What do you remember about those days? Your dad racing?"
[01:42]

Mark Miner:
"I remember my dad had this giant Plymouth Roadrunner and what I remember him the most was chasing your dad, Russ Wallace. Because man, your dad had a fast car and my dad was a hard driver and it was just a lot of fun."
[02:09]

This exchange underscores the deep-rooted connection between the Miner and Wallace families, setting a nostalgic tone for the ensuing discussion.

---

Career at Boat Chassis

Timestamp [03:50] – [05:30]

Mark shares his formative years working at Boat Chassis, where he honed his fabricating skills. Inspired by witnessing his father and colleagues like Rusty Wallace and Jeff Thousand in action, Mark developed a passion for building race cars.

Mark Miner:
"Well, I remember my dad had this giant Plymouth Roadrunner and what I remember him the most was chasing your dad, Russ Wallace. [...] I saw Rusty and his buddy Jeff Thousand welding up race cars up there. And I thought, man, this is what I want to do. And if I know how to do this, I know I can get a ride. I know I can race for the rest of my life."
[05:04]

Kenny reflects on the meticulous craftsmanship of Glenn Bop, the best chassis builder in America at the time, highlighting the influence Glenn had on Mark’s development.

Kenny Wallace:
"What do you remember about Glenn? I remember those big fabricating hands, and he was so perfect. Everything was meticulous."
[08:07]

---

Move to Georgia and Tow Truck Business

Timestamp [10:07] – [12:38]

Mark discusses his strategic move to Douglasville, Georgia, seizing a business opportunity with Precision Race Cars. This transition not only expanded his professional horizons but also provided him with immediate racing opportunities.

Mark Miner:
"I felt like I had a little business opportunity down at a chancery shop there to become a partner with Precision Race Cars in Douglasville. Jerry Mitten was the owner and he liked my skills. And I thought, you know what? I don't know if I have opportunity here in St. Louis, which I may have, may not, but I had an opportunity to drive a car as soon as I got to Atlanta."
[10:19]

This move laid the foundation for what would become one of the most successful tow truck businesses in St. Louis, showcasing Mark's ability to pivot and thrive beyond the racetrack.

---

Nickname "Mad Dog"

Timestamp [13:40] – [15:47]

A pivotal moment in the conversation revolves around how Mark earned his nickname “Mad Dog.” Contrary to assumptions that it stemmed from aggressive driving or altercations, Mark explains that the nickname originated from the racing community’s penchant for playful monikers.

Mark Miner:
"There's Mad Dog Miner coming out of turn four for the checkered flag. [...] It didn't have anything to do with getting into any fights, any tough driving, any of that."
[14:18]

Kenny humorously muses about the duality of Mark’s persona, appreciating both his friendly nature and formidable reputation.

Kenny Wallace:
"You are so good to me. You're so nice to me. You're pleasant. But something tells me to never cross you."
[15:11]

Mark counters by emphasizing his potential unpredictability, adding depth to his “Mad Dog” persona.

---

Racing Achievements

Timestamp [16:10] – [21:25]

Mark recounts his first victory at Granite City Speedway in 1981, highlighting his innate talent despite limited initial racing experience. The mutual respect gained from competitors like Mike Nosinski underscores the sportsmanship prevalent in the racing community.

Mark Miner:
"My first win was over at Granite City Speedway in 1981 on the five, eight mile. [...] I didn't know anything about driving. You get to him and [...] you were way faster than I was."
[16:14]

Kenny and Mark discuss the evolution of race car construction, contrasting the labor-intensive methods of the past with modern, more streamlined processes. Mark appreciates the advancements, noting that while racing today is easier in some aspects, the dedication required remains unchanged.

Mark Miner:
"We used to just work our ever loving tails off. We'd get a frame, bring it back, have that sucker put together, have it painted, interior, and race in like six days."
[20:32]

---

Returning to St. Louis

Timestamp [23:07] – [28:45]

Mark details his return to St. Louis driven by familial obligations and the desire for a more stable life. Establishing a tow truck company, he seamlessly transitioned his work ethic and business acumen from racing to entrepreneurship.

Mark Miner:
"We started a tow company [...] Ernie Jumper thought, 'Mark, you're a pretty aggressive guy. If you bought a truck, you would do just fine.'"
[27:01]

He acknowledges the crucial support from industry figures like Ed Petrov, whose mentorship and assistance were instrumental in the tow truck business’s success.

Mark Miner:
"Ed Petrov likes my work ethic, and we were part of the racing community. The racing network is phenomenal about keeping everybody together."
[28:45]

---

Business Success and Support Network

Timestamp [27:01] – [31:01]

Mark attributes his business success to a robust support network within the racing community. The collaborative spirit among racers and business owners like Ed Petrov fostered an environment where mutual growth and support were paramount.

Mark Miner:
"We have a network of people that has helped us phenomenally [...] Ed Petrov likes my work ethic."
[27:35]

Kenny draws parallels between Mark’s business journey and the broader challenges faced by racers transitioning to life after racing, emphasizing the importance of community and strategic partnerships.

---

Family and Legacy

Timestamp [24:03] – [25:58]

Mark speaks passionately about his family, particularly his son Conrad, who mirrors his own racing spirit. Conrad’s involvement in racing from a young age and his role in managing the family business highlight the continuation of the Miner legacy.

Mark Miner:
"Conrad always loved racing. [...] He runs our business right now as the day-to-day operations manager."
[25:20]

Kenny expresses pride in Conrad’s achievements, underscoring the familial bonds that strengthen Mark’s personal and professional life.

---

Mentality and Philosophy

Timestamp [30:19] – [43:46]

The conversation delves into the philosophies that have guided Mark’s success both on and off the track. Mark emphasizes the importance of teamwork, community support, and maintaining a balance between passion and practicality.

Mark Miner:
"It takes a lot of help. And fortunately, we've been around the right people and good people all of our life."
[30:46]

Kenny and Mark discuss the changing landscape of racing, with Mark expressing admiration for modern advancements that make racing more accessible and less physically taxing. They also touch upon the necessity of planning for life beyond racing, advocating for financial prudence and business acumen.

Mark Miner:
"Everything worked out [...] Got the right people around us and the right family members. And it worked."
[38:52]

Mark reflects on the pivotal advice from racing legends, integrating these insights into his own approach to business and life.

---

Conclusion

Timestamp [43:46] – [45:46]

As the episode draws to a close, Kenny and Mark reinforce the significance of mentorship and community in achieving sustained success. Mark’s legacy as “Mad Dog” extends beyond the racetrack, embodying resilience, hard work, and unwavering dedication to family and community.

Mark Miner:
"This has been a great, great morning and an honor to be on here with you, Herm, and what a great show you have."
[44:09]

Kenny sums up the episode by celebrating Mark’s dual achievements in racing and business, while also highlighting the supportive network that has been instrumental in his journey.

Kenny Wallace:
"You are incredibly successful right now. You are the envy to a lot of dirt racers because [...] you got out unscathed."
[39:11]

Final Thoughts:

Mark Miner’s story is a testament to the power of passion, perseverance, and community. From his early days racing alongside legends to building a thriving business and fostering the next generation, Mark exemplifies the enduring spirit of a true racing legend.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Kenny Wallace ([01:42]):
  "Man, I'm doing really good and I'm smiling because I know just enough about you to get me in trouble."

• Mark Miner ([14:18]):
  "There was Mad Dog Miner coming out of turn four for the checkered flag."

• Kenny Wallace ([15:11]):
  "You are so good to me. You're so nice to me. You're pleasant. But something tells me to never cross you."

• Mark Miner ([30:46]):
  "It takes a lot of help. And fortunately, we've been around the right people and good people all of our life."

• Kenny Wallace ([39:11]):
  "You are incredibly successful right now. You are the envy to a lot of dirt racers because [...] you got out unscathed."

---

This episode offers an intimate glimpse into Mark Miner’s life, celebrating his contributions to racing and his entrepreneurial spirit. For fans and newcomers alike, Mark’s journey serves as an inspiring narrative of success forged through dedication, skill, and community.

Transcript

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[Kenny]

And welcome back to Kenny Conversation brought to you by jegs, the leader in high performance aftermarket car parts. Remember to go to JEGS.com for everything you need to fix your vehicle up. And as always, they're telling me they have Jeep parts and truck parts in stock. Who is that man we're looking at? That is a legend. And you just asked Mark Richards or anybody in the dirt super late model world. That is Mark Miner. He is better known as Mad Dog. Mark, how you doing?

[Mark Miner]

I'm doing great, Kenny, how about you this morning?

[Kenny]

Man, I'm doing really good and I'm smiling because I know just enough about you to get me in trouble. And let's start like this. You your dad, Bob Minor raced my dad at Lake Hill Speedway in Valley Park, Missouri. And that's when I first remember the miners. What do you remember about those days? Your dad racing?

[Mark Miner]

Well, I remember my dad had this giant Plymouth roadrunner and what I remember him the most was chasing your dad, Russ Wallace. Because man, your dad had a fast car and my dad was a hard driver and it was just a lot of fun.

[Kenny]

Yeah, I think I'm wrong, but I'm going to take it. What was your dad's sponsor? Was it LK Wood?

[Mark Miner]

LK Wood, Yeah, that is correct. That was dad's uncle.

[Kenny]

Yeah. Oh, I'll be darn. I never knew that.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah, it was a family family association.

[Kenny]

And that was a realtor, right? Elk. Lk Wood, Realtor. So they sold homes.

[Mark Miner]

Yep. Up in south St. Louis there. Right there at Gravo and Gravo and Weber. Yes.

[Kenny]

So we're, we're, we're doing what we call a local tour. We've had Kevin Gundaker on, now you. We're going to have some others on. It's kind of funny, Mark, because Schrader and you and myself and Tom Hanock and the Jumpers, of course you, that's another story. But we're down south. We're down here. Kevin Gundaker, Bobby Rigo, Mike Hammerly, Rick Knoyer, they're all up there. North. They're in St. Charles, sure. So you're part of the Southern gang? We're down here. You are great friends with Kenny Schrader. Tell me about marrying into. One of my best friends in life is Donnie Jumper. Donnie builds race cars. Impressive race cars. You married into the Jumper family, right?

[Mark Miner]

Yeah, that's correct. You know, I used to go over there and help Ernie, help David, help Donnie in their shop when I was 15, 16 years old and we just had a blast. And you know, Teresa come by me one day and I thought, I think, I think there could be a match there and maybe that, that'll get me into Ernie's race car.

[Kenny]

Oh, I love that.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah.

[Kenny]

So you, so you got a little Schrader in you? You're looking for a ride?

[Mark Miner]

Oh, yeah. Hey, I tried to follow that son of God's footsteps, you know, A good mentor. How about that?

[Kenny]

Yeah. Okay. So we've established you're part of a racing family. Your dad, Bob Miner, your part of the, our southern group here. We're, we're on the south side of the arch. We're down here towards Memphis, Tennessee. And yeah, and our other, our other comrades are north of the arch, the Gundakers and all those. But I think where I want to start is what I remember you worked when I first witnessed your great skills, fabricating skills. At the time, the best chassis builder in America was Glenn Bop and you worked at boat chassis. Tell me about that time on the jig and welding all those cars together.

[Mark Miner]

Well, that was a great experience for me. But what got me going there was dad had a car from Glenn back in the day and that was when your brother Rusty worked there up in Baldwin, Missouri. And man, I seen Rusty and his buddy Jeff Thousands welding up race cars up there. And I thought, man, this is what I want to do. And if I know how to do this. I know I can get a ride. I know I can race for the rest of my life.

[Kenny]

So. So in your mind, in your. I'm learning something right now. In your mind, you always wanted to be a race car driver.

[Mark Miner]

That's correct.

[Kenny]

Yeah. So when you were working with Rusty Wallace and you were friends with Kenny Schrader, did you ever dream in a million years that those two would go on to be two of the greatest race car drivers in America?

[Mark Miner]

Well, I don't know how you, myself, I couldn't picture that, but I know them two guys were really good. You know. You know how Ken is. Ken Schrader, he can drive anything. Rusty, he. He was so to the point with what he needed to do, wanted to do, and he would get it done.

[Kenny]

Yeah, I think you're kind of like that. You're a hard worker. My time. I've been around you. You're. You're a focused person. You're very successful at everything you do. So when you were at Boat Chassis, and you mentioned Midnight, we called him Midnight, which was Jeff Thousand, his name. His nickname was Midnight, because when it was Midnight, he was washing his hands and going home.

[Mark Miner]

Right on. Yeah. Hey, that's just the racing world, right?

[Kenny]

Yeah. Because everybody had to work the next day at their real jobs. They could. Oh, oh. Midnight and Jeff Thousand, everybody at Penske Racing right now. Hello. Yeah, Jeff Thousand was. Is great and was great back in the day. Yes. That Jeff, he could weld, couldn't he? Whoa.

[Mark Miner]

Oh, my gosh. He was a great fabricator. You know, I just watched him and Rusty and thought, you know, I can do this.

[Kenny]

Yeah.

[Mark Miner]

But, you know, I was five or six years younger than them two guys.

[Kenny]

What do you remember about. And this is a reminder now. I want to tell everybody that Mark Richards with Rocket Chassis, he mentioned you.

[Mark Miner]

Wow. What an honor.

[Kenny]

Well, we're going to get to how great you were. We're going to get down south in a minute because your story is most fascinating to me. It's unbelievable, actually. And when we get done with it, everybody will understand. So here you are. You want to be a race car driver. What skills did you have to learn at bope? I mean, did you bend the tubing? Did you weld? What all did you do?

[Mark Miner]

Well, I would get the metal. The tubing out of the metal rack, cut it, mark it, bend it, and weld it. So, you know, I got the whole gambit of how to build the car, the chassis on the jig, and then Glenn started teaching me about how to Put bodies on how the body affects the air, the handling of the car, and a lot of the geometry in the front end and the rear end of the car. He was. Glenn was just a great. Another great mentor of mine on the chassis side.

[Kenny]

What I remember about Glenn was those big fabricating hands, and he was so perfect. Right. Everything was there was. His stuff was meticulous. Right.

[Mark Miner]

He was, you know, and I think that's why he had Rusty working for him at that time and not taking anything away from Ken Schrader, because, you know Ken, he's a fabulous fabricator also. Him and I used to ride to work together out there.

[Kenny]

Yeah, I'll be darn. So your dad's a race car driver. You're in this racing community. I'm learning now. I never knew that you wanted to be a race car driver. Now at boats you're building asphalt cars now. Were these. Were these basically a how car? What were those?

[Mark Miner]

Yeah, they were. They were how race enterprise cars. Glenn would just put a little of. Of his genius in them and had cars for some really fast guys. You know, Rusty drove a couple of them. Who? Dick Anderson, Jody Ridley. I mean, we had some top notch Freddie Fryer. We had some top notch guys in them. And that was a blast to get to know them guys. Dick Trickle, your hero. And what a guy to talk to, he was.

[Kenny]

Let's settle a debate, everybody. Everybody down south called Glenn Bop. Is it. Is it bop or is it bop?

[Mark Miner]

Depends on what side of the line you were on.

[Kenny]

The make it Macon county line. On the other side of the waffle houses.

[Mark Miner]

That's right.

[Kenny]

Oh, my God.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah.

[Kenny]

That's good stuff. So, all right, let's keep celebrating your career. So how do you get out of the asphalt world? And now I, I kind of at this time, I'm. I'm becoming a race car driver and I lose track of you. You. You end up moving to Georgia. What area of Georgia?

[Mark Miner]

Douglasville, Georgia, which is about 25 miles west of Atlanta.

[Kenny]

Fill in the gap for all of us between BOPE and you going to Georgia. What. What was going on there?

[Mark Miner]

Well, I felt like I had a little business opportunity down at a chancery shop there to become a partners with precision race cars in Douglasville. Jerry Mitten was the owner and he liked my skills. And I thought, you know what? I don't know if I have opportunity here in St. Louis, which I may have, may not, but I had an opportunity to drive a car as soon as I got to Atlanta. So, you know, that was as Wanting to be a race car driver. You go anywhere you could go to get the drive, wouldn't you? Can.

[Kenny]

Oh, God, yeah. I mean, yeah, that's a fact, but we're celebrating you. So when you left St. Louis, did you. Did you have a conversation with that owner? Like, I'll come work for you, but you're going to let me drive race cars or.

[Mark Miner]

How did he. One thing, he. He lured me into it by getting me a ride. And believe me, I couldn't drive a nail in snow, man. I hadn't raced but two or three times and was lucky a couple times. And then, you know, Jerry told people down there, I'm bringing a secret weapon in. The only secret about me was that I was a weapon when I got on the race.

[Kenny]

Well, we'll just keep following this line of how you got so good.

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[Kenny]

Don't.

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[Kenny]

Were you. Now, did you run asphalt or did you go right to dirt?

[Mark Miner]

I went right to dirt.

[Kenny]

I'll be dark.

[Mark Miner]

The first one of the first places I run was Dixie Speedway.

[Kenny]

Wow.

[Mark Miner]

Which. Which I had been down there. Glenn Volt built a car for Dickie Murphy, okay. That used to own Volusia County Speedway. I'll be doing well. The first time I went down south was with Dickie Murphy with his car. I can't really remember what. Who the driver was, but him and Bobby Kaye went there with them. And I thought Dixie Speedway was The neatest place there ever was, you know, famous.

[Kenny]

Very famous.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah. Different. Different shaped racetrack, different kind of dirt. And I thought to myself, you know, someday I'm gonna race here. And I guess that's kind of what got all that started.

[Kenny]

Yeah. So now we're going to get to the point where you won so much and became so good. This is me saying this. And. Okay, Kenny Schrader doesn't like me bragging on him, but you got to give me a minute. What. What I remember, what I do know about you is during my NASCAR career, I came up for air one day to breathe and see. See what was else.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah, I get it.

[Kenny]

And they said, Mad Dog. I'm like, who the hell's Mad Dog? Mark Miner. I'm like, really? So you started winning everything and. And you got this nickname, Mad Dog. Let's go with that. First, how. I'm sure he beat the hell out of somebody. But how did you get Mad Dog as the nickname?

[Mark Miner]

Well, it was. There's a couple steps of that, but the simple. The simple answer to that was back in the day, you know, like Jimmy Spencer, there was a. During that day, there was a lot of NASCAR guys that had nicknames.

[Kenny]

Yeah.

[Mark Miner]

Well, the guy I drove for, he had a couple guys at work for us down in the shop that they were kids, 16, 17 years old, that they would roll with these nicknames and they would listen to Barney hall and all them guys on the radio back then.

[Kenny]

Yeah.

[Mark Miner]

Doing that. And they just come up with it one day, said, and there's Mad Dog Miner coming out of turn four for the checkered flag. You know how it started? So it was. It didn't have anything to do with getting into any fights, any tough driving, any of that.

[Kenny]

You know, you. You are so good to me. You're so nice to me. You're. You're pleasant. But. But I do know that I. Something tells me to never cross you. Is that because I remember your dad was a tough ass. Should. Should I never cross you? Are you a little bit like your dad?

[Mark Miner]

Oh, you know what? This is what I tell people. Kenny, here. See this here?

[Kenny]

Yep.

[Mark Miner]

There's two people in here. You don't know who's gonna come out.

[Kenny]

Okay. I think I. I think I know that. And I think I stay on your good side. And how wrong I was. I thought you got Mad Dog. Just because I kind of remember your father being a tough ass. And. And you. Well, okay, let. Now you're down south. Now we know how you got that nickname Mad Dog. And I'm sure those kids, you know, filled in the appropriate nickname, Mad Dog, because they knew a little bit about you at times.

[Mark Miner]

Yes. Right.

[Kenny]

Okay. Now we're making gains here.

[Mark Miner]

I can't tell the whole story at once. You.

[Kenny]

Okay, so how do you. Okay, you tell me that you never drove a race car. How do you go from never driving a race car to winning all the. All these races? What do you remember about. When was your first win? What do you remember?

[Mark Miner]

Well, this is pretty amazing. My first win was over at Granite City Speedway.

[Kenny]

Oh, my.

[Mark Miner]

1981 on the five, eight mile. Right. Okay. And one of our local heroes, Mike Null. I was. I was following Mike Nosinski. Yeah. And I had a pretty good car and come up on Mike. And like I said, I didn't know anything about driving. You get to him and. Well, I may have spun Mike through the grass coming off of turn four.

[Kenny]

Mad Dog.

[Mark Miner]

Well, there was no Mad Dog at that time. You just bulldozed your way through. Okay, that's what I thought. So after the race, I get out and you remember how big or you know, how big Mike is.

[Kenny]

Yeah.

[Mark Miner]

I'm thinking, this guy's gonna kill me. I don't know even why I did that. And he's standing there, and he waves me over with that finger. And he said, mark, you know, you didn't have to do that. You were way faster than I was. And at that time, I thought, well, thank God Mike's a nice guy.

[Kenny]

You know, it amazes me that, you know, you come out of St. Louis, you're an asphalt guy. You get down there, you go dirt, asphalt, dirt, asphalt. Kind of. You kind of remind me of Larry Phillips, where you're building your own cars and you're just racing where there's racing. Did you make a concerted effort to go asphalt racing, or was it just the tracks went asphalt?

[Mark Miner]

Well, the one track Sonoa went asphalt, I built a car for a guy, Brad Sorenson. Okay. That's Reed's dad.

[Kenny]

Oh, my God. Okay.

[Mark Miner]

Okay. So built a car for Brad. He went down to Sonoa, and, man, he run good. It was old custom chassis, dirt car. And. And I cut the front end off, put three link suspension on the rear, did the asphalt stuff on the front, and he run really good. And Ronnie, my car owner, Ronnie Dobbins at that time, didn't want to run another dirt car with Wade. So he said, mark, why don't you just build your asphalt car and go run Sonoa and Livonia's gonna pave, and we'll go up there and run which was about 100 miles away up to Livonia. So that's kind of how that took place.

[Kenny]

I think that's fascinating because you would never today, I mean Bubba Pollard is the closest we get to where Bubba's a great asphalt racer but, but he owns a dirt track. And I just. Yeah, but, but I do see a lot of these drivers nowadays when you really dig into them. I mean when, when we interviewed Jonathan Davenport, you know, he was on asphalt then he said, you know, just seemed like dirt was his way to go. And the stories fascinate me on how you, how these drivers like yourself get to these, these situations now. You know, one of the greatest Kenny conversations for dirt racers was Mark Richards with rocket chassis. I want to ask you why do you think Mark Richards talk highly of you? Where, where did you run in? What kind of what. Why do you think Mark Richards knew about you? He. He just mentioned you.

[Mark Miner]

Well, I think it was because of the bob chassis situation. He know he worked for. I think he worked for Rodney Combs at that time.

[Kenny]

Yeah.

[Mark Miner]

Or worked in between. Like a wrc. They house and get chassis, bring them back to West Virginia. But I think his competition was us at bump chassis. And at, at one point he probably didn't know I did the welding, a lot of the fabrication work and what have you. So when he found that out, he's like, holy cow. I didn't, I, I didn't know how Glenn did all that stuff. But now I guess we know.

[Kenny]

Isn't this great? These are great. You know, the kids nowadays, they mean well, but they just talk and you know, they don't show the respect. And when you put the dots together, it is amazing the way you guys built. Built your own race cars. Raced them. I want to get your opinion on nowadays and I just dreamed this up because of listening to you.

[Mark Miner]

Okay.

[Kenny]

Nowadays we buy the framing cage and once you get the frame and cage, you literally bolt everything on. There's bolt on tapetry. Do you think racing is better off now? I understand. You know, we walked through one foot of snow back in the day. You know, it's kind of, it's kind of a joke. But what do you think of the, the way race cars are built nowadays? Is it better or not?

[Mark Miner]

Well, I think it's better because you have more time to race. We used to just work our ever loving tails off. We'd get a frame. I had my success on dirt in a master built. Okay.

[Kenny]

Yeah.

[Mark Miner]

And we would go up to Indiana, get A frame, bring it back, and we'd have that sucker put together, have it painted, interior, in it, put together to race in like six days.

[Kenny]

Wow.

[Mark Miner]

And we were just wore out going to the races, but that was just the way you did it back then. So I think it's much easier on the guys these days, which is great because, man, that traveling just wears you down.

[Kenny]

Yeah, you're. You're. You're a. You're a happy man. You make me happy right now. You inspire me. Because when I present these conversations, I. I truly want to be neutral. I like what you said because I agree with you. I. I think times are better now. I mean, social media is bad, but yet we like it. Yeah, there's good and bad to everything, isn't there, Mark?

[Mark Miner]

There sure is. You know, life is just a roller coaster, and you just got to get hit the highs and lows and.

[Kenny]

Yeah, I like being able to buy my cars right now from Nick Hoffman and kind of, you know, take it easy on him. You're right. My God, we. We used to melt our own lead. We used to go downtown St. Louis and buy an 8 by 10 sheet of Lexan and we'd make the windshields.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah, we were wore out.

[Kenny]

You're right. Were you?

[Mark Miner]

Better believe it. Hey, you've been there. You know that. Holy smokes. You know, that's probably what's wrong with us. What did you say? Oh, we melted lead.

[Kenny]

The sulfur. Oh, God, I would throw up. Rusty would. Rusty would say. Herman, go up, go up to Child's, get the tire weights from all the tires.

[Mark Miner]

That's right.

[Kenny]

Go. Go up on Page to Jones and Lockart, melt the lead. And I'd come back stick as a. So, yeah, you're right. Okay, now this is the part that fascinates me at the start. I said your life fascinates me. So now in. In my opinion, you accomplish this amazing goal, you move south, you do it all. By the way, where are your trophies at? Did you keep them? Or did you win so much you give them away?

[Mark Miner]

No, I actually have them. I have part of them in my basement at home, and I have part of them here at the towing yard.

[Kenny]

Good. That makes me happy.

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[Kenny]

Call or visit comcastbusiness.com to learn more. Okay, so now I always say there's a turning point in everybody's life. It's like, how did you get here? What did you do? Then explain to me this turning point where you're. You're kicking, but you're doing good. You're. You're. You've realized your dream now. Because remember, to start, you wanted to be a race car driver. And now you are. Now you're winning. How in the world did we start heading back home to where you are right now? Why did we come back to St. Louis, Missouri?

[Mark Miner]

Well, you know, started a family. Conrad and Candace. Yeah, I kind of thought that they needed me at home occasionally. They needed to know their grandparents. And I got tired of staying in motels and in the truck up and down the road. You know, it's. It's a tough life. And thought, well, we'll just move back to St. Louis. What am I going to do? I have no idea. But I know I can still weld and fabricate. But I wanted something a little more than that. So we started a tow company.

[Kenny]

You talked about Conrad. I want to comment on him right now while you just said it. Sometimes I forget to say it and I let it go and like, darn it, I forgot about that. But you. Conrad is your son and he is a chip off the old block. He is like you, 100. He works so hard. You allowed him to work for me for a couple summers. He. He is something else. And now I know he has a boy and I know you're. We'll get to that in a minute. But Conrad, I mean, you. I know you're proud of him. Did you. Did you tutor him along? Did you. Did you keep your eye on him? I know he went to, you know, college, things like that. Tell me about your son. Conrad.

[Mark Miner]

Well, he just. He always loved the racing. He raced a four wheeler around the shop when we were in Atlanta area. But when we got here, he got him a four cylinder. Won 13 races his first year race. Go karts down there. Pevely won several races start, got a mod one. He won one race in a mod division. Yeah, but all the boys were there that weekend, so. And watching that, I cried my eyes out. Yeah, he, he won. And yeah, he, he does a great job. And he, he pretty much runs our business right now. He's the day to day operations manager here.

[Kenny]

Okay, so let me just say this and then we'll back up. You don't own a normal tow truck company. This is my opinion. You own one of the biggest. Man, when I see your tow trucks go up and down the highways here, I'm like, holy moly. These tow trucks are huge. Now you do got the small tow trucks, but. Okay, now I just want everybody to know that you are incredibly successful right now. You are the envy to a lot of dirt racers because a lot of these guys, they end up being vagabonds. I'm not going to name names. And we talk about this with Jonathan Davenport, you know, with Nick Hoffman. You, you got out unscathed. You, you could have been poor. You could have been a vagabond. Now you are the hottest thing in St. Louis. Okay? Now you're, you're rolling back up the hill. You come up to, you're coming back home. Tell me, how in the hell did this happen, Mark, this tow truck company?

[Mark Miner]

Well, Teresa's dad, Ernie Jumper, thought, you know, Mark, you're a pretty aggressive guy. I think, you know, he had a little body shop and he had tow trucks come into his place. And he thought, you know, Mark, as aggressive as you are, if you bought a truck, you would do just fine. Yeah, okay, well, we'll, we'll do that. We'll buy a truck and see how it works out. Well, 25 years later, I think it worked out, but it wasn't because of me. It wasn't because of Teresa. It was because of all the people around us. We have a network of people that has helped us phenomenal, phenomenally, whatever that word is.

[Kenny]

But Schrader messed that word up too. He must be a Missouri thing.

[Mark Miner]

It must be. Yeah, yeah. But one of the guys you've already mentioned, his name that helped us tremendously is Ed Petrov. You know, we went, we went to get in the heavy duty towing business and we would have really struggled without Ed's help.

[Kenny]

Yeah.

[Mark Miner]

What a phenomenal guy. He has been to Miners Towing.

[Kenny]

Okay. We still have the journey to go on. I still got lots of questions, but let's start right there.

[Mark Miner]

Okay.

[Kenny]

Eddie Petrov is well known in the dirt racing World he's known to buy. You know, we lost Scott Bloomquist, but he was known to give Scott, you know, a couple $50,000 motors. We know that Petrov spent probably millions of dollars on dirt racing, if you added it all up.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah.

[Kenny]

What. What do you think made Petrov like you and. And work with you? Because Eddie Petrov owns a company like yours on the. On the Illinois side, just right across the river. Why did he take a liking to you?

[Mark Miner]

Well, Ed. Ed does a lot of work in St. Louis also, just to make sure we have all that right to start with. But I believe that he liked my work ethic, and we were part of the racing community. The racing network is phenomenal about keeping everybody together. And that's what I think it was about.

[Kenny]

And do you think you know that? I remember Bill Elliott. One time, I'm in a driver's meeting, and Bill Elliott said something to me that I. I still remember this day. He said, there's room for everybody.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah.

[Kenny]

I think I find it amazing that Petrov didn't look at you as, you know, the enemy. You know, you're. You're going to take some of his tow truck money away from you, but you're saying because you're a racer.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah. And he. He probably knew that because at one point, Ed says, minor. Within about 10 years, you won't need me anymore. Well, he. He. He is. He is still growing, even at whatever age Ed is at. He's five or six years older than I am, but he is still hard at it. It would be very difficult to catch and run with Ed.

[Kenny]

Yeah. Yeah. But that's cool, because I'm going to make a joke about this, so go with me. It's. It's like my brother Rusty, Everybody says to you, you know, they'll tease me or. Or some people are just mean to me. And that's fine, though. My brother Rusty's great. Schrader's great. And I stay my lane. I know who the hell I am.

[Mark Miner]

Right on.

[Kenny]

And so I like what you just said. You know, you know, Eddie's the man.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Kenny]

And you stay your lane. I like that.

[Mark Miner]

You know, and you. You get people that say, you know, you know, herm, I'm gonna. I'm gonna do all this on my own. Well, then people are crazy as heck, you or I or Schrader or Petrov. None of us have ever done anything on our own, have we?

[Kenny]

We need help.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah, we need a lot of help. And it takes a trophy.

[Kenny]

No trophy. There's a Here you go. Here's a trophy. You did it on your own.

[Mark Miner]

You get the buzzer. So, yeah, it takes a lot of help. And fortunately, we've been around the right people and good people all of our life.

[Kenny]

So I want to go back to. Are you. Are you telling me that it was Ernie Jumper now? Let's talk about that a minute. Okay, so Donnie Jumper and Dave Jumper, those are the kids. Donnie Jumper builds impressive race cars. Dave owns a great automotive repair shop. Everybody's hard workers. But you're telling me Ernie was the one that said you should get a tow truck company.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah. What a. What an incredible story. You know, because Ernie always motivated me. You know, I was. Seemed like growing up, we were just broke. So if I worked out the body shop with him a little bit and Ernie would always pull out $100 bill and say, okay, you guys go get lunch. You know what? I want to be like that Ernie Jumper guy, man. He's always got a hundred dollar bill. That's cool. So that was kind of my motivation.

[Kenny]

And you know, Ernie doesn't know it. My wife will see Ernie down at River City Casino. Yeah, you know, we work hard, we're stressed out. Nothing wrong with going down there on the weekend and having a little fun gambling. But I just want to give an Attaboy. Now that you brought this up, you know, Kenny Schroeder credits Ernie Jumper. The great Kenny Schrader credits Ernie Jumper to everything. Schrader would joke. He said the reason I. I went with Ernie because he paid for my. My pit pass.

[Mark Miner]

Hey, there's that hundred dollar bill again.

[Kenny]

Yeah, so. So we all have those people.

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[Mark Miner]

We'Re here with bolt cutters.

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[Kenny]

Call or visit comcastbusiness.com to learn more. So this is great, Ernie. And if Donnie or Dave are listening this, it is amazing. The people that inspire us and that sometimes it's later in life it is that we give them their due. I hope Ernie listens to this or somebody tells Ernie that he has inspired Kenny Schrader and you.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah.

[Kenny]

Pretty big.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah.

[Kenny]

So now you're married to his daughter.

[Mark Miner]

43 years.

[Kenny]

That's so awesome. Congratulations. Well, thanks. You got some pictures behind you and we all see them.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah.

[Kenny]

Now when you. Let's go here now. So you're back here and you're growing the tow truck company, but you still don't got the racing out of your blood. As I look at the pictures that when you get back to St. Louis, you say, okay, I'm not going to run a super late model, but I'm going to run an A mod. And you kicked everybody's butt and you won. Tell me about those days when you get back. Why did you run the A mod when you got back to St. Louis?

[Mark Miner]

Well, I just. We had a group of people that put me in a car.

[Kenny]

Oh, okay.

[Mark Miner]

So you know how things go. I had a partner, Schrader.

[Kenny]

Schrader. Hey, partner.

[Mark Miner]

So you know, through all that, you know how close we all are.

[Kenny]

Yeah.

[Mark Miner]

And you know, just got to racing and doing a little better down there. Pevery i55 speedway and had a blast and got a new car from brother in law, Donnie Jumper. And that made that go better. And let's see, we won a championship and what year down there? 2012.

[Kenny]

That's awesome.

[Mark Miner]

We won the Pepsi. Pepsi Nationals in 2005. Yeah. And that's when there was like 60 cars show up for that, baby.

[Kenny]

You know, you reminded everybody you're still a badass.

[Mark Miner]

Well, the other cool thing, see right behind me there, scrubbing speedway.

[Kenny]

Oh, yeah.

[Mark Miner]

Two years ago, Schrader got me a ride in Mike Vaughn's car from down there in Georgia. And we go down there. Hadn't. Hadn't raced a car in six years and man, we exceeded our expectations, like, unbelievable. I won the race and Trader run second and that son of gun straighter got out of the car and he looked at me like what? He had the biggest smile on his face like his son had just won his very first race. And I wanted to cry because that's a true friend there.

[Kenny]

I want to talk about that moment for a minute because Kenny told me everything about that moment. You know, I want, I want to say this in, in the right way. It's weird, right? Because father John that married Kim and I, he said, be careful, young man. Competition Will kill you. You know, when. When we go to people's funerals, we're like, oh, I liked him. But, boy, we roughed each other up so bad. And I think that's what competition does. So, you know, when you won that race last year, you, know, Kenny had already made it to nascar. He had already done everything there is. He truly was okay with you whipping his ass, Because I think we've overcome that now, you know, that it was okay for you to outrun him.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah, we didn't have nothing to prove. We were just racing for the fun of it, for the most part, you know? And I have a picture here of kenny coming up next to me at the next to the car I was driving. And he's given me the biggest hug and the smile on his face. And a smile on my face is priceless.

[Kenny]

But. But I also think. I also think that that's a way of kenny saying, hey, you know, mark's always been good. This doesn't surprise me, but he's been out of the race car so long. Holy crap. So kenny tells me the story that the night before you guys are practicing, and. And he says that you said the car was a little tight or a little loose, and you did some things here and there, and you. You practiced the night before. Tell me about that night where you shook it down when you got in the car. Did you have the jitterbugs?

[Mark Miner]

Oh, you better believe it. You know, I'm like, I. I really got pumped up for this race Through a couple press releases that a guy did for me. I'm thinking. I'm not sure I should have said all that stuff or maybe not had that story pumped up so big. But anyway, just go out there and did all I could do, and it worked out that night.

[Kenny]

Yeah. Well, that's really awesome. And I'll never forget that Kenny was so full of happiness for you. All right, let's get to modern era. Here we are, this tow truck company. To me, I. I'm so excited for you, because when I go up and down the major interstates and I. I see these tow trucks, you know, whoever's with me, if I'm by myself, I, you know, wave. But I tell my wife, I said, look at that. I said, you know, because I do want to go back to this. You. You got away unscathed. And that's what amazes me the most. How many dirt racers took it all the way to the vagabond end, where they quit dirt racing. They won it all. These dirt racers Won everything. They won El door. They won it all. And they're broke. Do you ever think that you got. Do you ever think that you got away unscathed? No.

[Mark Miner]

Oh, I. I don't know how to answer that. Everything worked out. For whatever reason. Just got the right. Right people around us.

[Kenny]

Yeah.

[Mark Miner]

And the right family members.

[Kenny]

Yeah.

[Mark Miner]

And it worked.

[Kenny]

I'm so excited for you.

[Mark Miner]

You know, one. One thing that I did want to say about the race in a peevely.

[Kenny]

Yeah.

[Mark Miner]

That maybe some people didn't understand or know about me. That. That we had a very skeleton crew back at the towing company at that day. So I would get. Get all my stuff ready, go race, come back home, unload it, and go right back to work at midnight and work till, you know, like 7 or 8 the next morning till another crew came in.

[Kenny]

The race car was. The race car was second.

[Mark Miner]

Yes. And that's just. That's just what had to happen to make the race car happen too. Even though we had good partners on our race car to help us financially.

[Kenny]

You know, so, yeah, th. This makes me happy. We'll kind of end on a note like that. Where Nick Hoffman and. And I always remind this. I always remind people every. Every three months or so. I remember dirt racers, you know, we got to sell T shirts to stay alive. I'm like, guys, that's a tough life, you know, and here. Here's. Here's Nick. He's got elite chassis, and he's doing it right. And. And look at you. So congratulations. I. I want to celebrate you as a winning dirt racer throughout America. I want to celebrate you as a incredibly successful man. I don't know how much money you got, but it looks like you're worth millions because them damn tow trucks, they're honkers. They're honkers, baby.

[Mark Miner]

I think I own the lug nuts on them. The bank owns the rust.

[Kenny]

Well, that. That's. That's business. You know, here. Mark Martin said it to me best.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah.

[Kenny]

He said, herman, there's a cost to business. Anybody that's in business owes the bank.

[Mark Miner]

There you go.

[Kenny]

Because. No, no, nobody gonna just pay cash for a tow truck. And if. And if you do, maybe you're missing out on taking that money and doing something else with it. Well, Mad, can I.

[Mark Miner]

Can I tell you one more little story here because it involves your brother. Okay. Rusty. I just seen him on round table with Danny Sullivan the other day.

[Kenny]

Mav tv.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah. Awesome, awesome program with him and Tony Stewart. But, you know, when Rusty was racing, he, like. He Said had his head in the carburetor and all that. And Roger asked him, Mr. Pinsky said, well, what are you going to do after you get done racing? Well, I'm never going to stop racing. And then after a while, I guess Rusty thought about it and he thought, I guess I'm going to have to do something. And that's kind of the way I thought, you know, racing is not going to sustain us all our life. So that was where the towing came from.

[Kenny]

Yeah. I almost feel like now I'm thinking about the NFL when all these players were making millions of dollars and they were broke immediately. And so the NFL created a college. Okay, we're gonna pay you your $30 million a year, but first thing you're going to do is understand money. Yeah, I feel. I feel like we need one of these for our dirt racers.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah.

[Kenny]

And I just don't want anybody to go through what I went through. I was so scared to death. You know, Mark, my biggest fear was living under a bridge in a cardboard box. You know, just scared to death.

[Mark Miner]

Sure, I get it.

[Kenny]

Yeah. So. Well, I'm happy you told that story because it means that, you know, we learn along the way. And Rusty taught me, Dick Trickle taught me. I learned from Larry Phillips. I take quotes from everybody. Everybody taught me something, and you just shared. Well, let me. Let me ask you this. We look at people that do good things because that. That's who we want to pay attention to. You know, besides Rusty and Schrader, are there any other quotes that come to your mind or just anybody else? It could be anybody. I mean, is anybody else.

[Mark Miner]

I'm sure there's more, but them are the ones that just stuck with me over the last couple days because that's what I was paying attention to.

[Kenny]

Yeah, yeah. Roger Penske told. I'm going to tell you this. And you've heard this one, too. Roger Penske told rusty, you better learn how to golf, because that's where all the business is done on the golf course. And now. Now, just like you. Yeah, you, you and you and Rusty golf more than anybody. Do you do any business on the golf course, Mark?

[Mark Miner]

Oh, you better believe it. I usually. Two rounds a week, at least.

[Kenny]

Yeah.

[Mark Miner]

So.

[Kenny]

And do you take any of your business partners.

[Mark Miner]

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, we have some. We have some scrambles for, like, the St. Louis County Police Department and different benefits of Boys and girls club of St. Louis. And so, yeah, we get involved.

[Kenny]

You do good things. I just want to tell you, I do got to get. I got Two torn tendons in that right shoulder. And that's why I don't go golfing with you anymore. I've got to bite the bullet. I probably got to get cut and get the surgery on right now. I could probably just take a pitch and wedge. Well, Mad dog, Mark Minor. You got anything else, Mark?

[Mark Miner]

I'm sure I do. But this has been a great, great morning and an honor to be on here with you, Herm, and what a great show you have. I've listened to all of them so far.

[Kenny]

Well, thank you. All right, everybody, we've had Kevin Gundaker. We've had Mark Miner. This is the Kenny Conversation. We're calling this the local tour.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah.

[Kenny]

Mike Harrison, the great Mike Harrison, one of the greatest modified racers of all time.

[Mark Miner]

Oh, you better believe it.

[Kenny]

He's a man's man. He's gonna. I'm gonna call him up. He said he would do it.

[Mark Miner]

Yeah.

[Kenny]

So the local tour is going to keep on rolling. Listen up, everybody. Remember, we are in podcast form, but we are over on Dale Earnhardt Jr's Dirty Mo Media podcast. So for all the podcasts, if you want to listen, go over to. You can listen to this on the dirty the Kenny conversations are on Dirty Mo Media podcast. If you want to see Mark Miners pretty face, just stay right here on YouTube until next time. We're going to keep on rolling, Mark. We'll see you later. See you later, everybody.

[Mark Miner]

All right. Thank you so much.

[Kenny]

Check out Dirty Mo Media on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.

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[Kenny]

Call or visit comcastbusiness.com to learn more.

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