[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”164″]
[/media-credit]Massimiliano Papis, best known to NASCAR fans as Max, has a great racing resume, from the 24 Hours of Le Mans to Formula One, Champ Car and NASCAR.
But for Papis, the best part of his career has just begun as he forges a new role in the sport, that of coach for young up and coming drivers Austin and Ty Dillon.
“First of all, it’s a great opportunity to be involved with RCR Racing, working with people like Richard Childress and everyone involved there,” Papis said. ““I was talking to Mike Dillon in the winter time about what I could do besides driving for the team.”
“We were talking about the fact that in every kind of sport, everyone always had a coach, but in racing, for whatever reason, people don’t really have a coach,” Papis continued. “So, I told them I would love to work with both Ty and Austin to develop them, on the road course and on the others.”
“We started slowly and here we are now being kind of like the big brother/tutor of both of them.”
One thing that Papis is adamant about, however, is that there really is no such thing as the Dillon brothers. In his eyes, they are two distinct individuals and that is how Papis approaches his work with them.
“First of all, the things that I tell people that it doesn’t exist, the Dillon brothers,” Papis said. “It’s Ty Dillon, with his own personality, his own goals and his own way of being and the same for Austin Dillon, with his own goals, way of being and personality.”
“They happen to be that both are race car drivers with RCR but I want, and they want, to be seen like their own individuals,” Papis continued. “That stands on everything I do with them.”
“We work out on separate times,” Papis said. “We spend time together analyzing the races, all of that in a separate way.”
“When it’s important to learn from each other, we have time together,” Papis continued. “But obviously I work with them as two different individuals.”
While many may see the role of coach as more motivational or inspirational, Papis takes a completely analytical approach to his coaching of both Ty and Austin Dillon.
“I put lots of studies behind it and I really apply myself to this coaching part,” Papis said. “Coaching, first of all, does not mean teaching someone to speak.”
“What I do with them is helping them to speed up the process of being who they want to be and being the leaders that they want to be,” Papis continued. “That goes from physical training to the mental approach to the races to knowing how to say certain things and how to react to certain situations.”
“I want them to raise up to 42 years of age because they are competing with people that have that amount of experience.”
Papis is also analytical when it comes to coaching both Austin and Ty Dillon on their physical fitness, consulting with professionals and utilizing fitness equipment both on and off the track.
“Obviously fitness is one of the biggest parts of the sport,” Papis said. “Jimmie Johnson didn’t win five championships in a row sitting on the couch.”
“Austin and Ty are very different individuals with different athletic backgrounds,” Papis continued. “At the beginning of the year, we made a physical fitness test for both Ty and Austin to understand how big their motor is.”
“Once we learn how big their motor is, then we work a program around that for strength and conditioning and endurance,” Papis said.” We have an agreement with Polar Electronics, a leading company with heart rate monitors.”
“So, every single training session we do with both Ty and Austin, we record their heart rate in the races at the beginning of the year so we learn how many RPMs their engine works as I like to say,” Papis continued. “And we try to work around that to improve their fitness in general.”
“This is a very technical, analytical and methodical approach,” Papis said. “It’s not just let’s lift some weights and go.”
Papis has already seen this regimented physical fitness approach pay off, with increases in stamina and endurance for Austin in particular when he ran two series races in one weekend.
“This year, when Austin ran Nationwide and Cup in Michigan on the same weekend and he came out of the car and gave me a high-five because he was tired as he was supposed to, but he still had some energy to go,” Papis said. “I feel that even if we’ve been working for months, we are starting to see the results on the physical side.”
Papis is equally as dedicated, however, to this methodical approach on the mental side of his drivers’ development.
“I use exactly the same approach both on the mental side as the physical side,” Papis said. “One example is that we’ve been working on the tone of voice we use when we open the radio and talk to the crew chief.”
“We’ve been working on the importance of what you say, when you say it and what words do you use,” Papis continued. “Not that you don’t be yourself, but I ask if they want to be the guy that opens the radio and everybody laughs at you or do you want to be the guy that opens the radio that inspires pride and motivates the crew to go extra because of the tone of voice and words.”
Papis fully realized the fruits of his coaching labors when Austin Dillon went to Victory Lane for the first time in the Nationwide race at Kentucky just a few weeks ago.
“I have never felt in my entire career that I would have been happy to see someone else winning,” Papis said. “I know that people say that I’m emotional, but I very well know how to control myself.”
“But I really felt that when Austin won that race that a part of me won it too.”
“The way that Austin made me feel and the appreciation I got made me understand that I’m making a difference,” Papis continued. “I had opportunity to go to Victory Lane by other friends but I never felt I belonged there but this time, I walked there without thinking because I knew that I belonged there.”
“I had tears in my eyes when I made my Daytona 500 and I had tears in my eyes when I went to the Victory Lane.”
Papis admits that he is in this new role of coach for the long term. And he has definite goals for his two protégés in the sport.
“I have a long-term goal with Austin and Ty,” Papis said. “Obviously with Ty, it is a little longer process because he is a younger person and he is in the beginning of his career.”
“I know everyone looks at them like experts and like they should win all the races,” Papis continued. “But I remember when I was 20 years old and when I was 22 years old and I couldn’t even polish their shoes.”
“I like to feel that I am the person that can tell them what their father and their grandpa would like to tell them but can’t because they are their parent and grandparent,” Papis said.
“And I told Austin that I will not be satisfied and I will continue to help him all the way until I will sit in the winner’s circle when he is a Cup champion.”
“He doesn’t need to prove anything to me but I want to show everyone who says that he is there because he is the son of Mike Dillon or the grandkid of Richard Childress that is not the truth,” Papis continued. “He’s there because he’s a bad ass like Ty.”
“They really deserve their positions.”
However satisfying his work has been and will be, Papis is most proud of the new role of coach that he is creating in the world of NASCAR. And his greatest achievement will be continuing to share his vast knowledge with both Austin and Ty Dillon as they forge their own paths in stock car racing.
“I feel in one way that I’m creating a new position in the sport,” Papis said. “It’s pretty unique and I wish that I had me on my side when I grew up in racing.”
“I had great people but I had to learn a lot of things on my own skin,” Papis continued. “And that’s why maybe I took a little longer to achieve my own goals and it’s still taking a little bit more of my time.”
“My happiness will be that we get to see what I learned at 42 years of age into Austin and Ty and 22 and 20 years of age,” Papis said. “I love them like they are the younger brothers to me.”
“I know that I’m working to keep a certain distance as their coach, but at the same time I allow myself to give them a hug from time to time because I really love them a lot.”
In my next interview, I had the honor of speaking with Brian Keselowski. Brian is the older brother of fellow NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski. He is a past winner in the ARCA Racing Series and is a competitor in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driving the no. 92 Chevrolet Impala for K-Automotive Motorsports. Here is my interview with Brian.
