Series Newcomer House Mixes Business, Racing With Successful Technology Background - Speedway Digest

They may seem worlds apart, but there are plenty of parallels between the boardrooms of Silicon Valley and the cockpit of a race car.

Dave House understands that connection better than most.

House, a longtime executive in the technology sector, is making his Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda debut this season. He will bring lessons from a highly successful career in tech and more than a decade of racing experience in open-wheel cars to the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Development Series.

“Technology is central in both racing and my career,” House said, “whether it be the instrumentation and analysis of data or the technology in the basic product itself and understanding that technology. Additionally, both are about teamwork. The best individual can’t succeed without playing team ball, and both are about playing team ball.”

House will drive for ONE Motorsports, led by team principal Jeff Shafer. The team joined Prototype Lites last season, with driver John Falb winning the Lites 1 Masters Championship.

In 15 years of racing open-wheel cars, House crossed paths with Shafer many times.

“I have some friends who I raced with in the Radical Cup who’ve graduated to the Prototype Lites series,” House said. “Through traveling with Radical, I got to know Jeff Shafer from ONE Motorsports and liked him and his team.”

Currently chairman of Brocade Communications Systems, House spent 22 years at Intel, managing the microprocessor business and the team that created the highly successful “Intel Inside” marketing program. He then took the reins of Bay Networks as chairman and CEO. From 2001-2003, House was the CEO of Allegro Networks.

His business experience in the world of technology has helped him become a logical decision maker, which also helps him behind the wheel of a race car.

“In a high-tech business, you’re dealing with an extremely complex environment that involves business and technology principles, marketing, finance, operations and a whole host of different things,” House said. “The environment is always changing, and you must make quick, logical decisions that aren’t emotional under pressure.

“The same thing happens at a racetrack. Plans during a race have to be quickly modified at times, and you must make lightning-fast decisions. The consequences of bad ones can be very great. You have to stay away from the emotional decisions. I always say it’s better to give up a position than to give up a race.”

House tested the Prototype Lites equipment package of an Élan DP02 chassis, Mazda engine and Cooper Tires with ONE for two days at Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club near Las Vegas, the team’s headquarters. He already sees similarities between his open-wheel Pro Mazda car and his new Prototype Lites sports car.

“They use the same Élan tub, so I simply took my race seat out of my Pro Mazda and slid it into the Prototype Lites car to get started,” he said. “The suspension is quite similar, so the setup will have a lot of similarities. The engine is different. The Pro Mazda runs a rotary engine, where this will be a piston engine.

“I have limited experience in the car at this point in time, but clearly the Prototype Lites car has a lot more downforce. I find the car more stable; it sticks better, and it may be a little more forgiving. A little heavier, of course, but with its additional braking capability the car has amazing stopping ability and turning at high speeds.”

House stays very busy between his role at Brocade Communications Systems, keeping up with a family winery he operates, and many other obligations and pastimes. But he still has time for plenty of fun in his new racing series as he gears up for the 2015 IMSA season.

“It’s not my career, but it’s my passion,” House said of motorsports. “I have a lot of other activities in my life that eat up my time, so I’m not pursuing this as a professional endeavor. My goal is to have fun and be competitive.

“I’m going to get a chance to learn some new tracks. I’ve raced at maybe half of the tracks, but I haven’t raced at Watkins Glen, and I’ve always wanted to race there. I’ve never raced at NOLA, so that will be fun. It will also be great to go back to some of the tracks I’ve driven on in the past in open-wheel cars.”

The 2015 Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda season starts March 18-20 at Sebring International Raceway. For more news and updates, follow @IMSA on Twitter, like IMSA on Facebook and visit www.imsa.com.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.