Podcast interview with Cole Pearn about becoming a NASCAR Crew Chief
NASCAR Fans will recognize Cole Pearn as the Crew Chief for the Furniture Row Racing Team and driver, Martin Truex Jr. Cole’s story is a terrific example of knowing yourself, trusting your gut and going with what feels right to you.
I first got to know Cole when he was just a teenager racing not only at Delaware Speedway (in Ontario, Canada), but also in what used to be called the CASCAR Super Series (which later became the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, now known as the NASCAR Pinty’s Series). He was regarded as one of the true up-and-coming talents in Canadian stock car racing at the time.
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Cole continued to race through the balance of his high school days and into and through his time at University. Eventually, his heart told him to pack up and move to North Carolina to somehow find his way in the door of a NASCAR team. And that’s exactly what he did, finding an entry-level spot at Richard Childress Racing and working his way up from there.
Some days it seemed hopeless but I was fortunate to just keep on trying and eventually it worked out.
– Cole Pearn
Fast forward to the time of this recording, where Martin Truex Jr. was named Nascar.com’s Driver of the Year after the 2016 season with Cole receiving an honourable mention for Crew Chief of the Year. In the two seasons since Cole took over atop the Furniture Row Racing pit box, the team has won five times (once in 2015 and four times in 2016) and took second place in the closest finish in the history of the Daytona 500 in February of 2016.
Cole’s is a fascinating story and a great example of how important it is to really know yourself, understand what it is that is important to you and what can happen when you take action to pursue it.
Some of the key points that stood out to me from my time with Cole include:
1. Go with your gut. Trust your intuition.
2. Run your own race. To do this, you’ve got to really know yourself and what’s important to you. That won’t always look the way you think it should, or mirror what others may be doing. But if you truly know and trust yourself, you can make decisions from the heart and be at peace with the outcome.
3. Pursuit. Action. Once you know who you are and what you want, you’ve got to go after it. Just take the next step and be fully present wherever you are. If you don’t try, you’ll never know.
I didn’t want to live the rest of my life questioning whether I did it or not.
– Cole Pearn
Connect with Cole
Furniture Row Racing Website: Furniture Row Racing
Cole on Twitter: @colepearn
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The founder of No Schedule Man Brand Media, Kevin Bulmer is a Strategic Marketing and Mindset Coach and Keynote Speaker. He is the producer and host of the momondays London inspirational event series, strategic marketing coach for Awesomepreneurs and is also host of the podcast, “Journeys with the No Schedule Man.”
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This is great stuff Kevin. I always try to follow my instincts and intuition, but sometimes I am extremely guilty of overthinking a decision. Of course, those are the times when I end up regretting the direction I headed. My best analogy of following my gut comes in playing billiards. If I think about a shot, measure it up, really take my time… I am less likely than if I come up behind the cue ball and just hit it the way I first think I should. When I play that, without inhibition, I often come close to clearing the table. On the contrary, when I try to line it up, my percentage drops to less than 50%.
Hi Greg,
That’s a great example! Your initial instinct is usually a good one, it seems.
Thanks for your time and comments.
Best wishes,
Kevin
Hi Kevin,
Another inspiring article. I can particularly resonate with the first point about intuition. I have always believe to go with your gut and do what you feel is right.
I know that if I didn’t then I would second guess and wonder did I do the right thing. Should I have gone with my gut instinct.
I believe we should do what we feel is right and just go for it. Otherwise we are not living our true selves, aren’t we?
Yup, I think you’re right. It’s interesting, how quickly we can agree on that idea (going with your gut) but then find it so … uncomfortable, if I can use that word, to pursue. Cole’s step was a HUGE one. But I suppose even the little steps all add up
Thanks for your time and comments, Owain.
Kevin
Hi Kevin,
A really nice article. Trusting your intuition, deciding what you want out of life and going for it are great mottos to live by. I have to confess that I tend to overthink all of my decisions before I make them cause I don’t want to make the wrong choice but I end up with a bad result nevertheless. Maybe I should try being a bit more spontaneous and see if that works out any better for me.
Chris
Hi Chris!
Thank you for that. I’m the same way: an over-thinker. But I’m making progress in making decisions and taking action more quickly and effectively.
Best wishes!
Kevin
This is a great post! Recently I just found that intuition really is a thing that we need to care of. It can help us to decide many things that sometimes when we can’t make a decision. Many people will not know that actually intuition is needed to be trained.
Thanks Dino! What a great observation: training intuition. I suppose the training in the process of getting the heck out of our own way to allow it to speak to us, and then trusting ourselves enough to recognize and act upon the voice when it calls. Great comments. Thank you!
Best wishes,
Kevin