Monday, September 16, 2024
“Right now we’re chasing a world record. We’re 900th of a second off. We’ve got three more races where we can qualify for this. We’re going to get it. We’re definitely getting it,” said Greg Stelse, owner of Greg’s Speed Shop.
Stelse is on a roll. He’s a blink away from his racing goal on an eighth-mile track, he just signed a deal to produce three years of a streaming television series about his work, and he’s grown his auto restoration shop into one of the top ones in the country.
His social media following is legion and at auto events around the country he hobnobs with big names in the business.
None of this would have happened if his wife Leah Stelse had not forced him to take a vacation. Stelse is a workaholic and he reluctantly agreed.
Inspired by Ford
They went to Mackinaw Island. Stelse was restless. They went south to Dearborn, Michigan, to the Henry Ford Museum. He was a Chevy guy going to a shrine to Ford to kill some vacation time before getting back to work.
“It was life-changing for me. I didn’t tell her. It would have ruined the day,” he said. “The Henry Ford Museum made me finally say let’s go for it. It was what I always wanted to do. It was about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.”
Three weeks earlier, they spent $2 million to upgrade their trucking company. While running that operation, he restored cars on the side in open bays while the trucks were on the road.
“I had to tell her I’m done trucking. She wanted to kill me but she got on board,” said Stelse.
They started looking for a building. In 2016 they acquired the building at E4259 East Gate Dr. after a closing fell through with another buyer. He made a cash offer in the parking lot. It was a former flooring store on the frontage road parallel with U.S. Highway 10.
“It was like they walked right out the door. Computers and everything left behind. It was all still in here. Rolls of carpet, hardwood flooring,” said Leah.
They sold what they could and paid even more to get rid of the rest of it. Greg transformed the building himself, doing everything from interior work to electric and plumbing.
In December 2018, they sold the trucking company and reinvested everything back into the speed shop. Stelse noted that he purposefully called it a speed shop rather than a garage or auto center. He envisioned as a place where fellow auto enthusiasts would gravitate to hang out, have a coffee and talk cars.
With Leah’s help, it perfectly fit the bill. The entry room interior is a retro ode to the golden days of hot rods. There are vintage metal auto signs, old gas pumps, a 1950s diner area, marquee theater and a vintage clothing store. Upstairs are three separate rooms with interior designs that are time capsules from the 50s and 60s that are used for photo shoots. All kinds of parties have been hosted here, including two weddings.
Craigslist find
“This car is a big part of this shop. We’re known all over the country—all over the world, actually, because of this car,” said Stelse about his 1957 Pontiac known as The Joker.
“The car has actually done a lot for us. It made us better. It made our family better. It made business better,” said Leah.
He often surfed Craigslist buying and selling cars. He came across a listing for the Pontiac and called the Missouri-based seller. The seller was surly from so many calls and many no-shows. Nothing happened. Two months later, he cleared off his desk and tossed print-outs of car listings into the trash. He paused and dug out the listing for the Pontiac and called the seller one more time. The seller was still belligerent but Stelse was able to convince him he was sincere about purchasing the car. The seller agreed to sell the car only if Stelse called him from the Illinois state line. He called the seller every hundred miles and the seller softened up.
The Joker was named that when he bought it. The race car is known as a gasser, a hot rod style that originated in the U.S. in the 1950s for drag racing. They owned the car for ten years and at first it was a vintage family fun car, now it’s one of the fastest cars in the country.
He races with the Southeast Gassers, a circuit that adopted time-frozen rules from 1967 to preserve the racing authenticity from the 1960s. No turbo or nitrous. It has to be naturally aspirated, a four-speed, straight axel, no computers and no shift light. Stelse said this has attracted professional racers from other circles because the cars are so difficult to run. “
Anyone can push a button on a car run by a computer,” said Stelse.
They have put 31,000 miles on their travel rig during this last year going to races. They’ve raced in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Built for speed
A year ago they started a YouTube channel that is now reaching 19,000 followers. This attracted the attention of POWERtube TV, the first streaming network for auto enthusiasts.
“They are the first in the industry to do this and I think five years from now it’s going to be crazy,” said Stelse.
They signed a three-year deal to produce 30 episodes. They do all the filming themselves that ranges from the work at the speed shop to racing at the track. It’s called “Built for Speed” and it can be watched on a computer or any smart TV through Roku, Fire Stick and a number of various apps.
“They see the potential of what he have going on here. At any custom car shop in the country, they are not getting out there like I do. They spend time in the shop but they don’t go out there and race,” said Stelse.
He said this will be good for Waupaca County. Since opening the shop, he quit counting after marking over 250,000 visitors. From his social media presence, Stelse pulls in people from around the country to see him race The Joker and its natural that people also make a pilgrimage to his central Wisconsin headquarters.
“It’s crazy in this short period of time where this has gone. And now with the TV stuff it’s going to blow up,” said Stelse.
Back in the work shop is a rotation of high-dollar classic cars in various states of restoration. Stelse pointed out that they are also open to work with the average car owner and they handle deer-damaged body work to various mechanical problems. They have even worked on tractors and airplanes.
