Why did Robbie Reiser leave Roush Fenway Racing? | Dale Jr. Download 

Had a friend who got a job in the body shop at Roush. He never met Jack before he was hired. Jack came through the shop and he walked up stuck his hand out and introduced himself jack looked at his hand and turned around and walked off never acknowledging him. When Joe Gibbs started his team he said he would not raid other teams talent. Jimmy Maker wanted joe to hire my friend and Joe told him that he had to have a good reason to leave Roush and my friend told joe about the hand shake joe told him your hired and if he ever got disrespected like that from himself that my friend had premission to hit joe in the head with something. he said joe would take time to walk around the shop not to talk about racing but to check if you needed anything or to ask about your family and most the time joe would remember your wife or kids by name .

This is gold. I think we've all wondered how roush went from top of the heap to nothing

After listening to Reiser, Biffle and others, I'm a little shocked Jack Roush had a fraction of the success he did. Sounds like good drivers and good crew chiefs won in spite of him rather than because of him.

Listening to Robbie I learned something about myself. I had a GM role in a much smaller company and was so frustrated I only lasted 2 years. It never occurred to me that it was all the responsibility and no authority. Nailed it. He seems like a guy I would want to have around in whatever business I was in. Thanks for the great interview.

What a treat getting to know Robby.

I’ve known Robbie and Tracy since way before he went south to NC. They were even my next door neighbors for a while. What you see is what you get. He’s always been what you see here. The entire Reiser family is like this. Great people!

What i took from this.....my goodness what Mark Martin could have done had he drove for Hendrick or Junior Johnson or Gibbs instead of Jack Roush in his prime.

Given how Roush treated Mark earlier this year, I don’t blame Robbie for his dislike and wanting no part of that outfit. Jack is stuck in his ways and isn’t a very friendly individual.

Robbie has always seemed like one of the nicest, most humble but real deal racers in the sport and I'm dang proud to see him on here!

I had no idea there was this much animosity between Roush and Robbie. But it doesn’t surprise me - years ago I toured all the shops in Concord, and for instance at HMS, the mood was upbeat and fun. Yes, they were focused on their work but you could tell everyone wanted to be there. At Roush, it felt like we were watching prison labor. Nobody even spoke and they had looks of dread on their faces. Who can work like that?? I sure can’t.

Good stuff from Robbie, as a former Roush employee Jack is a very smart and talented man but also hard to work for. the culture was to perform and win, but the people, personnel, management skills left something to be desired.

I appreciate the sentiment of what Dale is saying here. And I wonder if part of where that comes from is how he feels about DEI.

Always been a Robbie fan, him and Matt gave me some of the best racing years as a fan. Wish Roush operated different.

Holy heavens. I’ve heard stories about Jack being hard to work with but man did Robbie make it clear how toxic it is/was. Never been as clear as Robbie though. Wowzas!

I've always felt that the biggest problem at Roush was Roush and that it was never a multi car team, instead it was an owner running several cars.

I know I posted the same sentiment on another video, but I would have to say of all of the interviews that they have done, this Robbie Reiser interview has been easily, the most insightful, and the most honest.

I was his Parts Guy. I was at Roush from 2000 until the end of 2010. He is EXACTLY RIGHT. I wish I could have been there to comment on this because I was a big part of it. I can tell you exactly what went wrong.

"You’ve got to emotionally free yourself from some of the things that once meant a lot to you, so you can move beyond the past and the pain it brings you".

Boy the way Reiser explain it about the work environment at Roush and how he tried doing things his way then having some other group of people making their own changes to run it their way is very relatable in the work force. For example: I use to worked in the parts department as a counter man for a forklift company. When I arrived it was a small time business but everyone treat each other like family. However, changes were in the air and the company was in the process of expanding into a much larger business with additional branches that eventually we moved into a much bigger building. This unfortunately was the end of the small time 'mom and pops' type of frame work and into the transition of becoming a coporate business. We went from "it's great working for this company" into "I need to get the hell out of here." It became ever more evident when Toyota executives decided to buy 51% of the company and then by overnight it became "their way" of doing things. One time the service management wanted ideas on how to streamline the parts department. First of all they have no reason to dictate how to run our department. They also ended up a hiring a new parts manager who had no clue how to manage anything! His background wasn't about parts but in business which was a formula for disaster. With some hope I submitted my 'two cents' of an idea on how to possibly help reorganize our department thinking this will be a great opportunity to help the company out. They quickly shot me down without question. Just "yeah, no we ain't doing that" attittude. So I was like welp, I gave it a try don't plan on hanging around here much longer the way this place is being runned now. With all the compiling issues I had with that company I gave my two week notice and I never looked back. HR said to me that I have a second chance to come back if I ever wanted to return. Like how Reiser states why would I want to go back a second time if I tried to help out the first time and was rejected? Just not worth it! As a former coworker said: "There is just too many Chiefs and not enough indians!"

One of the best interviews this far!!!

I was always a huge Robbie Reiser fan when he was teamed with Matt. I expected a huge improvement in Rousch Racing's performance once Robbie became the GM. This video helps fill in the blanks as to why the success never came back to Mark Martin levels. So sad as a lifetime Ford fan. Not sure that I will live to see it, but I hope that RFK Racing makes it back to the top someday. I certainly see huge improvements this year over last year.

I enjoy every single show..I like it when Mrs. Earnhardt (JR) is on..iwas only on a cup team from 1987-1991..but for some reason..Robbie Reiser's interview was one of THE best I've seen yet..and They're ALL good. Kudos to Mike for understanding why Robbie didn't want to be involved with Roush. But..at the same time..I completely understand where Dale was going also..he's a businessman..and he was looking at the bigger picture. Anyway..enjoyed it immensely.

My buddy who worked for Rousch in his SCCA TransAm days said once....There are 3 types of people in racing....Those working for Rousch and getting FAWQED by him, Those who have been FAWQED by Jack and never to return, and those who don't know and will be FAWQED by him one day. Pratt & Miller who build the GM Corvette Racing cars now, built cars for Rousch back in the day....There was a huge disagreement between Jack and Charlie Selix and when the race team departed, Charlie took all the fabrication tolls that he brought to Rousch and moved them off to Pratt & Miller up the road. Team came back from the race weekend to an almost empty shop...Jack first thought Charlie had stolen all of his tools not realizing that Charlie had owned them before working for Rousch....Had to quickly source & re-tool an entire Fab Shop. Jacks quite the success but, he's a guy who has poor "people skills" look @ how Robbie shows there is no chance of reconcilliation...Robbie was FAWQED by Jack! The End.

This is truly a stand up guy. He’s a hard person not to like. 👏👏👏

A very interesting insight into the inner workings of the race teams. 36 cars in one week is unbeleivable.

Great interview with Robbie! He's one of the best to ever sit on the pit box. A year so after he stopped being a crew chief, I visited the Roush shop for the first time. I saw Robbie come walking into the main hall and was so excited to meet him. However, I stopped in my tracks when I saw he was just setting up a driver cardboard standup like you see in a grocery store. I felt bad for him that he was doing such mundane things when he had won races and Championships for them.

The same thing happened to me on a smaller scale. I got hired to run a turn a shop around but as soon as I showed up to get started the owner starts with the "be careful and don't hurt anyone's feelings. And don't establish authority over this person or that because they may quit. That's when you realize that the problem can't be fixed because you can't establish authority over it or hurt its feelings.

Sup Mike , Dale . Yall doin a great job.

Really enjoyed his whole interview. Seems like a really good guy!

I've learned a lot about Rouch from watching the Download in recent years.. I was a huge #6 fan during the Mark Martin years. I didn't know how toxic it was.

The only way that you could relate to any of this, is if you worked in the presence of these folks and the atmosphere it presented. I will stick my head out there and say it built me as the indidual i am today and it was really tuff to prolong working there from 05-13. Went on from there to experience great things. Layed the racing career down just a few short years ago as well. Robbie it was hard being there, but is a memory that is cherished. One could only imagine the day in and out struggles you dealt with. Great memories and friendships were developed.

I was a part of that chassis department during the company’s hay day. I left and went to work for the power company. They shoulda listened to Robbie.

It's easy to look out the window and tell someone they should turn around and walk back across the raging river. The guy knows how deep and fast the water is . He can go the rest of his life not liking the place he was at ,during that time in his life. It's called ,moving on .

I agree with Robbie, you lie to me or do me wrong, IM DONE WITH YOU.

Roush needs more true races like Robbie still today and they need to send Steve Newmark out the door along with Fenway

Went to high school a couple years behind Robbie he was a great driver at Slinger speedway. Always a nice guy.

Robbie was a visionary.

As much as I admire what Roush has accomplished, I've never heard anyone gush over what a great guy he is was on a personal level. If I recall, his partnership with Gapp didn't end on the greatest terms. Kudo's to Robbie in taking ownership of some of his negative experiences. Too many managers throw shade on everyone around them when things go wrong.

Great life advice, Dale!

Hey Dale if Theresa still had DEI would you run back for a reunion? Asking for a friend

I see where Robbie is coming from. You don’t hold a grudge against them or wish bad on them, but at the same time, you just don’t want to be around someone or a group of folks, after a situation goes off the rails. It’s just best to go your separate ways and move forward.

I don't blame Robbie one but. Toxic is toxic and you either try to survive while you can or gtfo.

I had one interaction with Jack Roush in the pits in 1998 and can totally relate to Robbie not wanting anything to do with him.

I’m no longer follow nascar but gosh I love these interviews

I love the statement, “ I had a lot of responsibilities without any authority” I have seen that and experienced that in corporate America so many times.

I disagree, sometimes there are roads that you never want to go back down and there are people that you close the chapter on. And no matter what you never want to reopen that book.

Robbie is a man of principle and is staying true to himself. 100 percent on board with his decision to stay away from Roush

The more stories that come out from Roush in the early 2000's...from Martin to Kenseth to Biffle and now Reiser...it sure does sound more and more like Jack Roush is a horse's ass.

Roush fans recognize the huge part you played in that organization and would love to see some sort of reconciliation.

Dale could have spoke to Robbie about forgiving and moving on from personal experience with DEI and the whicked which, unless he hasn’t done it with his situation. I know dale jr was also a family thing but I believe Robbie looked at RR as his family as well.

Dale - Please do not be so quick to ask the next question. Let the guest finish their thoughts. Too many times you cut off a guest just when they are getting ready to share something insightful or even profound. On a different note you should sponsor a new team made up of some of your past guests who are 100% racers at heart. Robbie Reiser, Fat Back McSwain, and others etc… Might be a fun experience to see if pure racers could take a checkered away from corporate grifters.

Robbie talking about not wanting to go back to a place where he wasn't wanted is something that resonates with not just me, but a lot of people.

One thing the Rat in the hat never could comprehend was that people are the key to success and how you treat them matters.

Jack Roush, i am the smartest man in the room. Period, you dont like it i dont care.

Wish Robbie would've stayed with Matt a few more years as crew chief. Matt had a few lean years there with various crew chiefs but luckily struck gold with Jimmy Fennig in '11 and '12 before leaving Roush.

I would love to see Kenseth and (long shot) Edwards on the show and talk about roush. Then have Jack on as the season finale guest

I'm struggling with Jr. advising / suggesting that Robbie consider letting the past go & yet Jr / Theresa remains a thing. I get it that Jr's issue involves actual family and not just a single family member... it's an entire family. So, perhaps, Jr's situation is more complicated. But he gave the suggestion pretty easily & did not at least acknowledge his own history with a troubled relationship.

He should have been able to progress with his own team but nascar multi car teams snuff out a start up , with only one team per owner , it was the best of times , showing up at a track having to qualify to get in with no provisional , it's a shame the best racing in the world was lost

Robbie is a real one for the Roush stuff

Add to the NASCAr stuff the Trans Am cars Roush had and man what a lot of things to juggle.

I’m with you Dale on your prospective.

Robbie should ask Dale to go work with Teresa. Same thing

I respect Robbie for not badmouthing jack . Robbie got his shot to make it into the big league of racing. The sad part was jack didn’t have the foresight to let him run the show, instead of micromanaging the teams.

Can Jr. Go work for Teresa? Asking Robbie to go back and work there, Hello

I see where you're coming from Dale. You gotta reconcile things eventually. I'm curious if you were invited back to DEI, could you go back? From what I've read I don't think there's much going on there these days but if Teresa called and invited you back to bury the hatchet, are you there yet? No judgement from me. As you were asking Robbie about going back to Roush at some point I was asking myself the question about you. I became a fan in that area and some of my favorite wins of yours are there. Those were some great days from a fan perspective but I definitely had no idea how you were treated and what was happening behind the scenes.

The way this works in baseball is a new owner buys the team. Then the player comes back. So we're half-way on this owner thing. And Robbie looks young.

The Down Fall of Roush stories are so crazy. Was Roush even making money? If so, where the hell was it going

Sounds a lot like the Steve Hmiel story at Roush also.

I don't think Brad has any idea what he got himself into buying into Roush racing. He's gonna regret it big time.

Been there did and left. Thank god made far greater money.

Aye, go Cup with Truex and Berry

Hey as a bleed blue oval guy I tip my hat to Robbie. Rousch didn’t just struggle they became the titanic of nascar. Sad really that a once winning team became a has been

Roush was a great organization and is certainly on the rebound thanks to Brad, but I think Jack is his own worst enemy. He tends to put guys in positions where they should be successful, then tries to micromanage them. Have also heard that he’s got a nasty temper. It’s in stark contrast to the way an organization like Hendrick is run.

Good video.

I'm going to be blunt because Robbie Reiser is being a true sportsman and gentlemen. Roush began its slow and subtle decline behind the scenes when John Henry acquired half the organization with zero motorsports experience in 2007. Henry is a pure finance guy and a very successful one at that. Henry asked thousands of questions (#1: why is this money required for x,w,z) through Intermediaries and to Jack himself. All were good questions to ask, so long as the questioner understood the many facits in the response that soon followed... Since 2012, with the exception of one Xfinity championship in 2015, the organization has not won a title since. Henry didn't bring a single corporate sponsorship to the company and has never truly understood the marketing talent the company required to stay financially healthy to continue investing in engineering and R & D. It wasn't a secret that Kenseth and Edwards were seeing drastic organizational change after Mark Martin left,c which neither had any influence over. The next 5 years Roush - Fenway underwent significant financial management change that accelerated after 2015 (attempting to do more with less personnel) that ultimately saw the organization shrink to two Cup teams and shutdown its Truck and Xfinity teams. Many believe (including me) another important factor was Jack Roush second business jet crash in 2010. Roush hasn't been the same ever since.

Reiser was good technician & crew chief for (Roush Frenway Racing) but Jack was in his stubborn way's can explain why Kenesth & Edwards didn't want drive for Roush few years ago.

Robbie was caught between a rock and a hard place!

36 cars a week. How times have changed.

❤

Sounds like Robbie’s feelings for Roush are the same Dale has for DEI

Matt, Mark, Robbie, Carl, etc all should have gotten out sooner.

Yeah, really sounds like Jack is a great guy. End sarcasm...

What's with the music?

Roush doesn’t even celebrate Mark Martin, the man that put them firmly on the map as a top contender team in NASCAR in the golden era. No offense, but I don’t see that changing for Robbie either. Roush uses people until they aren’t effective and moves on.

Another awesome podcast from jr. Cant blame the man pissed off cus of the way he wanted to share with mom n dad n crew. N at a point had enough of the cat in the hat. We all know that story. Screw me one shame on you but aint doing it a 2nd time.

Every Roush fan, by now, knows that Jack was always the problem.

Imagine Greg Biffle convinces Chad Knaus to join Roush and Jimmie doesnt gets Ron Malec as a Crew Chief and either wins 3 or possibly 8 and Chad's career is ruined .. damn

Mark Martin WAS Roush Racing

WOW sound like Robbie has some deep feeling about his time at RFR and not good.

It's so upsetting that these guys get so disgruntled and it tarnished feelings about racing.

I really hate hearing all this Roush bashing. As a Ford fan, Jack is up there on our Mt Rushmore (along with Bob Glidden, Bud Moore and the Wood Brothers). The only reason Ford is still around in racing is because of those guys. After the factory bailed and Holman-Moody disbanded, they were the keepers of the flame..Jack has had success in drag racing, road racing and Nascar. He's also been a great innovator. He probably wasn't the best person to work for, but brilliant folks often aren't. I really wish Junior would have him on the show to explain his side of all this.

I respect the hell out of Robbie but I find it disheartening that he refused to work with Brad's vision of Roush racing. Robbie said it himself at the end that they scaled the team way back which is what was needed. I'm sure Roush resembles nothing today like the Roush Robbie used to know. I know Brad will eventually make this team relevant again, I just think Robbie should just give it a shot. If its not for him, it's not for him.

Beside the other issues, Jack Roush was basically cheap. And the plane crash really caused a change in him.

Being there I can say , Robbie is class act, the clowns running that show are the problem !

ok Robbie Reiser setting on a nascar hauler well cars running on track take new part of roush I saw that Robbie I really sick with blood cancer why i not fear or dead my real family there one key to this cancer it the controlling fact ok i was adopted my real uncle was to my mother he was the key to living there was a 100% death rate cancer break threw the cancer name was blood cancer! if you have this illness this the name and number you want! this was all from a sheet of paper from 1963 what it mean! i had my uncles name and military number it was like a shock to doctors in a good way i living still! threw this mess i worked for GM & llv mail trucks but ford in my being Yates & roush Robbie i have to mend with my brother he did bad stuff over money & i not like lies & cheating! like what went on! i have to speak my peace the guy who saved my life is his uncle too in real life!

Has Jr done that with Teresa? If not, you gotta practice what you preach…otherwise your advice holds no credibility.

Roush was cheap. Plain and simple.

Very Talented but Stubborn. And Jack is twice as Stubborn 🤔

Better yet who cares.

Does ANYONE like Jack Roush? 😂