Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyler Whatley.
Hi Tyler, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started racing go karts in December of 1999. Raced those for 5 years and won 3 championships. In 2005, I moved up to 250cc mini sprints and raced those until 2009. In 09 I moved up to 600cc micro sprint and raced those until 2013. In 2013 I got to live my dream of being a full size sprint car driver and have been living that dream ever since. Everything I do connects to racing in some way or another so its embedded deep in my soul. As well as racing ive always been interested in art and drawing. My father is an automotive and airplane painter so I grew up with that background. I knew at a young age I was going to do something with painting and it would probably be artistic. By simply watching and paying attention to my father doing what he does best, I was able to pick up alot of knowledge and skills. Around that time the open wheel magazine had a helmet of the month and I loved that part of the magazine. Seeing the different art and colors as well as the different helmets themselves. The only thing a driver can express his or her personality on is their helmet. That sparked the interest in helmets and how they look. I suppose my father picked up on that energy and pushed it. He started showing me things and letting me try etc. He bought me a airbrush and started teaching me that.Years later after I had been racing for a long time, I had a white bell gtx and I got tired of all the pictures looking like a big cue ball inside the car so I decided to paint it. It cane out really good and a friend saw it, bought a brand new helmet and had me paint it. From that point I was hooked on painting helmets and designing graphics. I was able to purchase a vynil cutter and that opened up a whole new world of what I could do. Big stickers down to the smallest details, I now didnt have to cut them by hand. Ever since then ive stayed pretty busy without much advertisement at all. Thanks to my wife, Kristy, she has advertised and gotten even more jobs to do. She keeps highside motorsports running the straight and narrow and she will never know how much that means to me since I dont have much of a business mind. I paid more attention to learning the skills to do anything and everything on a racecar than I did trying to run a business. Word of mouth, the desire to make things pretty and the determination to do that got me to where I am today. On the racing side of it, passion for the sport, determination to be what I dreamt of being and certainly my parents support iver tge years has gotten me to where my career is today.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It hasn’t been smooth. Not as rough as alot of others but not smooth. I would probably say finances is probably whats been the worst of it all. Racing isn’t cheap. Painting isn’t cheap. Vynil graphics arent cheap. I’ve had a few sponsors along the way but its never enough to cover it all. BTW sponsors are welcome!lol.. trying to get a business going without much financial help isn’t easy and it definitely takes alot more time and patience. But it pays off in the end. If I had all the sponsors and all the money to just go buy this and that, I wouldn’t have had to learn how to do those things. Other than machining the engine block itself, I do absolutely everything else that it takes to get the car around the track. I build my own engines, do my own fabrication and welding, I do my own paint and graphics. And thats all because I didnt have the funds to pay to have it done.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I do custom paint and graphics. I specialize on racecars and helmets but im willing to do pretty much anything that needs some custom stuff done. I wouldnt say im necessarily known for anything in particular. If I am I dont know what it is. Im most proud of how far ive come and the skills ive been blessed to learn. What sets me apart is the fact that I can come up with a design in my head and will it into existence. That design might flash into my head and be gone just as fast. Somehow im able to see it, take a mental screenshot of it, envision it completed and I dont stop until the mental image is sitting in front of me in real life. Im able to take people’s ideas and bring it to life exactly how they imagined but most of the time better than imagined. I love using a touch of realism meaning if im making a sticker of a big truck for example. If its chrome on the real truck, it will be chrome on the sticker. I like making things look real and I love hiding details.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
There are so many that have helped over the years, I couldn’t even attempt to name them all. I would likely leave a few people out and thats not fair to them. The main ones that have played a major role is my parents and my sister, Stevie. My wife Kristy, who keeps me going straight and keeps me calm. She also promotes everything I do. She’s really the glue that holds everything together. Chuck Goldy, who has been a very important sponsor almost from day 1. My father works for him and we were able to keep the racecar at his shop for a long time. I learned how to do bodywork and paint in his shop. I can’t thank him enough for providing all those essential tools for success. Ray and Velma Bugg. Ray has been my racing hero since I was in diapers. Thats where I got the number 25. Hes the one that initially sparked the interest in racing as he was the first driver I personally knew. Proud to say he and Velma are some of my best friends to this day. This are just a few of a very lengthy list of people who have helped along the way. If I didnt mention you im sorry and you are appreciated very much
Pricing:
- Helmets start at 800 and go up from there
- Vynil graphics depends on colors, amount, design etc
