NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Ryan Oehler has been absent from the last four Mission Foods NHRA series national events but no one should make the mistake of thinking that he’s been idle. In addition to his gig as the owner and rider of the El Bandito Yankee Tequila Buell, Oehler operates a couple of other successful businesses, so he tries to make the most of each day.

“I’m down to maybe 80 hours a week instead of 100, but I stay plenty busy” Oehler said. “Yes, we took some time off this summer but that was just an effort to get our bike to be a little more competitive. We just felt the time was best spent at our shop. Honestly, I think we did the right thing.”

Oehler, who qualified 13th in his last appearance in Bristol, has focused primarily on cylinder head development. He’s admittedly made progress, but also acknowledges that sometimes it’s necessary to take one step backwards in order to take two steps forward.

“We blew up an engine on the dyno, and we actually broke our dyno in the process,” Oehler said. “We just got it fixed about a week ago. The way I look at it, it’s like building a rocket ship. If you finished building a rocket on Monday, you probably aren’t flying to the moon on Tuesday. It just takes time. You don’t always see immediate results.”

Oehler did make time for a pair of test sessions and was encouraged by his results. He’s also adjusting to a new set of rules that have added weight to most bikes.

“We’re honestly focusing most of our efforts towards next year, but we still plan on running a few more races this season,” said Oehler. “We understand that this whole deal is a process, and you just have to stay focused on the end goal.”

Oehler’s hectic schedule has also included additional time with his side project, Tampa Bay Race Rentals, a program that allows people to experience the thrill of drag racing for the first time. Oehler has a pair of 12-second Ford Mustangs and he provides instruction to newcomers including fans, students, and corporate clients.

Oehler also uses his motorcycle and race rentals program as a tie-in with his El Bandito Yankee Tequila partnership.

“I tell people all the time that I’m the best deal in town because I work hard for my sponsors and I look for opportunities that some others might miss. We started this program in [St. Petersburg] Florida but now we’ve expanded and run at a bunch of tracks including here [Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park]. We have a lot of people who just want to experience the thrill of racing, and we’re happy to provide it. I really enjoy when we do chamber of commerce events and we get to shot corporate people what NHRA is all about. We get a great response from that.”