Ken Gold Gran Turismo Motorsports Owner Profile

Fleet owner Ken Gold has taken a path that is anything but typical. For one thing, he started out living on the West Coast and has migrated eastward, first to Las Vegas and then to Mooresville, N.C. Career wise, he started with gravel/construction hauling, then narrowed the field and got specialized bulk hauling, such as hazmat, and found himself becoming even more specialized by moving into the motorsports arena.

Now, he finds himself in the enviable position of owning eight tractor-trailer units and planning for expansion. Ken Gold, Gran Turismo Motorsports, Enclosed Vehicle Transport, could be considered his dream job, since it arose from his own interest in Motorsports.

Even when he was hauling sand and gravel, he had an affinity for and ties to the sport. "I've been involved with the great network (of people) that I do business with," Gold said. " I am a avid Motorsports enthusiast and would be friends with them even if I was not doing their logistics.

His interest in Motorsports started paying off when he was approached and asked to haul some cars. Gold would take the cars to the track, the team would fly in, run the race, fly out, and Gold would haul the cars away. That started in 1994, and from there, the business grew. He eventually moved from Las Vegas to North Carolina to further tap the rich NASCAR & sports car market located there, and he now has offices and in both locales.

"We supply pro and semi-pro teams along with individuals with a truck and transporter or a Motor Coach to haul cars and gear," he said. Some trucks are leased per event and can haul several cars, while others are contracted to a specific team or individual for much longer terms.

If recent events are any indicator, Gold should start consulting his crystal ball. He recently contracted with BMW Motorsports, which is competing in the American LeMans series and will be racing in the U.S. until November, to provide it with a tractor-trailer unit to haul its race cars. The specialized trailer Gold uses can haul two BMW race cars, and, once emptied at the track, it converts to into a machine shop and lounge.

Gold attributes part of his success to the upscale and spotless appearance of his equipment. All of our equipment is kept up to have a maximum visual impact designed to give our customers and others that WOW FACTOR!

The trucks are all Kenworth: T600s, T2000s and W900Ls. The trailers, Gold said, are mostly Concept & Featherlite. He has some Dorsey and Kentucky trailers, but they were modified by Concept to facilitate Gold's specialized hauling needs.

In addition to his equipment, Gold credits the success of his company to his reputation for getting the job done and getting it done efficiently. His customers know that they can count on Gran Turismo Motorsports to take care of their vehicles and their needs.

So what's around the next bend in Gold's unusual path? Why, racing of course, and he wants to take the driver's seat. At the moment, he is working on restoring his own Porsche 935 K3 race car, to be exact. He plans to have it finished in the spring of 2000 and hopes to race at least four to six times on the Historic Sports Car Racing circuit.

When asked how he plans to handle racing and running his business, Ken Gold laughed and said he didn't know yet, but he would figure it out. In the meantime, he will continue to mine his passion for Motorsports.