Ford Performance Engineer Dan Tiley And His Never-ending Search For The Right Ingredients

When Dan Tiley takes his seat in MS1, the name given to the space that houses one of two current Ford Performance racing simulators, he sets his personal laptop to the side and diligently inputs data needed to help NASCAR driver Todd Gilliland during what will become a four-hour test session on four different tracks.

As one of the department’s vehicle dynamics simulator technical specialists, Tiley is responsible for developing and improving all key variables that go into a successful sim model. That includes tires, aerodynamics, brakes, springs, shocks, you name it. If it’s on the car, Tiley likely has the corresponding data that he then combines into one model for drivers to test.

“To work in this type of atmosphere for me is a dream come true,” said Tiley. “What I like the most about it is there is no cookbook. We’re pushing the limits and we’re trying to find what the next big thing is that’s going to help us win races, so a majority of what we do is development. We’ll try out different ideas that we may have on our static desktop sim and the intent is when the teams come in to test, they’re getting the culmination of what worked well.”

What makes Tiley even more valuable in his post is that he brings the added perspective of being a racer himself. He began competing in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) at age 30 and ran in the Spec Miata Series for about 12 years, winning his share of races and championships in the process. He’s also run everything from the Spec Racer Ford Series to Mustangs and Capris in the ChampCar Endurance Series, something he’s still involved with today.

He’s competed at places like Watkins Glen International, Mid-Ohio, Road Atlanta, Virginia International Raceway, Charlotte Roval and the road course at Homestead-Miami Speedway. And while he counts Laguna Seca as a place currently at the top of his bucket list, Tiley is ticking off another item as he prepares to run his first international race in Nogaro, France at the Circuit Paul Armagnac Oct. 1-2.

“I have a good friend who is originally from Hickory (North Carolina) and he sold everything to move to France,” said Tiley. “He invited me to come over and run an endurance race with him in a series called the Fun Cup, so I’m flying over there next month and we’re going to run an eight-hour endurance race with a full pit crew and the whole deal. I can’t wait.”

Tiley credits his grandfather, Art Stuarts III, for shaping his love of motorsports when he was just a child, but unlike some who spent weekends watching from the pits or grandstands, he had a much different perspective.

“From a young child I was always heavily interested in NASCAR,” said Tiley, who counted Dale Earnhardt as his favorite driver, but also enjoyed the likes of Darrell Waltrip and Harry Gant throughout the decades of the 1970s and ’80s. “My grandfather was the announcer at the local dirt track in New York, Lebanon Valley Speedway. He announced there for over 30 years and was known as ‘Uncle Art, The Voice of the Valley,’ so I used to go with him to the track and I’d hang out with him in the booth. He was an amazing commentator who would go and talk to all the drivers before the race started and get some background stories that he could use throughout the night to make it a little more colorful.”

As he grew older, Tiley continued his love for motorsports by joining the Formula SAE team at Rochester Institute of Technology, where he helped develop prototype vehicles as part of a national collegiate competition sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers. After graduating with an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, he joined Ford in 2000 on the product development side working on Lincoln products and later worked on Mustang until 2007, when he decided to leave the company and move to North Carolina.

After working for a variety of NASCAR teams, including Roush Fenway Racing, and launching his own engine business, Tiley returned to Ford thanks to a phone call from current Ford Performance Global Director Mark Rushbrook.

“Dan worked for me on Mustang and some other programs and always did a great job, so I was really sad when he left,” recalled Rushbrook. “I had stayed in touch and would see him at the track doing his own personal racing during those between years, so as soon as we had a vehicle dynamics position open up at the tech center I didn’t hesitate.”

When he’s not behind his computer screen or steering wheel trying to make race cars go fast, he’s doing things like going on a two-week excursion of the western United States with his wife, Becky, and daughter, Ava, visiting places like the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore and Arches National Park.

But with only so many hours in a day, one might wonder how he finds time to balance everything going on in his life.

“You make the time,” said Tiley, who also has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan thanks to the Ford Salaried Tuition Assistance Program (STAP). “That’s one thing about racers is there’s never enough time or money, but you find it. It’s a passion. People love doing it and you find ways to make it work. Hopefully, your family supports it. Mine certainly does, so it’s worth it.”