Dale Adams
Owner and Operator
Dale Adams has been involved in cars his entire life. For as far as he can remember he has always had a love and passion for finding out how things work and making them better. The defining moment for Dale was on his 10th birthday when his parents gave him an Oldsmobile V8 engine from a wrecking yard, to most 10 year olds that sounds like a terrible gift but to Dale it was a challenge. Dale stared that challenge in the face and stripped the engine down, built himself a stand and rebuilt the engine and got it running on a stand. When his father’s 49 Chevrolet was in need of a new engine Dale installed his Oldsmobile engine and his Dad used it as a daily driver to get to work and home for several years since Dale wasn’t old enough to drive.
Dale started working in an automotive shop at the age of 14 learning the basics of how things operated. He enrolled in SAIT and graduated as a licensed automotive service technician at the age of 20. During his first seven or eight years in the auto repair business he worked at a couple of the better shops in Calgary performing everything from tune-ups, oil changes to engine, transmission rebuilding on vehicles ranging from cars to heavy duty trucks. He then went to a local Chrysler dealership where he started as a technician and quickly rose up the ranks to service manager and eventually as a salesman.
Dale had the knack for selling, but that wasn’t where his true passion lied. In about 1975 he was approached by one of his former service customers while he was still in sales that had recently purchased a service station and was looking for someone to run the service bays. Dale was reluctant at first but the customer was determined and made an offer he couldn’t refuse. In 1977, Dale was given the opportunity to take over the business which was known as Willow Park Texaco. If that wasn’t enough excitement for Dale as he was running his service station he was also touring the Pacific Northwest racing his top alcohol dragster.
Dale stayed at the Willow Park Texaco until 1981 then he left the Texaco station and started another venture with the Macleod Trail Husky station. This ran until 1984 then Dale had enough dealing with the grind of operating the gas station part of the business, so he opened Dale Adams Dyno Tune and Brake on 46th Avenue. and Macleod Trail.
It wasn’t long after the 46th Avenue location became too small and Dale needed to relocate the business to a bigger building to accommodate his growing client base. In 1990 the move happened and the shop opened up off of 1A Street and 42nd Avenue again close to Macleod trail in an old body shop. The fit was good for a few years but it didn’t fit the need of Dale’s vision for the business so after a short stint in 1995 the business moved to its current location.
Dale has always been on the leading edge when it comes to his business. He was one of the first shops in western Canada to use a chassis dynamometer, which has adapted and changed with the business over the years and is still used today.
During his career running his small business as an independent automotive service centre and performance shop Dale had to follow his love for racing. From 1988-1998 he was involved in professional drag racing on the NHRA circuit. He worked on the pit-crews and eventually became a crew chief responsible for overseeing the entire operation. He worked with drivers like Terry Cap, Gordie Bonin, Gary Beck, Del Worsham, Rance McDaniel, Bob Vandergriff and was the first crew chief for multiple top fuel world champion Tony Schumacher as he started his racing career.
His vision is simple, Dale wants to continue his business legacy of providing quality service and performance and pass it on to the generations to come. Dale’s son started with the company at a young age and shares the same drive and passion as his dad and wants to see the company continue to grow. Dale is already prepping another generation as his current project is teaching his young grandson Jaxson to work with wrenches!