Andy Papathanassiou

After Andy Papathanassiou earned an undergraduate degree in Economics and a master's degree in Organizational Behavior from Stanford University, he sought to explore various industries to start a career. Though he didn't know much about it, NASCAR racing was on the list. He always had an interest in racing and believed his degree in organizational behavior combined with his athleticism could benefit the sport.

He aggressively sought out and worked as a garage hand for over a year as a member of several NASCAR crews. In 1992 he was offered a job with Hendrick Motorsports as the first ever pit crew coach. The job was with the newly formed DuPont race team, driven by Jeff Gordon. Papathanassiou immediately put Gordon's pit crew to work beginning with rigorous workouts and training designed to build power and teamwork in the pits. Over the years the paradigm shift pioneered by Papathanassiou became the standard in racing and revolutionized the way pit crews operate.

His perseverance and belief in the team concept helped Hendrick Motorsports teams win ten NASCAR Sprint Cup Championships. Today, Papathanassiou continues as the Director of Human Performance for Hendrick Motorsports. From 2000 to 2005, he became the company's Personnel Director where he worked with contracts, bonus programs, HR, safety & compliance, employee and driver development. Hendrick Motorsports has 550 employees with groups as varied as pilots, mechanics, engineers, business and administrative staffs.

Papathanassiou uses his life long competitive experiences to deliver engaging events and keynotes centering around going, "Over The Wall™," a philosophy he developed which brings the athletic mindset to any group or team