Wells founded PPI during 1979 in Westminster, Calif. At the time,
Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. needed to promote their tough, reliable technology driven line of trucks through participation in Off-Road Championships, the Score Desert Series, including the
Baja 500 and
Baja 1000, and the
Mickey Thompson Off-Road Championship Grand Prix (MTEG Stadium Series). Wells had already been successful in winning Off-Road races in the U.S. and Mexico and Toyota selected him to personally lead their foray into truck racing in the American market. With Off-Road legend
Ivan "Ironman" Stewart, internationally successful brothers Steve and Rod Millen and Off Road,
IndyCar and NASCAR winner
Robby Gordon, PPI and Toyota won 88 races, 11 manufacturer championships including three Baja 1000s, 11 Baja 500s and five mint 400s. As Toyota's interests peaked to enter the esteemed Indy Car/CART World Series in the mid-90s, they looked to Wells and his PPI team to support their entrance into America's premier open wheel series. As a new manufacturer to the division, Toyota had to meet requirements and align with an existing CART franchised team before adding teams outside existing CART ownership. PPI helped overcome these challenges by leading to the acquisition of franchise rights through the formation of Arcerio/Wells Racing, a PPI-owned company. Wells organization led Toyota's efforts, along with Dan Gurney's All-American Racers towards establishing a competitive effort in Indy Car. In 1996, Wells helped established an engineering and supplier relationship with race car manufacturer
Reynard. This relationship required creating a group solely responsible for the decision/adaptation of Toyota Power to a reasonably priced Reynard chassis. Wells led an international effort with Toyota Japan and Toyota U.S.A. to identify and recommend Reynard as the preferred partner and then establish a working team of over 100 members to support start up. Well's partnered and supported Toyota's evolution as an Indy Car engine supplier through six of seven complete engine designs, leading to their first pole position in 1999 and second win in 2000 under the PPI Motorsports' banner. These successes provided the foundation for TRD's expansion, management development and first open wheel championship under the ownership of Newman-Hass Racing and driven by PPI recruited and developed driver
Cristiano da Matta. During 1997, Toyota needed to provide a platform for the development of drivers in future CART/Indy Car participation. PPI led efforts to recruit an Atlantic Team Management crew and funding for the driver development program, which resulted in a Toyota Atlantic Championship in 1999 followed by Rookie-of-the-Year honors in 2000. The fundamental philosophies of the program ultimately provided an opportunity for many great drivers including Indy 500 and championship winner Dan Wheldon. That same year, PPI began competing in the NSCS season with a different manufacturer and with support of a new sponsor in
McDonald's. With a prominent sponsor like McDonald's on board, Wells soon attracted
Procter and Gamble as they sponsored his car with their
Tide brand. With less than two full seasons of NASCAR competition, Tide Racing scored the car owner his first NASCAR Cup win when Ricky Craven went to victory lane on October 15, 2001, at
Martinsville Speedway. Next season, the team improved its final standings in the NASCAR Cup Series' owner points to 15th. Wells' second win as a NASCAR team owner occurred March 16, 2003, at
Darlington Raceway. Craven won the
Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 by inches in a spectacular side-by-side finish with
Kurt Busch. The margin of victory (.002 seconds) was recognizably one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history. == Post-PPI ==