At a gearhead gathering over the weekend at the 32nd annual Summit Racing Goodguys car show at Texas Motor Speedway, Paul Gale stood proudly among five vehicles that bear his vision and fingerprints.

Among them was a 2023 Dodge Challenger that he blended with a 1970s Barracuda, which he is calling “The Chuda.” When unveiled, the AAR ‘Cuda was a showstopper. Even Mopar’s own representatives stopped by to marvel, snapping photos and declaring it “the best conversion they’d ever seen.”

This is clearly where Gale belongs.

For Gale, 60, the car show is more than just a gathering of horsepower and nostalgia. It’s symbolic of his resilience and the innovation on display in every build at Big Daddy Custom Cars, Hot Rods, and Hogs the shop he founded in Azle 2 ½ years ago.

The Fort Worth native is an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur, having spent two decades running MRE Construction, a national contracting firm that employs about 30 people.

Big Daddy was the result of his determination that he could do it better. That’s a diplomatic way of saying he got mad at the place he was taking his rebuilds. So, he opened his own shop.

“I expect people to be on the up and up,” Gale said. “We are a very open window and we’re very transparent. Someone else was doing me wrong, so I just started my own, and it’s taken off. We’ve been very blessed.”

Today, Big Daddy employs 16, he said.

At next year’s show, he plans to auction off a fully restored ’69 GTX. Proceeds will be donated to a relief fund benefiting flood victims in Central Texas. He also plans to give away another car through an essay contest as part of a social media promotion for the business.

“Send us the reasons why I should pick that person,” he said. “Why does that individual deserve a car? Just tell me their story.”

Those interested are encouraged to send submissions to [email protected].

Gale gave away a car earlier this year, too — a 1956 Buick Roadmaster.

“Yes, it is a business,” Gale said of Big Daddy. “But it’s also a hobby of love when you sit there and make other people’s dreams come true. It’s pretty neat.”

Philanthropy became part of the business model at Big Daddy after a series of life-threatening health episodes.

Gale got into general contracting because he was attracted to the potential for profit. The first job, he recalled, was eventful. “And I hate to say it this way, but I just faked it until I made it. I’m very particular and I’m all about customer service. I think that’s what’s wrong with businesses today. No one emphasizes customer service. And that’s all I emphasize.”

He has built both businesses on the ethos that, “No one takes care of your business better than you. I mean, I work seven days a week and my phone is on 24 hours a day.”

That kind of schedule is probably, at least partially, to blame for heart ailments that have put his life at risk.

“A lot of my employees on the construction side, they called me ‘Catman’ because I should have died several times over the last 10 years,” Gale said. “It really opened my eyes up to how short life is and how we should be trying to help our neighbor instead of just ignoring our neighbor.”

It began with a perilous night. Gale had a major heart attack, and several episodes followed through the course of the night. Stents and complications followed. He puts the number of heart attacks he has had at 12.

Two years ago, he had a triple-bypass procedure. More recently, he appeared on the path to a heart transplant until a lymphoma diagnosis took him right off the list.

Doctors have prescribed a watch-and-wait approach rather than attacking the slow-growing cancer with treatment.

“They said if you’re going to have cancer, that’s the cancer you want,” he said.

He is still working late into the night, despite his family’s pleas for him to slow down. The businesses — his passions — give him reason to move forward.

“My wife keeps saying, dying isn’t an option,” Gale said. “We have three kids at home — 15, 14, and 12 — I’ve got to make sure I’m around.”

This is clearly where Paul Gale belongs.