Ryan McGuinness puts risk management in the driver’s seat at VCU
NASCAR’s VP of risk management gives VCU Business students an inside look at safety, strategy during the Risk Manager on Campus event.
By Megan Nash
When the green flag drops, fans cheer. For Ryan McGuinness, it’s go-time for everything else.
As vice president of risk management for NASCAR, McGuinness is the one making sure things don’t go sideways. And if they do, someone’s already mapped out a way through. “We rely heavily on contractual risk transfer and don’t do anything without an agreement in front of us,” he told students during a recent visit to the VCU School of Business. “If an incident happens, we’ve got a plan to deal with it.”
McGuinness spent two days on campus as part of the Spencer Educational Foundation’s Risk Manager on Campus program, hosted by the VCU Risk Management and Insurance Program. He visited classes, fielded questions and led a trackside tour of Richmond Raceway — a 1,100-acre venue with 51,000 seats, 900 campsites and a $167 million estimated annual economic footprint.
For senior finance major Kyle Tye, the experience hit different. “We always talk about transferable skills,” said Tye, who serves as president of Gamma Iota Sigma, a professional fraternity for risk and insurance students. “But this showed me what that really looks like. From top to bottom, everybody in the employee chain focuses on safety. It’s something they consider at all points.”
And there’s a lot to consider. NASCAR owns 15 track facilities nationwide and hosts more than 1,000 events each year. In 2025, it’s taking the show international with a race in Mexico City. That means planning for more than just weather or rowdy fans — McGuinness’ team weighs earthquake risk, civil unrest and cross-border logistics. “You name it, we plan for it,” he said.
What impressed students most wasn’t the scale — it was the process. McGuinness didn’t come from motorsports. He studied psychology at Muhlenberg College, earned a master’s in education from Pennsylvania State University and worked in corporate risk roles at Hershey and Rite Aid. NASCAR wasn’t on his radar. But risk, he said, always comes down to fundamentals.
“In broad strokes, it’s the same process,” he said. “You’ll always have a foundation.”
At Richmond Raceway, that foundation comes into focus. The track hosts 175 nonracing events a year — concerts, expos, even craft shows — but race weekends are different. “Some of these tracks operate like small towns,” McGuinness said. “Fire, EMS, medical support — it all has to be on standby. And on race day, it’s all hands on deck.”
His team manages nearly $10 million in gross written premium in insurance policies and relies on a streamlined communication system: one channel, one message. “You don’t have to repeat it a number of times,” he said. “It’s clear communication.”
But the human element is what sticks with him. “It’s the people that support the track,” McGuinness said. “Candidly, first responders who are at the top of their game. It makes me proud.”
That perspective stayed with students like Tye, who has now attended two Risk Manager on Campus events. Last year’s featured an expert in zoo and wildlife risk. NASCAR, he said, offered a different, but equally compelling, angle.
“If you didn’t come this year and didn’t hear their stories… you’re never going to hear it,” he said. “The person next year will be good, but it’ll be different.”
McGuinness understands the weight of those stories. “The best loss is no loss,” he said. “And if we’ve done our job right, everyone gets to go home.”
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