Ricky Ruiz has been fascinated with machines for most of his life. He started building and racing cars at the age of 15 and was setting records by the time he turned 21. During his racing career as the “Nevada Rattler” which continues to this day, he has won dozens of championships, including four Wallys, the NHRA’s most prestigious trophy.
Ricky and Richard Langson began building their relationship over the smell of gasoline fumes on the racetrack in 1977. Since then, they have spent countless hours experimenting with engines and fuel lines to build and race the fastest, most efficient cars possible. Ricky built and tuned the car (“The Texas Ranger”) that Richard used to beat 18-time world champion Don “Big Daddy” Garlits and win the IHRA World Championship in 1993. And in 2000, Ricky rebuilt Richard’s world-record setting car, which they campaigned, along with the “Nevada Rattler,” throughout the United States.
Ricky’s son, Ryan Ruiz started working on his father’s race car at the age of 8. Through this experience, he learned the importance of tuning the car to the specific conditions of the track and weather. When he joined manufacturer CommScope in 2000, he used the skills he developed on the race track, to work his way up to production manager very quickly. In that role, he was able to develop several systems that increased the company’s efficiency by 25%, and also to cut scrap from 4% to 2%.
In late 2001, Richard retired from racing to focus on his idea of creating energy out of waste heat, and it made perfect sense for him to ask Ricky and Ryan to join him in his new venture. They have worked alongside Richard since that time, building and fine-tuning his first invention, the ElectraTherm Green Machine, for which Richard received the Popular Science “Best of What’s New Award – Green Tech” as well as Wall Street Journal’s “Technology Innovation Award.”
Along with their business partner John Fleischmann, Ricky and Ryan formed Rattler Energy in 2008, naming it after the racing operation they have run for most of their lives, since that is where they learned the intricacies of motors and fuel efficiency. After spending decades running a “not so green” racecar, they now use their deep knowledge and understanding of machinery to help businesses improve their energy efficiency through technological green solutions.
When Richard left ElectraTherm in 2009 to form Langson Energy, Ricky and Ryan joined him and have since been instrumental in building and marketing Langson Energy’s new Total Flow Generator.
