Our team

With more than 100 years of combined experience in both automotive and technology, the leadership team at TraXtion can truly be considered one of the best in the industry.

Executive Leadership

Roger Tracy, President & CEO

Roger Tracy is one of the pioneers in laser measurement technology. With a career that spans more than 40 years, Roger has been at the forefront of many technology advancements in this field. Roger started his engineering career working for Chrysler Corporation in Europe. From there, he moved to International Harvester, where he held a number of senior management positions and, ultimately, ended up responsible for their $120 million manufacturing operation in France. In 1990, Roger became President of Pandrol International in London. It was here that Roger was exposed to the railway industry that would ultimately lead him to start TraXtion. After leaving Pandrol, Roger embarked on his first entrepreneurial endeavor when he founded ImageMap Inc., which set out to develop a high-tech system using lasers to measure railcar wheels and track. The goal was to reduce cost through technology to assist a process that was labor intensive and ultimately produce better results at a lower cost. Roger and his team of engineers developed a system using lasers, complex mathematics and computer software, saving the industry millions of dollars. After establishing ImageMap as a market leader in North America, Europe and China, Roger sold the company to one of his competitors in Italy. Having established himself as a pioneer and expert in laser measurement technology Roger was approached by Formula 1 racing to develop a tool using lasers to measure tire wear patterns on a Formula 1 race cars. It was this development that lead Roger to form TraXtion. and leverage the railway and racing technology to develop a system to measure passenger vehicle tire and alignment wear.

Dan Beres, COO

Dan Beres is a seasoned Automotive Industry Professional with over 25 years of industry experience.  In the beginning of his career, Dan gained sales experience in radio and television advertising as well as media planning for automotive advertising agencies in Chicago and Los Angeles.  At age 29, Dan served as the National Sales Director for emerging Seattle, Washington, based start-up company Who’sCalling, Inc.  He was responsible for hiring, development and training of a sales force of over 75 people starting from the ground up which led to over $60 million in sales annually.  Dan was also Director of Sales for DME Automotive, a subsidiary of JM Family Enterprises based in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Dan spent seven years as a managing partner of MyCustomerData.  He worked directly with Mercedes-Benz USA, BMW of North America, MINI, and Volvo Cars of North America.  MyCustomerData was named to INC 500/5000’s 2011 fastest growing company list and won the prestigious ECHO Award from the Direct Marketing Association in 2011.  Dan has developed and nurtured corporate relationships with OEMs and Auto Groups such as BMW, MINI, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles), Autonation, Sonic, Penske, Asbury, and Berkshire Hathaway.

Dan was also a Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer of Recall Masters, Inc.  Recall Masters is the leading provider of automotive recall information, services, and vehicle owner communications dedicated to helping automakers and their dealers expedite the repair of recalled vehicles and make the roadways safer for everyone.

 

Brad Kokesh, Chief Revenue Officer

Brad is a highly-respected and accomplished leader, motivator & speaker in the automotive industry, with over 27 years of experience within dealership retail & SaaS. His career in automotive began with senior leadership roles at high-profile dealerships across the Midwest. In 2006, he joined Dealertrack, with less than 400 employees at the time, quickly becoming an award-winning executive, driving sales teams and assisting in over 20 acquisitions and divestitures throughout 10+ years. After growing to almost 5,000 employees, Cox Automotive acquired Dealertrack in 2016 for $4B and Brad was named VP of Sales for Dealertrack/Cox DMS, a groundbreaking disrupter to the dealership management software industry. 

After 2 years of with Cox, he joined the executive team at DealerSocket, a Vista Private Equity portfolio company, to build out the company-wide sales, operations and enablement divisions and become General Manager, owning the full P&L leadership for Inventory Plus/AAX, a leading, cutting-edge vehicle inventory management tool utilizing machine learning, algorithms and sophisticated analytics. When DealerSocket and Solera Holdings merged in 2021, Brad moved on to became CEO/Founder of
415 Consulting, an automotive consulting firm, assisting dealers and SaaS companies in negotiation, contract and acquisition/divestiture services. Most recently, prior to joining TraXtion, Brad was with Shift Technologies as General Manager and Head of Strategic Partnerships for their eCommerce and online vehicle marketplace, and Chief Revenue Officer at Gratis Solutions, a fixed-operations technology company.


Backiaraj Irudayaraj (Iru)

As Chief Product Officer (CPO) at TraXtion, Iru is responsible for all aspects of product strategy and execution. His role encompasses a broad spectrum of responsibilities, including product management, technology, engineering, manufacturing assembly line operations, security and cloud hosting. A technology visionary with more than 25 years of experience, he has spear-headed innovation and leading technology platforms to drive transformative initiatives. He has a distinguished career marked by executive leadership roles in supply chain, transportation, warehousing, retail, automotive and other industries.   Iru also has experience with capital raise-up, having secured more than $50 million in funding for early-stage startups and Series-C companies.

Having orchestrated more than 10 strategic M&A deals, his commitment to security and compliance is framed by more than 10 SOC-2, GDPR and penetration testing security audits.   He has served in similar roles with industry giants such as HCL, HP, i2 Technology, JDA Software and Toyota and has contributed to the success of three burgeoning startups. Iru is a technology patent-holder, Advisory Board Member for University of California, Santa Barbara PaCE, affiliated with Harvard Business School’s Executive Program and Project Management Professional (PMP) certified.  His educational journey includes a solid foundation in Computer Science and Engineering, with both a B.Tech and M.Tech degree. He has further fortified his skills and knowledge by earning an MBA.


Stefanie Kendall, VP of Finance

Stefanie Kendall has more than 15 years of experience in accounting professional services across a broad range of areas including compliance, business processes, audit, financial reporting, and tax preparations. Stefanie leads our billing department for our customers as the Corporate Controller. Stefanie has overall responsibility for the controllership and financial reporting activities for TraXtion. She is responsible for the delivery of services such as accounting, billing, reporting, and budgeting. Stefanie and her team ensure that all the billing done for our customers is accurate and precise. Stefanie has her bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of North Texas. She has been with TraXtion since 2018.

Sales Leadership

Mike Gottschalk, VP National Accounts

Mike has over 40 years of Automotive Experience as a Specialty Vehicle Upfitter for GM, Ford and Dodge, Franchised Automotive Dealer and Executive Vice President for the largest Automotive Marketing Agency in the U.S. with revenue of $350M. His expertise for delivering a great customer experience and consistent results working with OEM’s, Tier II and Tier III Service and Sales Programs on Local and National Levels.

Scott Rea, Executive VP Dealers Sales

Scott Rea began in the automotive world in 1987 at Newgen Services and has continued to focus on Fixed Operations solutions that help drive results in the dealership world. Currently focuses on helping dealers increase Alignment and Tire sales with the TreadSpec and Groove Glove programs at TraXtion.