When he arrived at January’s National Automobile Dealers Association Show in New Orleans, Louisiana, Ray Farabaugh knew he was one of 49 nominees for the 2025 TIME Dealer of the Year, one of the industry’s most coveted honors.
But Farabaugh, who is co-president of Evansville-based D-Patrick Inc. dealership company, had no idea he was among five finalists for the award. And he certainly didn’t know until he was on stage with those other finalists that he would bring it home.
“They say a little bit about you and then they say, there’s five great people up here, envelope, please,” Farabaugh recalls. “… So, it was really a surprise. And then they bring your family up and they take a bunch of pictures.”
Being nominated for TIME Dealer of the Year is an honor by itself, as more than 16,000 franchised dealers across the U.S. are considered. To winnow the 49 nominees to five, and then pick the winner, a panel from the Tauber Institute for Global Operations at the University of Michigan reaches out to automobile manufacturers, financial institutions, and others who know the award candidates well.
Another criterion is community impact, and Farabaugh says he’s proud of what D-Patrick has accomplished on that front during his 36 years with the company. In total, he says D-Patrick has contributed more than $4 million to local organizations and causes over that timeframe.
D-Patrick can make those donations because of the quality of its team, Farabaugh explains.
“We always have been involved, and we really encourage our employees to be involved,” says Farabaugh, who since 1998 has been co-president of D-Patrick alongside his brother-in-law, Mike O’Daniel. “Our employees also do such a great job with our customers, and because they do a great job, customers come back and they buy again. We can build our company and make it stronger, and then we have the resources to be able to contribute to the community.”
As this year’s award winner, Farabaugh can direct a $10,000 donation from Ally Financial to the charity of his choice.
Farabaugh views the 2025 TIME Dealer of the Year honor as a symbol of all that work.
“Somebody has to accept the award, but it’s really an award for all of the things D-Patrick and the people who represent D-Patrick do for our community,” he says. “The other thing I think is important is we’re big on hiring local and promoting local. Many of our managers and leaders in our company started at entry-level positions and worked their way up over the years. We spend lots of money in education and training and all the kinds of things that get people better at what they do.”
More than 40 percent of D-Patrick’s team has been with the company for at least 10 years, making them members of the Decade Club. In total, D-Patrick has a workforce of just over 500.
The O’Daniel family’s dealership history stretches back to 1934, when Joseph O’Daniel opened O’Daniel-Ranes Oldsmobile in Evansville. His son D. Patrick established his eponymous dealership in 1971. Farabaugh is D. Patrick’s son-in-law.
The company has Ford, Lincoln, Nissan, Honda, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Porsche, and Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Evansville; Ford dealerships in Boonville and Lebanon, Indiana; and used car dealerships in Evansville and Crawfordsville, Indiana. It operates three body shops in Evansville and one shop in Lebanon.
The TIME Dealer of the Year award is presented by TIME as well as Ally Financial. In addition to D-Patrick’s community impact, the companies also cited Farabaugh’s support of the Automobile Dealers Association of Indiana, where he has served as president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer, and currently is on the board of directors.
“The TIME Dealer of the Year award celebrates the country’s top dealers who understand that their businesses thrive when they give back and help their communities grow, and Raymond truly embodies those qualities that make this award so special,” Doug Timmerman, Ally’s President of Dealer Financial Services, said in a statement.
The other four 2025 TIME Dealer of the Year finalists hailed from Madison, Wisconsin; Pittsfield, Massachusetts; Jerome, Idaho; and Huntsville, Alabama.