As race team employees, we’ve all seen them. You’ll be driving through Lakeside Business Park, down Highway 3, or out Derita Road and you get behind the Ford pickup with Texas tags that has a Dale Jr. sticker in one corner of the back window, and a Tony Stewart sticker in the other; and they’re doing 17mph. They are the race fans that make the pilgrimage-like trip to Charlotte, the Mecca of the sport, for one reason: to visit race shops. For those that don’t get the opportunity to come see some shops, I thought I’d try and paint a little picture of just what exactly you’ll find inside.
Today’s NASCAR race shops have evolved from basic garages into multi-million dollar facilities with shop space, business offices, employee locker rooms, gyms, theaters, and more. The size and capabilities of a race shop will vary drastically depending on the team occupying them, and the series they compete in.
The commonly viewed area of a race shop is the main floor where assembly and car setup happens. You’ll often find racecars in various stages, from rolling chassis to complete cars. There, teams do all the prep work to get cars ready for upcoming races. These areas will also be used to tear down cars from previous weekends and get them ready for any sort of repairs and future setups.
No matter the team, most shops will have a fabrication area. Some have full blown chassis building and body hanging areas, but every team will at least have a finish fab area for installing interiors, minor repairs, crush panel installation, and other fabrication work.
Off of main shop areas you’ll find smaller rooms where crew members are hard at work assembling transmissions, rear ends, dynoing shocks, rating springs, and in some cases building engines.
To get their cars to look good, teams will have a body and paint area as well. Here, cars are prepped by the body guys and readied for fresh coats of bright sponsor colors. You’ll find guys applying body fillers, spraying primer, and sanding away like mad men.
All shops have at least a small office area, if not a very large one. Some smaller shops like those you’ll find near the Mooresville Dragway out Highway 152 will have office space that pales in comparison to the large complexes you’ll find at Penske Racing, Roush Fenway Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and Joe Gibbs Racing. All business functions for a team are carried out here including marketing and PR, accounting, human resources, and travel. Also, the crew chiefs and engineers will have office space to use while they are in the shop during the week.
Race shops for some of the larger, more highly funded teams will also house extra goodies like chassis dynos for testing and tuning engines, and pull down rigs for testing suspensions.
To accommodate race fans, many of the larger Sprint Cup organizations have racing museums on their properties as well, such as Roush Fenway, Hendrick, and RCR.
If you do get the chance to visit Charlotte, I would definitely recommend making the rounds and visiting the shops. It hasn’t been all that long ago that I was the wide-eyed race fan doing the same. Seeing the shops gives you a chance to see the inner workings of a team, maybe ask a question or two, and possibly even meet a driver.
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on Aug 29th, 2008 at 4:17 am
I think Michael Waltrip Racing has the best garage tour. It is the only garage that charges admission but it is worth the price. I learned more about NASCAR there then at Gibbs, Hendricks,Penske & JR Motorsports-combined.
on Aug 29th, 2008 at 7:05 am
My family has made the trip twice. The last being several weeks ago. It is an interesting experience visiting the shops. The people are wonderful and will take the time to chat with you. It is fascinating to see the difference between the “have and have not” teams. If you are looking for a quiet and relaxing visit I suggest that you do it BEFORE the hall of fame opens. I have a feeling that a lot of the informal environment will give way to commercialism and crowds. BTW you have to visit Lancaster’s BBQ in Mooresville. It’s a religious experience.
on Aug 29th, 2008 at 8:32 am
Hailing from the Northeast never gave one the opportunity to experince NASCAR. I have followed the sport since the mid sixties. However,there were only limited broadcasts of the races,and they were stale at best. The 1979 Daytona 500 was the first flag to flag coverage seen up here.
In 1990 my parents decided to retire to Tennessee 1000 miles away. in 1991 I made my first trek down there and to my amazement my route would cover a race shop and a short track. all off I-81. Although closed for the weekend my first stop was Abingdon,Va to Morgan-Mclure Motorsports. It was like reaching Mecca. Back then they were a top 5 team. After taking it all in we drove south and found ourselves in Bristol,TN.
We found the track,it too was closed. However,that did not matter,I SAW BRISTOL!!
After arriving at my parents My father and I went to a local dirt track called “411 Speedway” I believe,and lo and behold Harry Gant was on hand signing autographs,HARRY GANT!! There were Ten people in his line like it was a normal occurrence.
I know maybe this was a little off topic,but it comes from a different perspective about race shops and the whole experience T.C. was mentioning in His Blog.