June 7th, 2010 
T.C. At some point or another in his racing career, a crew guy or driver has had this exchange with some friends or family:
“Hey, we are going to have some friends over on Sunday for a BBQ. You want to stop by?”
“Yeah, I’d love too, but I’ll be at (insert your favorite race track here) for the race.”
One thing you automatically know when you start a career in racing, is that a good deal of your free time and your weekends go out the window. From February through November, it’s pretty much a certainty that if some of my friends or family have something happening on a weekend, I probably won’t be there. Weddings, BBQs, sporting events, and the like always happen on Saturdays and Sundays, and unfortunately, the job just doesn’t allow us to take days off.
Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not complaining. I knew before I signed on the dotted line what I was getting myself into. Being involved in racing means being 100% dedicated to the schedule and the demands. If I’m not all in, there are 100 guys waiting in line behind me who will be.
What’s interesting though, and kind of sucks, is while the road guys and weekend crews work Saturdays and Sundays and put in a ton of hours during the week, we aren’t the ones who really suffer.
Those who need to get credit for the sacrifices, and rarely do, are the families of guys like me in racing. It’s the wives, girlfriends, parents, and kids who usually bear the brunt of the difficulty of us being gone on the weekends. While average Joes’ families get two weeks vacation and are enjoying plenty of free time on the weekends, we are busy putting on the show that is NASCAR. It’s through the support of our family and friends that we are able to do what we love.
The summer months are now upon us, and this part of the season can often seem like a grind. There will be quite a bit of travel, including a West Coast stop, and hot days at the track always seem to wear guys down a little bit more. While the guys are busting their butts to get through it, I just want the families to know that we really do appreciate the support. Without it, we would all be lost.
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Amen!
We vintage race, and while our schedule is nowhere near as demanding as yours, if I didn’t have my wife’s support, I couldn’t do it.
As a crew person, do you work at all during the off season? If so, what kinds of things do you do. Do you get a ton of free time during the off season?