Vacation

   I climbed in the back seat and stretched out. It was sometime around midnight and luckily the Harrys respected that I had a full day at the SPEED studio ahead of me. They offered to let me sleep for the rest of the trek back to Charlotte. Sidenote: This type of consideration from the Harrys is very rare... it's their job to be assholes. 

   As I sat there attempting to sleep I was replaying the days events. I had scooted off to do a one-off race with a KN East team in Columbus, Ohio. Meanwhile my life and work were pedaling away without me in Charlotte. I felt anxious to get home and  protect my spot in the normal world. Amongst the anxiousness, I couldn't deny how good it felt to be exhausted from a heavy 24 hour workload at the race track. It had been over a year since I felt this way and I loved it. Somehow I wanted to be in two places at once.

My irresponsible life as a mechanic with no real plan for the future, had somehow miraculously blossomed into a solid career in the sport I love. I spend every day monitoring all types of racing. I get the luxury of losing myself in the world of motorsports without ever touching one single bolt. I never break a sweat, my hands aren't callused and I get to live a fairly normal life. It's the dream job for a retired road mechanic like myself.  So I sat and wondered.. why did I take my rare vacation time to pile into a van full of Harrys to go bust my ass on a race car? I don't have to do that any more. Life is so much easier now. So why did I go?

Here is what I came up with..

It was 2009, I believe, and we had just finished a long, terrible Nationwide series race at Richmond Speedway. A select "lucky" few of us had been chosen to hop on a small plane and head to Toledo Speedway for a one day ARCA show the next morning. Our team owner referred to us as the "skeleton crew".. I assume this fun title was based on how amazingly chipper and alive we all looked after the race in Richmond.. real nice.. any who. As I sat in what felt like a shopping cart with wings I began to do the math in my head.. I'm shitty at math but I concluded that "this little bird should get us to Toledo in enough time to shower and head to the track. Neat." I was exhausted, we all were. We arrived, pounded some energy drinks and were off and running. It is never up to us as crew members to debate the bogus agendas that we are sometimes handed. Our job is to put our head down and get to work. The trip proved to be worth-while when our driver ran possibly the best short-track race of his career. After a long weekend such as this one.. you are left with a sense of self worth, pride and brother-hood. It's quite rewarding. 

   For me there has never been any other occupation that has given me that same sense of accomplishment. I believe I am good at my current job and I believe I play a big part on my team at SPEED.  However, I don't feel irreplaceable. I don't fool myself into believing that no one else can do what I do. I am very protective of my opportunities at the network and every day I am searching for that one niche' that will maybe make me a key element to the television magic that is made inside this building.

I can say, without a doubt.. on race day, after no sleep, in 100 degree weather, with a car owner screaming in my headset.. I believe no one else is capable of doing what I can do. In that moment, in that situation, I own a small part of this sport. And I believe that is why I found myself in a van heading to Ohio on my weekend off. Every mechanic on pit road pours their heart and life into this business because at some point they sat quietly on pit wall, exhaled the weekend and proudly smirked, knowing that their dedication is the only thing that can not be replaced.

JEGS 150 at Columbus, Ohio. The no.4 finished a respectful 6th. Recap video: