Nascar truck driver

USA Today has no idea what they are talking about.

The pay depends on how big of a team you work for. Say you work for Hendricks......yea over 100k per year.
The smaller the team the lower the pay is a general rule.

In the 7 years i pulled race cars i never met a driver who worked on the pit crew.
A few would help unload and load the trailer but the team does 99% of that work.

 

Many years of driving experience and a clean record.Also clean cut and good at talking to the public.
That is a starting point.

 

I drove for a man that ended up sponsoring a Nascar and bought a rig to haul it for them. I never worked on anything but getting point to point and Blue Beacon washed the rig and trailer before we went into the pits, it was mandatory I was sparkling clean and polished.

Once parked I was out making sure the rig shined and planning my next leg, stayed in the hotel if we were over 24 hours but the truck was set up to live on board. I never touched anything in the trailer but had to inspect everything prior to departure to make sure no rattles were on board.

High speed, low drag driving as if it were driving any of his other trucks. Made great money and always well fed, first class operation but can burn you out if you fool around with the pit bunnys or get your head on sideways.

 

I drove one of the haulers for a Honda Supercross (motorcycle) team in the early '90's, only because I knew the owner of the company sponsoring them. I was the driver, cook, cleaner, laundry guy, and slept during races so I was ready to drive. Yes the haulers are cool but it ain't what you think.
It is all about who you know. I know a couple of drivers on the Nationwide side that started working in the race shop and had nothing to do with driving but let everyone know that they had a CDL and experience if they needed the help. They would help out on the long runs out west to begin with and then networked with all the other drivers so when something came up they were there. You won't get one of these jobs just by writing to the teams, you have to be there.

 

Hmmmm sucks u cant get in the races free and hang out w/ the nascar drivers.

 

Depends on who you drive for, I did get to meet and be around NASCAR drivers but rule was do not bug them or ask for autographs, etc.

 

A buddy of mine is one for a big team and let me tell u how he started. He knew no one in the business and moved to NC with a pu trk and a camper trailer. He then got a job cleaning up the shop and he did this as a volunteer during the day and worked a real 3rd shift factory job. The finally they had an opening and boom he was an employee after 4months. Then he worked his way up the ladder to a driving position and let me say yes the schedule is crazy u will not go home or see your family very much. Most drivers cry about being out 3wks try being out 48wks with a little home time.

 

Owner of the truck would fly me back sometimes if we were out for a while and had some lag between races, he was good to me and always had to work for it but hey that's the job. One thing about us we were always moving and grooving, ate well and never was pushed to be reckless or run to where it would be dangerous. Truck would run like my hair was on fire but a ticket would not be good and could have landed me without a job.

 

There's an Old ad on craigslist in las vegas that is looking for a NASCAR truck driver they want a super clean driving record though