Gary Nelson started out sweeping floors for Ivan Baldwin in San Bernardino, California during the 1960's and hasn't stopped working hard since.

Moving east in the 1970's, Nelson went to work for DiGard Racing and driver Darrell Waltrip as the crew chief for the powerhouse team of the day. When DiGard changed drivers the team retained Nelson to call the shots for Bobby Allison. Ironically, they would win the 1983 NASCAR Championship by forty-seven points over rival Darrell Waltrip.

Nelson would go on to win many races with different drivers, including Geoff Bodine and Kyle Petty. Nelson and driver Greg Sacks are responsible for one of the biggest upsets in NASCAR when they won the Pepsi 400 at  Daytona in 1985 with a research and development car built at the DiGard race shop.

Serving as a race commentator for ESPN before NASCAR offered him a job in the 1990's, Nelson is a proven innovator in the high tech world of auto racing. His contributions to motorsports are many and will be long remembered.