In professional NASCAR motorsports, this past off-season was one of upheaval. Some teams in the sanctioning body’s top three series merged in order to stay in business. Other teams lost sponsorship, could not find a replacement, and shut down. Still some had to reduce their operating budgets by cutting overhead. In all instances many racing industry employees lost their jobs.

Team members with a wide range of skills were forced to find work within the racing industry in any capacity. Many took their ambition and work ethic to a job outside of the racing world. Mechanics, fabricators, and department specialists that once plied their trade with healthy, well-known racing organizations are now doing what is being discussed regularly in regards to our nation’s businesses.

Trying to survive.

North Carolina resident Casey Clark puts all of his effort into a NASCAR Sprint Cup program. Gunselman Motorsports employs him. Not a household name or powerhouse like Hendrick or Gibbs, but one of the teams that has tried to take the tough economic times and turn it into an opportunity.

Team owner Larry Gunselman, a West Coast native, has been a journeyman driver making starts in all three of NASCAR’s top tours. With a business relationship formed between himself, Todd, and Geoff Bodine, the Toyota powered team has been following this season’s Sprint Cup Series.

Clark’s own story begins with his years at Colorado National Speedway. “Me, my brother Travis, and my Dad raced. Me, my brother and a friend of his all built a car together in high school to race and Dad got involved later on. He wound up buying the car. We raced twelve years. We had a super stock we raced for eight years and a late model we raced for four. I have never sat in the stands of a Saturday night race. I’ve always been there (working).

“We raced select races on the Southwest Tour” describing NASCAR’s now dissolved former late model series. “And we were beating (David) Gilliland, (Augie) Vidovich, (Burney) Lamaar. Paul Menard would show up too.

The younger Ford fan admitted, “I liked Alan Kulwicki. Then I liked Davey Allison. Then I didn’t like anybody anymore.” In reference to a four month period in 1993 where both racing stars died in separate aircraft accidents.

“I just decided at some point ‘let’s try to do this full time.’ Sold our house, closed down our (construction) business and moved (to the Charlotte area),” said the man who grew up in Aurora and Evergreen Colorado.

Casey’s first professional NASCAR tour of duty was in 2000 with Rick Ware Racing. RWR currently fields Nationwide Series entries for several drivers including Kerry Earnhardt. His list of teams he has worked with includes Brett Bodine, Randy MacDonald, BAM, A.J. Foyt Racing, Roush Racing, Red Bull Racing and DEI. Several of his early jobs were in lower budgeted shops. “I was working twelve, thirteen hours a day.”

“I was at Roush for four years. I ran the exhaust department for all the Cup cars.” Mark Martin, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, and Matt Kenseth all benefited from his work.

There is an old racing expression that nobody remembers who finishes second. But there are some races when people remember who finishes eighteenth. Casey was working on the DEI entry for Regan Smith last year during the infamous fall Talladega race. “In racing on the last lap anything can go. If you need to move someone out of the way go ahead. Brad Keselowski just did it.”

Smith passed Tony Stewart on the final lap of the race to actually cross the finish line first. Smith was then penalized to the final car on the lead lap for violating NASCAR’s rule stating you cannot go below the yellow line on the track’s apron and improve your position. There were many debates as to whether Stewart forced Smith down or not. Clark felt at the time, “he (Smith) deserved to win. I figured we were screwed because we dropped below the yellow line. But they’d (NASCAR) rather have Tony (Stewart) win.”

The son of a pilot and his mostly stay at home Mom has had an employment parallel with crew chief Doug Richert. Richert was also with Roush, Red Bull, DEI, and now Gunselman. “I like Larry and I like Doug,” speaking of his current car owner and crew chief. After last year, “Doug called and wanted to know if I was doing anything.” Which brought him to the Gunselman team.

What was Gunselman Motorsports’ approach to the recent Sprint Showdown? “We’ll use it as a qualifying test for the 600.”

“They want to race but can only afford to start and park right now,” Casey elaborated. “We tried to race Vegas. We had a sponsor for it. We were going to try to race Bristol. We qualified fourteenth. We were practicing sixth all day long. Had a fast car and got taken out. We could have had a good day there. But you look at all the start and parks, it’s us, the 66 (Dave Blaney), 87 (Joe Nemechek), 41 (J.J.Yelley at Lowe’s), there is quite a few of them. The 36 (Scott Riggs) is now starting and parking.”

Gunselman currently has three former Red Bull cars and three former Bill Davis cars in its stable. Renting space from Rensi-Hamilton Racing, a Nationwide Series team with driver Eric McClure, is challenging. “We were working like crazy and they (Rensi-Hamilton) would have to send a guy back (late at night) to lock up the shop. There are guys out there that will pay to work on these cars.”

On the race team the Kannapolis resident does, “…everything. But I am more of a mechanic than anything. Fabricator. Road mechanic.”

Casey and his wife Theresa have three children, Brad 14, Cale 8, and Kaely 4. When he has the opportunity he likes to, “relax with my family. I don’t really watch a lot of TV. I get home and we (family) will watch a movie or me and the kids will play a video game. If I watch TV it’s usually the news. We fish a lot. My daughter likes to fish. We have a boat and will go out on the Lake. I haven’t been able to go out on it lately.”

Referring to his busy race and travel schedule: “It’s been rough. With other teams you get time off. You get two days off a week. We just haven’t had that.” He gave a short answer when asked if he was working seven days a week, “Pretty much.”

But some race work days end earlier than other fully funded operations. “We were here (Mooresville) right when the race ended,” the thirty-one year old said about driving home before the spring Martinsville event’s conclusion. “We did have a bad motor there.”

Casey Clark finishes his lunch break chat with me emphasizing how involved he is with his family and racing. “I don’t follow much. I don’t follow football, baseball, hockey. I like the Broncos, but you could ask me about them, I don’t have a clue.”

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