.us - nascar interview - shane threatt - tire mechanic
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Shane Threatt - Tire Mechanic - Terry Labonte Kelloggs/Got Milk? #5 (2003)
 Shane certainly was a popular young man with the fans at Michigan International Speedway at their 2003 NASCAR event. Easily mistaken for a driver in his fancy fireproof suit this charming North Carolina Resident had a big smile and a moment to talk to anyone who happened to stop by. Not to mention an autograph or even to pose for a picture for the many young women doing on the pit that immediately caught onto the warm smile and friendly personality.
I think everyone at some time dreams of running off with the circus, and these days the biggest circus in North America is NASCAR. Yeah, it would be cool you think, traveling around with the team for the entire season. And it probably would be, some times it probably is, except that the team do more than just "go to the races".
The days of sleeping in the back of trucks for crew members is a thing of the past in the crews at the pointy end of the grid. Shane explained that he's only away from home for weekends as much work gets done between races in the North Carolina garages of Hendrick Motorsport in North Carolina just a few miles from Lowe's Motorspeedway in Concord/Charlotte (on Moorehead, a.k.a Pap Joe Henrick Boulevard. These shops, he added, coincidentally, were a fine motorsport fan destination in themselves as each of the teams in the Hendrick Motorsport complex had its own museum and offered tours of the shop. Many, many people did the tour while they were in Charlotte particularly during the Speedway's two speedweeks. While on the road the team flew to all races and stayed in Hotels, two per room, and that this was plenty comfortable. They were after all working and not on vacation.
The crew is also divided into two traveling teams. The "set up" guys who arrive at the tracks Thursday and prepare the cars and the garages, and the "late crew", who are the actual pit crew, of which Shane was a part. Being in the pit crew means that Shane doesn't have the oportunity to go out all that much at the various locations, although he does arrive Saturday and barring no problems with the car, and presuming the track is somewhere nearby something of interest there's often the opportunity to go out.
And where do these gear heads go when they have the chance? "The nearest night race we can find. Dirt tracks are fun and if they're local to the track we pack up when we're done and head straight out."
Spoken like a true racefan stuck in a dream job. I got the feeling, while talking to Shane that to survive in the pinacle of American Motorsport, it was mandatory, in fact it came with the territory, that you lived and breathed racing.
Interview Date: 081603
Interview Location Brooklyn, Michigan
Godspeed, Cvetko Ostroznik
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