RACING JOBS
The NASCAR universe extends well beyond the participants fans see at the track on race day. There are thousands of hard-working men and women behind the scenes who make NASCAR the greatest show on four wheels. Here are some of their stories:
A MAN OF MANY TALENTS
CORRIHER HELPS KEEP TEAM PENSKE SHOP IN PERFECT SHAPE
BY BEN WHITE
A
Scott Corriher SPECIAL PROJECT & FACILITIES COORDINATOR TEAM PENSKE
12
POLE POSITION 2022
s a member of the facilities and spe-
cial projects department at Team Penske, Scott Corriher arrives at work each morning knowing nothing about his day will be routine. His workspace measures 430,000 square feet and his workday usually includes a wide variety of construction or maintenance jobs, some of which may include supervising subcontractors. Working with his hands was a large part of Corriher’s formative years. He grew up on a farm where he gained experience with a variety of pieces of equipment as well as with his grandfather’s sawmill. As a teenager, Corriher loved cars and following NASCAR, especially since he is a native of the Charlotte area. “We followed NASCAR as a family but everyone around Charlotte did, as they do now,” Corriher said. “Charlotte has always been the hub of NASCAR with so many race teams based around the area.” Corriher served in the United States Marine Corps from 1983 through 1987, working with avionics while based on Whidbey Island north of Seattle, Washington. His was a very important job upon which flight crews
heavily relied. One wrong signal could spell problems for pilots. “My job in the Marines was to make sure the radar systems were in top working order,” Corriher explained. “We would repair and maintain them and test them. We serviced flight line component issues when they came up.” The jack-of-all-trades eventually discovered another passion that was close to home. Corriher has built race engines alongside some of the best in NASCAR, including Keith Dorton and Larry Wallace, and he has built them himself for drivers Jeremy Mayfield and Rusty Wallace at Team Penske. When engines were no longer being built in-house, Corriher moved to Team Penske’s facilities and special projects department in 2017. Now, his days are filled with a variety of projects that often keep the mental wheels turning as every day brings a new challenge. “When it comes to what we do at Team Penske, we know what’s on the list but a lot of times, we get halfway through our day and new things come up that we weren’t planning on,” Corriher said. “That’s Ok. That’s what we do. There’s always something new and different going on.”
