7 minute read
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
Scott Corriher
SPECIAL PROJECT & FACILITIES COORDINATOR TEAM PENSKE A s a member of the facilities and special 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.”
LEADING THE BOW-TIE PR EFFORT
DANA HASELHUHN FINDS HER DREAM JOB
BY BEN WHITE
Dana Haselhuhn
PUBLIC RELATIONS SPECIALIST CHEVROLET
Dana Haselhuhn, a trackside public relations representative for Chevrolet, watched many NASCAR Cup Series races on television while growing up in Knoxville, Iowa. She also attended countless races at the local dirt track, Knoxville Raceway, which has hosted the prestigious Knoxville Nationals sprint car event since 1961.
“My dad was a big Jeff Gordon fan,” Haselhuhn said. “He still has a lot of old Jeff Gordon T-shirts, so if feels like it has all come full circle to be able to work with such an incredible team as Hendrick Motorsports now with Jeff being in a new leadership role. My dad is obviously very proud of me. When I go home, it’s fun being able to share with him all the fun things we have going on.”
Haselhuhn earned a business management degree from William Penn University in 2018.
During her senior year, she worked for a nonprofit organization in Des Moines, Iowa, and she was mentored by Kendra Jacobs, who at the time was the marketing and public relations manager for Knoxville Raceway. That led to Haselhuhn joining Chevrolet’s public relations team where she has worked since the start of the 2019 Cup Series season.
It’s her dream job.
“Every race weekend is different for me,” Haselhuhn noted. “I have a variety of responsibilities at the track every weekend. Some of that is pitching and coordinating media interviews in each market that we go to. I work with our Chevrolet drivers to get quotes and distribute material to the media throughout the race weekend. I also coordinate our driver appearances throughout the weekend at our Chevrolet display. Race week and race weekends are different at each track, which is probably my favorite part of the job, and that pushes me to continue to learn, grow and be better.”
Haselhuhn has a rather busy schedule with 36 NASCAR Cup Series weekends, but she will occasionally take a weekend off.
“I’m the lead on the NASCAR side, but I do have a few weekends off during the Cup Series schedule,” she said. “(Laughter) Of course, I have to be at the Knoxville Nationals, so I’m off that weekend. I have a couple off but I’m primarily at every race. I’ll usually be working 33 races of our 36 races each season. But I love it. I would rather be at the track than anywhere else. That’s where I thrive and that’s where I excel. I grew up at a race track, so it doesn’t feel like a job to me.”
Haselhuhn enjoys visiting family and friends in Iowa, but she also loves her NASCAR and Chevrolet family.
“I’m incredibly fortunate to work with some incredibly smart, driven, talented and motivated individuals at Chevrolet, and they motivate me to be the very best that I can be every day,” Haselhuhn said. “I work with an incredible group of people at Chevrolet, from our public relations people to our engineering team. We all share the same passion for the sport. I would definitely say the people I work with and learn from are one of my favorite parts of what I do.”
PROGRAMMED TO SUCCEED
GREER KEEPS RCR’S TRACKSIDE COMPUTERS OPERATING
BY BEN WHITE
Shane Greer
Shane Greer, a trackside IT support specialist for Richard Childress Racing, served in the United States Marine Corps from 1992 to 1999 during which time he was stationed at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune.
As an M1-A1 Tank crewman, corporal Greer drove, gunned and manned an M1 tank while working with his unit to be cohesive on the battlefield if they were called upon. Greer also worked for a reserve unit with active staff while stationed in Atlanta.
“I enjoyed the people and brotherhood in the military most,” Greer said. “In the military, you roomed with your best friend and that was the person you worked with all day long. Then, you hung out at night and on weekends. There’s a friend that I still talk to that I served with, and I haven’t been in the military in almost 20 years. The traveling crew in NASCAR is a lot like that.”
Greer’s keen interest in computers led to him studying computer programming. After his military service was complete, he joined the professional golf tour where he worked with the electronic scoring system for nearly a decade. A friend at Richard Childress Racing told him of an opening there, and he joined the company in 2010.
Greer found his second calling 12 years ago when he started working with RCR’s NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series teams.
“I’m on the road crew and handle all of the network infrastructure with the day-to-day IT-related issues and responsibilities that happen at the track,” Greer explained. “I’m part of the RCR teams and also support Kaulig Racing and Petty GMS as part of their technical alliance with us. I am also the at-track support person for them, and I help to support their network infrastructure on a weekly basis through our technical agreement.”
Greer enjoys his job because, just as it was with his military service, there are new challenges every day.
“There are lots of things that happen with these teams and with these cars,” Greer said. “You have to have flexibility and know what each team needs to have happen. Obviously, there’s a time crunch and when cars are on the track, things have to work. There’s the responsibility of ensuring that everything runs correctly and being prepared for it.”
