Hauler drivers make a demanding job look easy

[Raven]

By Carolyn Brewster
Thursday, July 17, 2008

CONFESSIONS OF A NASCAR FAN

In NASCAR, it’s all about the drivers. Buy the hat, own the shirt, and tattoo the car number on your forearm next to “I love Donna.” NASCAR drivers are the faces in the interviews and the characters we fawn over in sponsor commercials.

But a different breed of drivers also exists in NASCAR. Drivers who will probably never get the chance to sign an autograph, but without them races would be nothing more than a bunch of guys in firesuits standing around twiddling thumbs.

They are the transport drivers of NASCAR.

Very few sights are as awesome as hauler after sparkling hauler perfectly lined up in the garage area. Often we take those enormously large rigs for granted as part of the racing landscape. From the nosebleed section of the grandstands, any compulsively organized fan can value how flawlessly each of the transporters is spaced – quite breathtaking for the aesthetically appreciative fan.

But like most things in my life, an event has lent me a perspective I might never have viewed. The incident happened when I attempted to “guide” my husband while he backed our fifth wheel into a narrow space at a crowded RV park. After nearly running over the fire pit of the campsite in front of us and finally getting “back-up” help from the campground staff, our camper came to rest somewhat straight on our designated gravel pad. The best part was no property was damaged, no one was hurt, and our marriage was still intact.

Now to put this into perspective, our camper is a mere 31 feet in length. But each of the transporters is large enough to hold two cars, a garage, a zillion spare parts, and just about any possible piece of equipment needed to run a race at the track. Simply put, a NASCAR transporter dwarfs our little camper. Yet I bet any NASCAR transport driver could have parked his rig in our camping spot blindfolded using only his little toe to steer. After all, they do it week after week in much tighter infield spaces and probably with a lot less stress, too.

That kind of ability is impressive, which is why teams hire only the most skilled drivers to move their transporters. The value of what is inside those rigs likely exceeds my entire net worth. Not to mention, the whole race team depends upon that transporter arriving safely and on time.

Next time you are at the track, watch the transporter of the team with the DNF. If the transporter leaves the field early, it is amazing to watch them negotiate the chaos. Heck, I get nervous in the parking lot of McDonald’s with our camper in tow. If I could have just one-tenth the expertise of the NASCAR transport drivers, then I would have it made in the RV world.