First Jobs For Nine NASCAR Drivers

Before they were NASCAR racers

Some race car drivers have never had to work a day in their lives. Racing is all they have ever known, and they couldn’t get a real job to support themselves if they had to.

Others aren’t so lucky, and have to work hard to earn their way into the sport.

Tony Stewart worked at a machine shop that was housed in a barn in Rush County, Indiana. He spent his days in front of a drill press fabricating pieces of tubing. Stewart gave his boss two weeks notice and quit the $5 an hour job shortly after racing in the Copper Classic in Phoenix, Arizona. His prize money from the race was $3,500 - more than 4 months pay at the machine shop. That’s when Smoke figured out he might be able to make a living holding on to a steering wheel.

Stewart also worked as a tow truck driver in Indianapolis while he was making a name for himself as an Indiana sprint car driver. The job would often take him through Speedway, Indiana - right past Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr worked as an oil change tech in the shop at the Chevy dealership in Newton, North Carolina. He once claimed to be “the fastest oil change guy in the dealership”. Junior has said that if he wasn’t racing he would probably still be working there. Dale Jr worked on race cars at night, building his own race cars and hauling them to Carolina short tracks before convincing his father he was ready to move up to the Busch series in a DEI car.

Carl Edwards worked as a substitute teacher is his hometown of Columbia, Missouri. Not surprising when you consider his mom was once president of the local PTA.

Clint Bowyer worked as a body shop mechanic at John North Ford in Emporia Kansas making $10 an hour — while racing his own car at the local short tracks. Shortly after running second - and leading 47 laps — in an ARCA race at Nashville Clint was hard at work in the body shop when the phone rang. It was Richard Childress on the line asking Bowyer to come to North Carolina and drive his Busch car. Trouble was - Bowyer didn’t believe it was really Childress on the line. He thought it was his buddies playing a joke on him. Eventually Childress was able to convince Bowyer that he was for real, and Bowyer was on his way.

Matt Kenseth grew up working for his dad. Kenseth’s father is a serial entrepreneur from the small town of Madison, Wisconsin. Roy Kenseth at various times owned a movie theater, a video rental store and a furniture store. Matt worked with his dad in the family business doing jobs like selling movie tickets and delivering furniture. When Matt was around 13 Roy decided to go stock car racing at the local short tracks in Wisconsin - and made a deal with Matt. Roy would do the driving, and Matt would help prepare the car. Then, when Matt turned 16 he would take over the driving duties. Looks like the plan worked out.

Kurt Busch worked for the public works department at the city of Las Vegas. His job was to install much needed water lines in the fast growing desert city. At the same time Busch was enrolled in the University of Arizona hoping to get a degree in microbiology or pharmacy.

Darrell Waltrip and Buddy Baker - two former Daytona 500 champions currently working as NASCAR broadcasters - both earned their living as car salesmen before deciding to drive them instead. No wonder they talk so much.

Dale Earnhardt, the 7 time NASCAR champion, once worked at Great Dane in Charlotte. There Earnhardt repaired trailers for 18 wheelers - welding broken frames, installing new brakes, and keeping the trailers rolling.

Make no mistake, racing is hard work - but sometimes the work to get to the driver’s seat is the hardest work of all.

What kind of job do you think best prepares a driver for a career in racing?