Devoted Racing Fan Becomes IndyCar Truck Driver vBy Cora Van Olson Greg Moser has always been a car racing fan, going to the track regularly with his parents as a boy, and later in life with his own family. Recently his skills and his hobby converged with being in the right place at the right time, landing Greg in what is for him a true dream job: working as a truck driver for IndyCar. Greg’s love of car racing began when he was young. “Greg and his brother would play Indy with their Hot Wheels cars on their mother’s corded oval rug,” said Greg’s wife Lynn Moser, who is also a car racing fan. “That was their racetrack and they would argue over who got to be Mario Andretti.” “My brother would actually take pencil and paper and make a spreadsheet and we’d have races, especially around the month of May, the month of May is Indy 500, and we’d have a points system going for who won each race,” Greg said. “He’d keep a tally of the points and we would have our own season championships with our Hot Wheels cars.” According to Greg, his deep-rooted love of racing started even before that, during family summer outings every Saturday night at Miller Speedway in Miller, where he grew up. “My mom had two brothers that raced, Willie and Chuck Yost, and then eventually two cousins of mine, Dennis and Terry Yost raced modified.” Greg said. “We would go to Miller Central Speedway every Saturday night to see the races and then on Sunday night we would go to Huron, the state fair speedway and watch the races.” Greg’s uncles raced for many years and won many championships, Greg said, but in 1985 Terry Yost, tragically died following a racing accident. Greg not only grew up watching his mother’s brothers race, he had an uncle on his father’s side who raced: Leon Moser from Wolsey. As a youth Greg also did a little bit of pit-crew work for a neighbor, Marlon Winter, who also raced. Aside from racing Matchbox cars, Greg and his brother also enjoyed racing go-carts. Each year they would save their pennies for the family vacation to Long Beach in Washington State, where there was a go-cart track that charged 50 cents a ride. “So once the small grains and the hay were done and before the silage cutting started for the winter, we would make a trip out to the west coast,” said Greg. One wet, misty Pacific Coast evening, Greg said, he and his brother found themselves alone at the go-cart track. The owners required at least three drivers to open the track. That night the weather drove most people indoors, but Greg and his brother were staying at a motel a block away and decided to walk over to the go-cart track to see if anyone showed up. “It had been a while and we were about ready to go home, when this big motorhome pulled up.” Greg said. “It was one of those GMC motor Your One Stop Shop At 808 W. 23rd, Yankton Servicing Residential, HVAC & Electrical Contractors Residential & Commercial New Construction, Remodels Repair & Service Electrical Contractors Radon Mitigation Kaiser Heating Fast & Reliable Yankton’s Geothermal Heating, Cooling & Fireplace Specialists & Cooling 605.665.2895 10vHISVOICEvSEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 Power Source Electric 605.260.8683 605.689.0452