vMOSER continued from page 11 “We got to know Jim. We knew Jim for four or five years,” Greg said, “Just by being a fan and going to the races and visiting and staying in touch. Jim knew that Greg was an experienced truck driver, and that he had been in law enforcement, which, Greg said, is a plus for truck drivers in that industry. “One day Jim said, ‘Hey, if you’re interested in driving a truck for us, we’ve got a truck we’re filling with part time drivers. If you’re serious, I should have you meet all the guys here.’ So I did,” Greg said. “He took my whole family in to the trailer that he hauls, the tech trailer, technical inspection, where they actually measure the wings and the cars and the angles and everything has to pass inspection,” Greg said. “We got to meet Jeff Horton (director of Engineering), who is with IndyCar safety and works with inspection.” Two weeks later Greg was at Iowa Speedway when Jim approached him again. “‘You’re here!’ He said. ‘Vince wants to meet you.’ I’m like, who’s Vince? Well Vince was the vice president of IndyCar Operations, and trucking falls under operations.” Greg’s friend later asked, “Was that a job interview?” It was. After securing his bosses’ permission, Greg accepted the position of seasonal truck driver for IndyCar, which he started on August 23, 2017. He worked two races that year at the end of the summer, and worked in the spring and later in the summer this year. “I haul the three AMR safety trucks. If there’s an accident, you’ll see the red, white and blue Chevy trucks come out, I haul the Honda Pilot track car and usually two or three golf carts for the executives,” Greg said. There are eight trucks in all that carry the equipment needed for IndyCar to have a race; three full-time drivers and 5 seasonal drivers. Greg also has other duties including, setting up the paddock where the racecar drivers’ semis park and ushering them in, and he works at the fuel tanker dispensing and sampling fuel for testing. Sometimes, he even gets to watch the race. “As a rule, once the green flag drops, we start taking down non-essential stuff,” Greg said, packing up to go to the next stop. Greg says he enjoys the job; he is still meeting drivers and even got a ride in a pace car in Toronto, Canada. “I got a pace car ride, in one of the Honda pace cars. It’s a Honda Accord, 2 liter turbo with a race suspension and wheels, tires and brakes, put on by Honda,” Greg said. “Mine was driven by Larry Foyt, who used to race cars. “We hit 112 miles an hour in a Honda Accord, on a 1.7 mile road course on the streets of Toronto. We were on the streets of Toronto at 112 miles an hour, inside a cement concrete barrier with fence, so there’s no margin for error, or you’re going to be up against the wall,” he said. His family, who still follows racing and even camps out at racetracks on vacations, is happy to have the opportunity to see him at his new job. His daughter, Kelsey, likes to say, “It’s not like you ran away to a three ring circus; it’s like an eight truck circus!” n 12vHISVOICEvSEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018