Flying For Nascar

[Buckeye]

I am setting here watching the race at Martinsville today I was wondering how many aircraft are involved in the "Nascar Air Force" and how difficult is it to eventually get hired to fly for a Racing team? I saw Bobby Labonte yesterday at the FBO I part own in Ohio, but didn't want to burden the crew with playing fifty questions. The pilots were real nice and they seemed to really enjoy their job. Thanx.

 

[MooseTrax]

Checkout These Old Threads

http://forums.flightinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7277&highlight=rousch

and

http://forums.flightinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12734&highlight=rousch

 

[Airpiraterob]

so how do i find it out....

so wheres the best way to find out if they need a pilot or how to even find out what teams operate their own planes.. the pro pilot september 2001 backissue does not have a list of this. just the race pilots association. and that just has people that are members not teams....i asked that place and got no reply. what now? the team websites are of little help in this area.

anyone?
thanks,
rob

 

[slickmagneto]

Hollywood Hotel

Nascar is a family owned entity. They are based in Daytona and were operating LR60's and a Challenger. I attended a recurrent course with two pilots that were NOT happy campers. Short notice on trips, low pay, and a lot of weekends.

The individual teams have their own flight depts. and depending whatever else they are involved in will determine the type of a/c they fly. I have seen helicopters, KingAirs, old and new Lears, Hawkers, Falcons, Gulfstreams.

If you are a racecar fan you would love the job, if not, you will Hate it.

 

[j41driver]

Re: Hollywood Hotel

... and a lot of weekends.

Well that is when NASCAR races happen, isn't it??

 

[airmedplt]

I found my offer through word of mouth. Was sending resumes out to companines and one called me up and told me they just sold their helo to a race team and that team needed a pilot. My downfall was I know what I'm worth and figured if they could pay someone millions to drive a car at 160MPH+ in circles with brakes they could pay me a decent salary to fly 160MPH+ without brakes. Hell I can even turn right every so often. I guess what I'm getting at its all about being at the right place at the right time.

Glenn

 

[nascarpilot]

I currently fly one of the Winston Cup drivers. I have also done some contract flying for one of the big team operations. I much prefer flying for the driver. The vast majority of the Cup teams have team airplanes. Hendrick has a number of Beech 1900s, others have Brazilias, lots of King Airs. The driver's airplanes are their own individual responsibility, as a rule they are not paid for by the team.

This is by far the best opportunity I've ever had! We normally head to the track on Thursday. I usually leave the airplane and hitch a ride back on Ray Evernham's Brazilia, so I'm home for the weekend. Then, race morning (early) we load up on the Brazilia and head back to the track with the Winston Cup pit crew. For short distance races (like Richmond or Atlanta) I'll sometimes just fly back home.

We don't fly to the "local" races. Charlotte, Darlington, Rockingham, Bristol, and Martinsville. Each of those tracks has two races per year, so that means 10 weekends off during the season. Add to that Easter and Mothers Day, there's plenty of time away from the job.

These jobs are (and have always been) word of mouth and being in the right place at the right time. Over 90% of the airplanes are based either at JQF (Concord, NC), SVH (Statesville, NC), or HKY (Hickory, NC). You'd have to be in the neighborhood in order to know about these slots. Turnover is very low. Hope that helps.