THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 21, 1996 TAG: 9604210213
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE, VA. LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
When Mike Knauer turns his huge 18-wheel transporter out of Lakeside Industrial Park in Mooresville, N.C., and turns right onto N.C. 150, the big truck fills both lanes of the highway.
Cars coming in both directions have to stop to make room for the green and yellow transporter. But Knauer, like other truck drivers, relies on the notion that other motorists will give way to a big truck.
Besides, this is no normal 18-wheeler. This is the brand-new NASCAR Winston Cup stock-car transporter owned by Butch Mock Motorsports. It carries the cars of driver Morgan Shepherd and its sides are emblazoned with the name ``Remington Arms,'' the team's sponsor.
Throughout the Thursday before the Goody's 500 weekend at Martinsville Speedway, the Winston Cup hauler rigs make their way out of the industrial park, which is largely devoted to stock-car racing shops, and head northeast from Mooresville for the two-hour run to Martinsville.
NASCAR rigs are the kings of the highway. Many of them are new, all of them are brightly painted and highly polished.
Including tractor and custom-built trailer, two stock cars, three engines, hundreds of spare parts, tool boxes, computers and a vast array of other equipment, Knauer controls more than $500,000 when he puts his hands on the wheel.
With this kind of responsibility and prestige, you might assume that Knauer spent years working his way into this dream job.
When he talks to other truckers, ``they all think I make $450,000 a year,'' Knauer says. ``They always want to know, `How did you get that job?' ''
The fact is, just four years ago, the closest Mike Knauer had ever come to Winston Cup racing was as a spectator on top of a recreational vehicle parked in the infield of Dover Downs International Raceway.
But he had a dream, and he was willing to give up everything to pursue it. Now, at age 25, Knauer is driving one of the nicest-looking trucks on the highway.
``I know I'm the youngest NASCAR transporter driver,'' he says.
Knauer's story demonstrates that despite the tremendous popularity and growth of Winston Cup racing, it is still possible for someone with enthusiasm, determination and a little experience to carve a career in the fast-growing sport.
``I guess I was like a lot of other people,'' Knauer says as he guides the big truck north on Interstate 77. ``I was a real big fan. I was working myself to death doing everything else. And I wasn't really enjoying it.
``But you've got to give up everything you've got. And you've got to be willing to move south.''
Knauer grew up on a 220-acre farm near Easton on Maryland's Eastern Shore. As much as he loved racing, he didn't get to see much. He began going to Dover in about 1990. And he watched the few races telecast on network television.
``We had three TV stations on the farm, and if it got cloudy or rainy, we lost one of them,'' he says.
At 22, Knauer was working days as a mechanic and short-haul driver at a local trucking company. At night, he worked at his own mechanic's business. He was a volunteer fireman. He was single. He owned his own house. And he was bored.
So in 1994, he volunteered to help a limited-schedule Busch Grand National team based in Dover. Three nights a week, he made the two-hour round trip. He worked for free.
Around Thanksgiving, he decided to take a stab at big-time racing.
``I put an ad in (the weekly newspaper) Winston Cup Scene to see if I would get any response,'' Knauer said. ``I said I was a mechanic with Busch experience seeking employment with a Busch Grand National or Winston Cup team. I said I had a commercial driver's license and was willing to drive the transporter. And I said I was willing to move.
``I sold my house, put everything in the back of my truck, backed it into the shed and waited for a phone call.''
Winston Cup driver Dave Marcis called. But Marcis said he didn't know when he could offer a job. Knauer waited for five months. Finally, after the Atlanta race in March 1995, Marcis offered Knauer the job of driving his transporter. Marcis himself had driven the transporter to the first four races.
``Dave called on a Saturday,'' Knauer said. ``On Sunday morning, I got up at 7 a.m. and headed south to Asheville.''
Knauer worked for Marcis for about five months last year. It was enough time to meet crew members and truck drivers on other teams, including Pierre Kuettel, who drove Mock's transporter.
Kuettel, a Trans-Am and Can-Am mechanic from Phoenix, had muscled his way into racing the hard way, too. Kuettel had come south in December 1993, and given himself a month to find a job. At first, he had literally worked for free at Mock's shop.
Kuettel eventually was hired as a full-time employee and became the transporter driver, but he didn't particularly like it. So he convinced Knauer to move to Charlotte, join Mock's team and take over the driving duties.
These days, Knauer's old friends in Maryland - the guys he used to hang out with in the Dover infield - consider him something of a big shot. Not only does he drive a brand-new NASCAR transporter, but he has become the jack man on Shepherd's pit crew - the most important over-the-wall job on a Winston Cup team.
``I tell them I'm the same old guy I was when I was with them in the volunteer fire company,'' Knauer says. ``But this is probably one of the best things I've ever done in my life. I want to be here for a long time.'' ILLUSTRATION: DON PETERSEN
Landmark News Service photo
``I know I'm the youngest NASCAR transporter driver,'' says Mike
Knauer, 25, Morgan Shepherd's hauler.
by CNB