Dotting the landscape of the rural communities north of Charlotte, N.C., are dozens of the most high-tech companies in the automotive industry. First, there are the home facilities of NASCAR’s elite racing teams. Then there are the shops of smaller companies that support those teams by making and servicing the vast inventory of parts and tools needed to build and race a modern stock car.
The NASCAR team shops are tens of thousands of square feet of space kept in eat-off-the-floor states of cleanliness. There are rooms and racks full of parts and tools. But NASCAR races are held all over the country. So how do the teams get the cars — and the vast inventory of parts and tools needed to service them — to the racetracks several dozen times each racing season? Answer: the hauler.
A NASCAR hauler is an 18-wheel behemoth that serves as a traveling shop for the NASCAR teams. The cab has room for two drivers who swap five-hour shifts as the trucks roll non-stop to the tracks. And the trailers are as spotless and well-organized as the shops which send them out every week.
Open the back doors of a hauler and you see two levels. In the upper level are two race cars — the primary car and a backup car. In the lower level of the hauler is a mini NASCAR racing shop containing every tool and part necessary to keep a car running in winning form. The only things not found in the hauler are racing fuel and the tires each team goes through in a weekend.
NASCAR haulers can cost thousands of dollars to drive. Is it worth the expense? A racing organization invests tens of millions of dollars, yet all that investment suddenly becomes worthless if a car breaks down at the track and the team doesn’t have the tools necessary to make the repair.
But it’s not just parts and tools that are important. It’s knowing how to use them that counts. NASCAR teams invest heavily in training their crews. The finest tools and technology in the world justify their cost only if there is someone who knows how to use them.
NASCAR teams are continually leaving their home base and going out into the world to do business for their owners. Likewise, as Christians we are continually going out into the world to “do business” for our Owner. If NASCAR teams train and prepare with intensity to win a perishable reward, how much more should Christians train and prepare to win an imperishable reward?
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Source: Baptist Press
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