Author’s Note: As we all know, NASCAR drivers garner more attention than anyone else on their team. However, there are so many people on the teams that all play an important role in the success of the team and the sport we love. I am going to feature a variety of people who have careers in NASCAR, but aren’t normally in the spotlight.
Travis Johnson is an Information Technology Systems Administrator, or “IT Guy,” for Michael Waltrip Racing. He travels to the track each week with the MWR teams and works in the race shop during the week.
Here are some of Johnson’s quick facts:
Family: Mom (Sandy), Dad (Mickey), Sister (Monica)
Hobbies: Shooting, Basketball, Scuba Diving, Golf
Favorite sport to watch: College Football, Pro Football, and UK Basketball
Favorite type of music: Country and Classic Rock
Most memorable moment of your racing career: Chicago 2010 Victory Lane with No. 00 Team
Most memorable life moment: Getting to be in my sister’s wedding this spring
Interestingly, Johnson did not plan to land on a race team, saying, “My first job with a team was random luck after seeing an opening in the newspaper. The second team happened when someone I worked with previously gave them my name when they needed a new IT person.”
However, things have a way of working out. Now, Johnson travels with MWR to the track each weekend to setup and maintain the team’s wireless network so that the engineers are able to communicate with each other and the shop.
Back at the shop, his duties are fixing and upgrading employee laptops and desktops, maintaining the computer network, and researching new technologies to help the engineers process information and communicate more quickly and efficiently. It’s brainy stuff and probably one of the most underrated jobs in NASCAR, but it is one position that the large Cup teams could not function without.
IT can be a thankless job, as Johnson states, because “with IT stuff, no one is interested in the why or how, only if it works or not.”
However, his job does have its perks. For instance, Johnson shared some of the fun activities he has been able to experience on the road, including golfing in 10 different states and going to baseball games at four MLB stadiums, among others. Traveling is also the part of the job that can be the most challenging, as teams are on the road almost every weekend for nine-and-a-half months of the year.
Johnson says another job challenge is the limited opportunity for growth in NASCAR in the IT area, simply because there are a limited number of IT positions in NASCAR, and the majority of those involve traveling.
For those looking to find an IT job on a team, Johnson says you must “be willing to handle constant travel and an extremely intense environment. You’re constantly dealing with ultra-competitive people who all want to win, and don’t accept failure.”
Doesn’t that sound like the sport we all know and love?
Finally, he answers a few additional questions – and I really enjoyed his funny anecdote on the last one:
TD: What makes race teams easy or difficult to work with from an IT perspective?
TJ: Having reasonable expectations for what can be accomplished within budget and time constraints makes teams easier to work with. For the most part with IT stuff no one is interested in the why or how, only if it works or not.
TD: If you could change anything about NASCAR, what would it be?
TJ: Shorter races and fewer races.
TD: Do you have any funny stories from the road?
TJ: Only a couple of “family friendly” ones. When we were racing in Sonoma, a group was going to visit the Redwood Forest to see the giant trees. We were able to convince one of our engineers that the acorns on the trees were huge, over 10 pounds, and you had to wear a helmet when walking through the forest for safety reasons.
We let some guys on other teams know about it too, so no matter who he asked in the garage, he was told the same thing. He gets to the ticket area at the park and serious as can be, he asks the lady behind the counter if he has to rent one of their helmets or if he can use the one he brought from the track. The look on her face was worth the price of trying to keep a straight face all day while talking about 10 pound acorns falling and knocking people unconscious.
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