NASCAR job seekers shifting gears

The way Don Gemmell looks at it, laid-off motorsports employees can look at what just happened and either hit the brakes or the accelerator on their careers.

Instead of dealing with a nasty traffic jam at the unemployment office, he wants the DontCheckUp.com Web site to give these workers lead feet and propel them onto the next venture in their lives.

In the past, if someone was laid off from one racing shop, they could get another job at the one down the road, said Gemmell, the former production scheduler at Dale Earnhardt Inc.

“Unfortunately, racing is one of those sports driven by getting money from other people, basically,“ said Robert Askin, a former mechanic for Robert Yates Racing.

With anywhere from 700 to 1,000 NASCAR team employees looking for work and racing teams struggling to find sponsors and keep the teams they still have running, a lot of people are having to use job search skills that they haven’t used in years, Gemmell said.

That is where DontCheckUp comes in.

The Web site is a one-stop resource for the displaced members of the racing community. People can post resumes and jobs. It has resources for insurance, mortgage and credit counseling and even identifies industry-related job scams.

A lot of work went into putting this effort together, Gemmell said. The site’s organizers are classifying people by profession and giving them discount cards to use at what Gemmell hopes will be a growing list of regional merchants from around the Charlotte region.

Gemmell said he’s received an avalanche of resumes since the Web site launched in December. However, only NASCAR-related employees are getting their resumes posted.

Marc Hendricksen, who worked as a race engineer at Dale Earnhardt Inc. until November, said Gemmell called him about posting his resume before the site was launched.

The Mooresville resident found out he was losing his job when he arrived at the final Sprint Cup Series race in Homestead, Fla.

“First, it was kind of like shock that I was one of the ones it happened to,“ he said. “I didn’t have time to dwell on it. I had to focus on the race.“

Even so, Hendricksen said he spent part of his time that weekend networking and trying to find a new job. He believes he may have some possibilities later this month.

“It was really going above and beyond for Don to do something like that,“ he said.

The Web site’s name, “DontCheckUp,“ refers to the racing term about braking, he said. When he presented the idea to a group of former co-workers shortly after being laid off from Dale Earnhardt Inc. in November, he said the name made a lot of people laugh.

“It was probably the first time some of these guys had laughed in a week,“ said Gemmell, who worked as the production scheduler at DEI. “Life is going to go on. This is just to help people move forward.“

These are skilled workers who just need a little help to be placed with a new company, he said.

Askin moved to Mooresville in 1993 to begin his career in motorsports with little more than his toolbox and some clothes.

His last racing job was with Robert Yates Racing in 2007, and he thought the Web site would be a good way for him to keep racing.

Askin has spent most of his savings and taken side jobs to survive, but he wants to keep on racing.

Working in racing involves a lot of on the job training, and sometimes employers don’t realize how much you know because you don’t have the certifications they want, he said.

A lot of people are coming together to give them that help. Gemmell said Kathy Loan with Deep Roots Management in Mooresville is helping some of the workers spruce up their resumes so they can catch a hiring employer’s eye.

Kevin Druckenbrod, who used to work in marketing at JR Motorsports, has volunteered his time to help post other people’s resumes.

Druckenbrod said he thought the Web site was a great idea, but he wanted to help out others first.

“There is so many of us,“ he said. “It just puts chills up your skin.“

Druckenbrod said he finally put his own resume up after uploading hundreds of others first.

After taking Christmas off, he plans to aggressively restart his job search Monday, using the same resources offered on the Web site.

“I think during the tough times you have to keep your window open for your options,“ he said. “I will look elsewhere beside north of Charlotte.“

Druckenbrod isn’t the only person who will be looking outside of the area for work. Former Brad Keselowski Racing Marketing Director Alice Collins said she is considering a broadcasting job in Myrtle Beach.

Collins said the Web site is free and is a resource that people can use to get their name out there and see what options they have.

She said she knows some teams are waiting until after the holidays to see how business looks.

“There is just not a lot open up right now, especially in Charlotte,“ she said. “I might switch gears all together.“

Gemmell said he has received job postings from other states. While he would like for everyone to stay locally, he said it is important to be realistic.

“Most of the people aren’t going back to motorsports,“ he said. “We are starting to reach out to the motorsports teams. This is a smorgasbord of people.“

It will take a lot of work for the unemployed NASCAR workers to get back on their feet again.

But Gemmell said each green “employed” stamp he can put next to someone’s name is a victory for everyone.