The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Bay grad living dream as NASCAR mechanic
Carras is a tear down crew member for Daytona 500 champion McDowell
Meet Austin Carras, a 2012 Bay graduate who works as a tear down mechanic for Front Row Motorsports.
On Feb. 14, Austin Carras sat down in his Morrisville, North Carolina, home to watch the Daytona 500. Carras, a 2012 Bay graduate who works as a tear down mechanic for Front Row Motorsports, had a personal stake, as his team had three cars in the race: The 34 car driven by Michael McDowell, the 36 car driven by David Ragan and the 38 car driven by Anthony Alfredo.
With three cars in the race to help each other, Carras and his coworkers were optimistic that at least one of their drivers was in line for a top-15 finish.
That optimism lasted 14 laps. With less than 10% of the race completed, “The Big One” happened, as contact between Christopher Bell and Aric Almirola led to a 17-car crash that stretched from the tracks wall to the infield. It was the worst-case scenario for Carras and Front Row Motorsports, as all three of their cars had sustained heavy damage. By the time the dust settled (literally) Alfredo and Ragan were out of the race.
And then the rain came. For almost six hours, the rain fell at Daytona, delaying the race before it really even got going. Some 550 miles away, from the rain-soaked racetrack, Carras began to wonder if this was just going to be just another race for Front Row Motorsports.
He was wrong.
In one of the most stunning upsets in the history of Daytona, McDowell came from behind to win the race, narrowly avoiding a last lap crash to take the checkered flag.
“Being a part of the team that won Daytona has been a dream come true,” Carras said. “Besides the championship it’s what everyone wants to win. It’s been unbelievable.”
The win holds a special place of significance for Carras, as his love for NASCAR started at Daytona. In 2005, Carras took a trip to Florida with his family. After hitting the Florida vacation staples like the beach and amusement parks, his family visited Daytona Motor Speedway, where they went on a guided tour of
the stadium and track itself. The next year, they visited and watched the race — Carras’ first NASCAR race in person.
“It’s a whole different atmosphere in person compared to watching it on TV,” Carras said. “It’s a lot more exciting. And I was kind of hooked after seeing that after seeing the Daytona 500 in person, that’s kind of when I knew that I wanted to get involved with NASCAR.”
As Carras got older, that love for NASCAR grew. In 2011, Carras and his dad were able to get pit passes for a race at Michigan International Speedway. While there, Carras was able to pick the brains of numerous pit crew workers, most of whom pointed him in the direction of the NASCAR Technical Institute in Morrisville. After graduating from Bay a year later, Carras packed his belongings
into his truck and headed to North Carolina, a journey he now describes as a “last frontier kind of deal.”
Upon settling in Morrisville, he attended the NASCAR Institute for two years where he also worked as an apprentice for a NASCAR Xfinity Team, which is the equivalent of NASCAR’s minor leagues. From there, he was hired at Front Row as a tear down mechanic for their newly establish third car team. Their initial partnership didn’t last long, however, as the third car didn’t perform as well as expected and Carras — along with the other workers on the team — were laid off.
From there, Carras went back to the Xfinity circuit, where he once again worked as a tear down mechanic and pit crew member. After a year there, Front Row called him back
and offered him another job. He didn’t hesitate to accept.
“I didn’t really know anything when I first came down here, I was just kind of like a little pioneer,” Carras said. “I luckily was able to find my way into it.”
As a tear down mechanic, Carras’ work comes on the back end. After a race is finished, each driver’s car is loaded into a hauler that brings it back to Front Row headquarters in Morrisville. When the cars race at nearby Charlotte Motor Speedway, the cars arrive within an hour. When they race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana California, they arrive three days later.
Once a car arrives in Carras’ care, it gets fully dismantled back to a rolling chassis so the team can prepare it for its next race. Carras’ workload was a little tight after Daytona however,
as — per Daytona tradition — McDowell’s car is on display at Daytona Motor Speedway until next year’s race.
“it’s a really cool tradition,” Carras said. “The tradition of that race is the best in NASCAR.”
After the win and a sixth-place finish at the Dixie Vodka 400 on Feb. 28, McDowell was 17th in the Pennzoil 400 in Las Vegas on March 7. He’s ninth in the Monster Energy Cup standings.
“We’ve just got to keep on improving,” Carras said. “Us already having won a race puts us in the lineup for the Cup Chase, which is crazy. We’ve already won a big race, the next thing up is winning the Cup.”
No matter how the season ends, nothing will ever get rid of that Daytona win.
“This year’s kind of just been a dream come true,” Carras said.