If the money is not available to go racing, sometimes you have to go find it yourself. Marc Mitchell learned that imperative lesson early in his racing career.

A 24-year-old Auburn University graduate who majored in Building Science noticed more young drivers bringing sponsorship dollars to NASCAR teams in order to secure rides in the sport's increasingly costly, as well as competitive, arena.

“

Hopefully I've done enough in the Truck Series so far this season to prove I'm ready. We've been a top-five truck everywhere, but things out of the driver's control have kept us from good finishes.

”

-- MARC MITCHELL

"These days, drivers not only have to find a team that will work with them, but also a corporate company willing to invest in them," said Mitchell, a native of Tallahassee who grew up racing Legend Cars across the Southeast against the likes of Reed Sorenson and Joey Logano. "To break into the sport these days you have to have both."

Once Mitchell got to college, in 2002, he made time to race limited schedules during his four years at Auburn and convinced the university to sponsor some of his early ASA Late Model endeavors.

In 2005, Mitchell continued his climb up the racing ladder by signing with Tony Clements Racing and entered ARCA races at tracks such as Nashville Superspeedway, Kentucky Speedway and Daytona International Speedway with alumni support from Auburn.

A college education was always a part of Mitchell's life plan but so was learning the family road building business. After graduating from Auburn in 2006, Mitchell could more or less build an entire parking lot from scratch.

"When I got out of school I was the estimator, project manager and vice president of business development for my family's company," he said.

Using that business sense and knowledge of paving and asphalt, Mitchell pitched the boardroom at Ergon, the same paving company instrumental in resurfacing the Talladega Superspeedway three years ago.

Convincing the powers that be of his talent and hard work ethic, the company agreed to sponsor the driver to run nearly a full season in the Truck Series for 2008. Mitchell took his Ergon sponsorship to Billy Ballew Motorsports, the same team who fields the No. 51 Toyota for Kyle Busch. Mitchell and Ballew agreed to run at least 21 Truck races together.

In the rookie's first season behind the wheel of his No. 15 Ergon machine, Mitchell's average finish was 21.3 with one top-10 and five top-20 finishes.

And in 13 truck starts, Mitchell has received three rookie of the race awards.

"I've got some accolades, but the main thing I look at is performance. Everywhere we've been I've been fast, but in a half dozen races our efforts have been ended because of a flat tire or loose wheel, something out of the driver's control," he said. "Putting the finishes together as a whole has been difficult."

Which has led Mitchell to learn a second valuable lesson early in his racing career: Even if you find the money, you don't always keep the ride.

Just before the recent Truck race at Talladega, team owner Billy Ballew made a driver change. Mitchell was out for the Mountain Dew 250 and John Andretti was in.

So where does that leave Mitchell?

"That's a good question," Mitchell said. "I'm scheduled for at least three more races but we'll have to see. From there I'd like to run the Truck Series again. Right now I guess I'm a free agent. Hopefully I've done enough in the Truck Series so far this season to prove I'm ready. We've been a top-five truck everywhere, but things out of the driver's control have kept us from good finishes."

Meanwhile, Mitchell is taking his off-time to research graduate programs.

"Racing is a volatile business," he said. "I've got a month off to study for the GMAT and go to grad school just in case."