Former CWS star gets RCR pit crew in tip-top shape (cont'd)

Q: Obviously, you played baseball at LSU and also some minor-league ball. How did you end up transitioning into this line of work?

Wright: After the minor-league ball, I went home to where I was born in [Charlotte Hall] Maryland and started working with athletes on strength and conditioning, speed and agility. It was going well. I trained in Maryland for about four years.

Then I met my wife, Melissa, who lived in North Carolina. I moved down [to North Carolina] where the only person I knew was my wife. I got a job at Forsyth Country Day [High School]. I was the strength coach and baseball coach, you know, just to get my feet on the ground. I had no idea where that was going to take me. I figured doors might open up, but I didn't know.

And then I started training Austin and Ty Dillon. I guess they really enjoyed their workouts. They got to talking, and then I met [their father] Mike Dillon [who is RCR's vice president of competition]. That led me to RCR.

Q: So at the time did you know their grandfather, Richard Childress? Or much about racing?

Wright: I knew Richard Childress. His name was on our gymnasium. And I was a race fan -- but I couldn't name the owners of every team. I'd love to turn a race on the last 12 laps or something like that back then. But I probably couldn't even name all the drivers at RCR at the time. I've definitely developed a love and appreciation for it now, that's for sure.

Q: Back to your first love of baseball, talk about helping LSU win the national championship in 2000 when you made a game-saving catch in the title game of the College World Series ...

Wright: That ball I caught was going to be a two-run homer, and we ended up winning the game by one run. That's still a really big deal in Louisiana.

You know, it's funny because when I went to LSU, I came from a junior college where I played second base. I was a Junior College All-American second baseman -- but after I got to LSU, I didn't play one inning of second base. I was kind of shellshocked. Coming from a junior college, where you have maybe 20-25 guys on your team, I walked into the locker room at LSU and there were 63 guys in that locker room.

I remember the equipment manager brought me an outfielder's glove. And I said, 'No, man, you've got me confused with someone else. I'm a second baseman.' And he said, 'Not any more.'

Q: What happened next?

Ray Wright leaps at the wall to take away a home run in the 2000 College World Series.

Wright: I went to the coach and said, 'What's the deal? I'm a second baseman. That's what you recruited me for.' And he said, 'Well, you can back up our preseason All-American freshman second baseman -- or you can try for a starting spot in the outfield.' And there were probably 12 other outfielders. I was like, 'I'll try to start.' And it worked out pretty well.

Q: Walk us through the play you made ...

Wright: It was Edmund Muth who was batting for Stanford. With that home run, he was going to have a record number of home runs for the College World Series. You know how sometimes you have these really vivid mental images of some events in your life? For some reason, man, I still remember seeing that ball off the bat and taking my first drop-step back. It was cool because there was nothing but LSU fans behind me. ... So I did my usual drop-step and went back and put my arm out to find the wall, and just made a jump. I didn't really know how high I jumped or what the crowd behind me was doing. But I made the catch and it turned out to be a really big play.

We ended up scoring a run to win it in the bottom of the ninth. Ryan Theriot scored the winning run for us; he's the shortstop for the Chicago Cubs now. Mike Fontenot is playing second base for the Cubs now, and he was on that team, too. We had a lot of big leaguers off that club.

Q: Was Fontenot the guy who put you out of a job at second base?

Wright: Yeah, actually he was the one who came in and rolled with it. But we were roommates in college and became real good buddies.

Q: Well, that's a pretty good second baseman to end up getting moved to right field for, right?

Wright: No doubt. I had no problems with it, no problems at all. It all worked out pretty well for me, too.

Joe Menzer is the author of "The Great American Gamble: How the 1979 Daytona 500 Gave Birth to a NASCAR Nation." Click here to purchase.