Team’s race shop suffered major damage from last week’s fire
Photo credit: Leavine Family Racing
For at least the next two weeks, Leavine Family Racing will operate out of the Team Penske facility in Mooresville, North Carolina, according to an official with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series organization.
LFR, which fields the No. 95 Ford for driver Michael McDowell, has been forced to relocate due to damage from a fire last week that destroyed much of the back portion of the team’s shop, including four of its race cars.
Employees discovered the blaze upon their arrival at the shop, which is located behind Charlotte Motor Speedway, Friday morning and immediately notified authorities.
The bulk of the race team had already arrived in Kansas City for this past Saturday night’s race at Kansas Speedway, where McDowell finished 36th.
“We are working out of the Porsche shop at Penske for the short term,” Jeremy Lange, LFR vice president, said Monday. “They provided the space for us and it’s been very nice of them to come through in a pinch and offer their help.
“It’s not a long-term solution but it’s a short-term fix.”
Team Penske is housed in a 400,000-plus square foot complex that currently serves as the base of operations for its Sprint Cup, XFINITY Series and IndyCar teams.
Lange said that the four vehicles destroyed were the team’s back-up cars. Those in the process of preparation for upcoming events at Charlotte Motor Speedway — this weekend’s Sprint Showdown and next week’s Coca-Cola 600 — were among those in the front of the building and were not damaged.
“Luckily enough our cars for Charlotte were already put together and wrapped,” Lange said. “Now it’s going to come down to set-up and dyno and K-rig and getting the car ready for a race, not assembly. Which is a positive. If this had been weeks ago, it might be a different story.
“It’s never a good time … but we can work out of that shop with (our) resources. Basically what we have working out of there are our guys and the hauler, all the tools and parts and pieces that were in the hauler.”
Crew chief Wally Rogers’ approach to the situation has been, “if we can do it at the race track we can do it in the shop,” Lange said. “If we need something, we’ll get it (from our shop). We are doing what we can and taking what we need to get the job done for the Showdown and the 600.”
Lange said a best-case scenario would be for the team to be able to return to its facility the week following the 600.
LFR does not run the full 36-race Sprint Cup schedule and isn’t slated to compete at the next three races (Dover, Pocono and Michigan) following the Charlotte events. With an off-weekend in the mix, the break should give the team four weeks to prepare for consecutive stops at Sonoma, Daytona and Kentucky.
“We were strategic in our approach with the schedule,” Lange said. “We knew having those three races off allows Wally and the guys to get Sonoma, Daytona and Kentucky ready, which are three different cars for three different tracks. It’s not like we’re going to three mile-and-a-half tracks. It’s still a challenge but one that as a team … we’re not going to bow down to.”
As news of the fire spread through the garage at Kansas Friday morning, LFR personnel began getting texts from other teams. Fellow owners and crewmen stopped by to personally offer assistance and ask about employees.
And it didn’t cease when the race was completed and teams headed back to their own headquarters. The entire NASCAR community, Lange said, has reached out to the team. Sponsorship partners K-Love and Thrivent Financial have offered support as well.
“It’s been tremendous,” he said. “Other teams, drivers, just friends in the sport all reaching out, texting, asking a) ‘is everyone OK and b) what can we do to help you?’
“As a small team, it’s nice to know that we still get the same respect and love as the big teams, because as a small team, you’re kind of on your own little island in a sense. We don’t shy away from that, we like that. We like being under the radar. We also like that underdog role. I think this is no different than not making a race. We will overcome it and get better.
“This incident will not define our race team. We’re not missing a beat. We could have easily said, ‘hey, we’re not going to the Showdown.’ Wally doesn’t want to bow down from the challenge and we’re also committed to our partners. We said we’re going and we’re going to go.”