Crew members often seek outlets to avoid burn-out

Lowe's Motor Speedway will be hosting a burnout contest later this month. However, burning out in the figurative term is a condition those in NASCAR try to avoid at all cost.

Here, the key word is "try," because crew chiefs and crew members alike work countless hours behind the scenes to put their drivers and cars in a position to win every weekend; 38 times a year entrenched in NASCAR's grueling schedule, season after season.

Monday through Thursday the stock cars may not be on the track, but the crews are pouring over notes and smoothing out wrinkled metal back at the shop for an estimated 12 hours a day. It's a work week that knows no end.

So, it's not uncommon when a NASCAR cog exceeds his or her threshold for the sport and becomes overworked and burned out from the job they admittedly tend to obsess about 90 percent of their waking hours.

You can eat, breathe and sleep NASCAR but even the most compulsive personalities require a break, says Eddie Masencup, the spotter for Hendrick Motorsports driver Casey Mears and the No. 5 car.

Masencup said he nearly crashed and burned late in his nearly 21-year career but took a year-long breather in 2007 and returned with a better coping mechanism. His solution, like many others in his position: More work?

An increasing number of industry members are finding life outside NASCAR; be it flying in the air or even washing hair, they are seeking healthy ways to balance their NASCAR-dominated lives through side gigs.

Although Masencup's relief didn't come until his boss retired, it came none the less.

First, Masencup's tenure into the sport began in 1987 when the Winston-Salem, N.C. native took a job flying former Cup Series driver Terry Labonte on his private plane to and from races.

A year later, Labonte's team owner at the time, Junior Johnson, called on Masencup to spot for his driver in light of his experience with radio traffic. From that day on, he balanced life in the air and on the spotter's stand for nearly 20 years.

And when Labonte was racing in the Cup Series and his son, Justin, in the Nationwide Series, Masencup, spotting and flying, recalls being busier than a one-armed paper hanger.

"For two years there I was going to every Cup and Nationwide race and when you do that many race weekends away from home it tends to burn you out pretty quick," said Masencup. "You get to where you're not very sociable and unpleasant to be around."

Finally, a reprieve was presented when Labonte retired in 2006 and Masencup was offered to become a part-time leisure pilot. This was his out, his side gig.

In the fall, he returned to Hendrick Motorsports to be a full-time spotter for Mears including team test sessions, but Masencup found an outlet that takes him away from the track. The 49-year-old spends time flying to Labonte's ranch in south Texas where the closest town is at least 45 minutes away.

Masencup and Labonte will climb into a King Air, fly high above NASCAR's organized chaos and enjoy comfortable silence until they reach the ranch where they either hunt or hop on a tractor and mow for hours.

"This is my time away, we very seldom talk about racing; it's just deer and tractors down there," Masencup said.

Tagging a nice buck is Masencup's remedy for NASCAR burn-out.

"If I couldn't be spotting, I'd like to be a hunting guide in Wyoming," added Masencup, who admits racing at one time consumed his every thought. "But to avoid burn-out you need to find something you really enjoy."

Experts are quick to remind athletes and workplace professionals that burn-out is an actual mental and physical condition with adverse affects. It's not to be mistaken for a bad case of the "Mondays."

Richard Lustberg has practiced sports psychology in New York for more than 25 years and sees zero difference between office burn-out and at-track burn-out; sports jobs are no different from 9-to-5 jobs.

Although the one difference Lustberg sees in the sports arena is industry members have a greater tendency to "overvalue" or become compulsive in their positions and see no alternative choice but to perform.

The effects of burn-out are clear, he said.

The person feels overwhelmed and stuck, they becoming irritable and somewhat depressed. Burn-outs lack the same degree of energy and zeal for their job. Often it will express itself in a reduction in motivation, volume and quality of performance, or in dissatisfaction with or departure from the sport altogether.

For 34-year-old Jeff Galati, this NASCAR mechanic has found "hair-apy." The New York native is in his fourth year with Craftsman Truck Series driver Jack Sprague, but has several years of dirt late-model experience in his hometown of Jamestown.

In 2005, Galati moved to Kannapolis, N.C., and two years later opened a full-service hair salon in Huntersville, N.C., with his fiancée, Lydia Lusk.

Galati said NASCAR is a physically and mentally demanding sport and lifestyle that requires you to be in constant contact with your colleagues and peers. As much as you love your team, he added, you require time away from them.

"If you have something outside of racing that requires your attention, you're forced to take your mind off NASCAR," Galati said. "Putting your mind to something else makes a difference and gives you something to look forward to."

So when he's not tinkering under the hood of the No. 2 Chevrolet, Galati is toiling over payroll and product orders. He even sweeps up hair on occasion. Whatever it takes to divert your attention, Galati says, do it.

Besides, sweeping up hair is much less painful than getting side-swiped by Sprague as Galati experienced this season at Martinsville Speedway.

"Yeah, I took the brunt of that hit on pit road but it's part of the job. You just take a deep breath, back up a little and start again," he said.

If one does suffer from burn-out, industry members and experts say it's not incurable. Walking away for a period of time is fathomable and if they come back later, they may find it enjoyable again.

Chris "Hacksaw" Martin would agree and said he almost "cracked up" this time four years ago at Richmond International Raceway.

"I didn't burn completely out but in 2005 I was on the Reese's car with [Kevin' Harvick," Martin recalled. "I was the car chief and on the pit crew and pitted the car, did the setup and a lot of it. I was getting up at 4 a.m. every morning and couldn't take it anymore. I looked at one of the guys and said, 'I can't take it anymore.'"

Fortunately, Richard Childress Racing allowed Martin to scale back somewhat and do only race-day duties. He got back to the farm in Mount Airy, N.C., for what he considers his creative outlet -- his dogs.

Now the rear-tire carrier on the No. 29 Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series and shop mechanic, Martin raises champion competition raccoon hunting dogs, similar to what you might see on ESPN's Great Outdoor Games.

His dogs, Treeing Walker hounds, are well known in the hunting dog competition circle and Martin has created a substantial side business selling the dogs he raises and trains.

The 36-year-old, in the sport since 1993, said working with the dogs helps his stress level immensely.

"You've got to get away from the mess," he said. "You've got to find a group of guys to hang out with that don't care about racing. We all jump in the truck together with our dogs in the back, nobody fusses or talks about racing. No professional talk. That's what relaxes me."

That said, Galati, Masencup and Martin agree that greater sponsor dollars, understanding team owners, increasing salaries and larger staffs have alleviated the burdens, which 10 years ago were nearly impossible to manage.

Martin said when he started in the early 1990s, crew members worked around the clock until they had a day off. More specialized jobs have improved working conditions and the teams have more depth, as well.

"It used to be one guy was in charge of several different jobs, today you can focus on fewer roles," Martin said. "You can take off to make your brother's wedding and not feel like you're letting the team down."

Sometimes, experts say, those suffering from burn-out may find they have no interest in continuing with the sport. They may find the cause to be more of a lack of motivation. Lustberg advises to take a step back and look to make one change at a time.

This way if a breaking point is reached again, that person will be more prepared and aware of what caused the burn-out. Hence, they will be able to pace themselves and control their energy more effectively ensuring that they operate at stress levels where they can give optimum performance.

And if all else fails, buy a coon dog.

"It's a big time," Martin said. "It gives you that relaxed country-morning feel and I come in on Monday ready to go."