Maybe half the truckers on the road would give their CDLs to drive a race car. Not even multi-millionaire Winston Cup team owner Rick Hendrick can afford to race on his own money, and he owns 40 or 50 new car dealerships. How can you race on truck driver pay? Trucker Kevin Littwin has found a way.
Littwin, 43,of Albany, Ore., drives for Gordon Trucking Co. in Pacific, Wash., about 20 miles south of Seattle. On weekends, he steers a Monte Carlo in a NASCAR-sanctioned regional racing series in the Northwest. "I raced on dirt tracks a little as a kid and won everything in sight," says Littwin, "but I always wanted to run with the big boys." With his own money, he bought a late-model Monte Carlo NASCAR racer built by J.J. Sevefino.
"I could only afford to race three or four times a year," says Littwin. "I never thought about sponsorship until last year, but I couldn't afford to keep racing without it." So he came up with a plan that involved his employer and his fellow drivers.
Gordon Trucking has been in business since 1946. Today, Gordon owns 585 tractor-trailers and contracts with 180 owner-operators. It runs mostly in the West but is now expanding into the Southeast, said Bruce Binder, director of driver services.
"I've been with Gordon three years," says Littwin, who hauls general freight with a company-owned Freightliner Century. "I generally stay out about a week at a time. The company has been really responsive to my personal needs," he says.
Gordon Trucking had sponsorship in a NASCAR Winston West car once before. "The company drivers hated that car," says Littwin. "They thought it was taking money out of their pockets." He couldn't ask Gordon for sponsorship in a situation like that. It had to be something the other Gordon drivers would buy into. And that, literally, is what he persuaded them to do.
Littwin decided to ask Gordon drivers to help sponsor his car. Any Gordon trucker could get his name on the race car for $25. He figured it would help the company. Now all he had to do was sell the idea to management. He painted the car to look like a Gordon rig and towed it to the fleet's main yard in Pacific. "I left it out there in the rain for two weeks before I got a meeting and got them to listen to my ideas," he says.
Gordon's driver recruiter, Neil Marzolf, listened and took Littwin to see Binder, who decided to give it a try. "Gordon Trucking does sponsor the majority of the car," says Binder. "What our drivers do is buy an associate sponsorship for $25. The name decals are about 8 inches long and 1 inch high.
Last year, 227 drivers had their names on the race car. The whole back, top and sides of the car were covered. Now, every driver who comes to a race says 'Look, there's my name.' People like to see their names on things. It's been great for driver recruiting and retention."
The company newsletter announced the program, and notices were put on company bulletin boards. Littwin also passed out flyers. Besides getting their names on the car, participating drivers also got free discount coupons and other merchandise. The nearby TA donated coffee mugs, free caps, soda pop, pens, even dinners.
Then, all 227 associate sponsors put their names in a drawing. Five were chosen to drive the race car around a track. Gordon rented the track, and Littwin and his crew brought the car. Each driver got two 20-lap sessions, says Littwin. "They're professional truck drivers. They're naturals. They drive for a living. I'd just tell them to stay smooth and work up to speed. The car ran 335 laps that day."
In addition to the five chosen drivers, a few Gordon Trucking executives wanted to get in on the fun. "I actually drove the car," says Binder. "It's something most people never get to do in their lifetimes. My heart must have been going a hundred miles an hour all day. We timed the laps. Of course, we got into a little competition among ourselves."
This year's car is a new ProCraft NASCAR Late Model stock car; Last year's Monte Carlo is on display at Gordon. The team has two 355-cubic-inch, 550-hp racing engines. The car has a Camaro stock front clip, but is fully fabricated from there back. The tracks specify tires, either Goodyear Eagles or Hoosier racing slicks.
Littwin will compete at half-mile and five-eighths-mile asphalt tracks in Washington, Oregon, Montana and California this year. Randy Smith is crew chief and Mike McCorey does all the fabrication and the chassis setup. The team is looking forward to the season, although Littwin has yet to win a race on asphalt.
Gordon's driver recruiters, Marzolf and Rick Dutra, take the display car to truckstops and truck shows. Last year, the company's booth at the International Trucking Show in Las Vegas saw a lot of traffic thanks to the car and, says Littwin with a smile, "We had Hooters' girls over there every day."
Smokey Yunick, the famous race car garage owner in Daytona, was there and signed the hood of the display car. Besides attracting potential new drivers, the car sponsorship seems to help keep drivers at Gordon. Binder says driver turnover is down.
"We put a lot of the recruiting dollars we used to spend on advertising into this program, Binder says. "It's been very positive. NASCAR in general, and the Winston Cup series in particular, is very popular with our drivers. It's bonded everybody at Gordon Trucking, it gives them something to be proud of.
"We take the car to our company barbecues and our driver appreciation days. Our drivers get to look at it, crawl all over it, get in it, get their pictures taken, fire it up and listen to the engine. This year, we're putting more money behind it, offering more things to our drivers. We even took the car to one of Gordon Trucking's biggest customers for one of their special events.
"This year, instead of getting just five drivers at the track for one day, we're trying to get two days at the track with maybe 12 drivers," Binder says. "Now our marketing and sales department wants to have a similar race day for our customers."
Littwin also is going the extra mile. He lets some fellow truckers actually drive the car in real races. "One guy who works in the shop used to race sprint cars. Another guy there used to race dirt track. The problem is, I only got to drive twice all last year, but I had the best time just watching I've ever had. Oh, a couple of times I got a little weak-kneed watching, but I'd like to see everybody in the whole fleet drive it. Racing is competitive. This is just pure fun.
"We hope to race about every two weeks this year. I want to involve the guys who support the car. I'm trying to get the tracks to give free passes to all the guys with names on the car. I expect to get 350 drivers to sign on this year."
Winners can take home as much as $10,000, but you get $100 just for showing up. With help from Gordon Trucking, Littwin is attracting some national sponsors. "Up to now, I could only afford to race a couple of times a year," he says. "I'm not making any money from racing, but now I can afford to race a lot more. I want to get to the next level, the Northwest Tour of Winston West.
"When we go racing, we always compete in the feature race," he adds. "Last year, we'd have 20 guys in the stands cheering for us. They'd come down to the pits after the race. I always put their kids in the car and take their pictures.
"My wife, Lorrine, supports me in everything I do. We have a son, John, 18, and two daughters, Larin, 12, and Akemi, 11. They're all excited about my racing. They go to the races and cheer me on. That's all I could ask. I'm one of the most fortunate people in the world."
