CONCORD, N.C. - This weekend, drivers, teams and fans are heading to New Hampshire Motor Speedway. For some, it’s any other track – the second race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. But for others, it’s also a trip home.
For three engineers on Kasey Kahne’s No. 5 team, they call New Hampshire Motor Speedway their “home track.”
Dave Paranto, a shock engineer for the No. 5 Chevrolet SS, grew up in Woodsville, New Hampshire, just 75 miles north of the speedway. He said the 1.058-mile track was where he would go to watch the “big show” of NASCAR growing up.
Paranto moved to North Carolina in 1998 and started working with Hendrick Motorsports when Kahne started in 2012 – the same year he brought home his first win at the short track.
“A win at New Hampshire would be special,” Paranto said. “In 2012 we won with Kasey and that was pretty cool – to win and to see the big lobster.”
Tony Bove, the No. 5 engine tuner, originates from Burlington, Vermont, approximately 167 northwest of the New Hampshire track, where he attended his first NASCAR Cup race.
Growing up around racing, Bove knew that he wanted to make a career out of it.
“I’ve loved cars and enjoyed racing my whole life,” Bove said. “I was lucky enough to get a job in the (Hendrick Motorsports) engine shop parts room after college.”
Also hailing from Vermont is No. 5 engineer Taylor Moyer. Growing up in Shoreham, Vermont, he spent his childhood working on his best friend’s race car and traveling to short tracks around Vermont and New Hampshire.
And although New Hampshire Motor Speedway is the closest NASCAR track to his hometown, Moyer has never actually visited the track as a fan -- only when working with teams.
He moved down to North Carolina to go to college specifically for engineering with a focus on race cars.
“I got my foot in the door at Hendrick Motorsports actually on the developmental pit crew way back when,” Moyer said. “And then I have taken various positions throughout the company in different departments in my tenure here.”
All three of the engineers say that bringing home a win from New Hampshire, where they have friends and family watching, would mean a lot to them.
The No. 5 team and Kasey Kahne will have a chance to do just that on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.