CONCORD, N.C. -- Last weekend, Chase Elliott won at the home track of No. 9 team jackman T.J. Semke.
It was certainly a highlight for the athlete in his first year on Elliott's pit crew.
"Getting the win at my home track in front of my family and friends, all of them watching, was a huge moment and something I'll never forget," Semke said.
With so much on the line in the Round of 12 finale in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, it was far from a tranquil trip home for the jackman.
"Especially for me, I'm just always the type of person that wants to make my family proud and wants to make people proud of me," he said. "You might think going home it would be relaxing and nice, but you've got your whole family there, you don't want to let them down. So, it's even added pressure. You're in one of the premier cars in the sport, it's the playoffs."
But that pressure paid off in a big way when Elliott celebrated with the No. 9 team in Victory Lane after clinching his second win in three weeks.
For Semke, this run of success is a long way from when as a high school football player in Kansas City, Kan., he injured his back in a "freak accident" while riding the bus when it hit a bump in the road.
He worked hard to get his body back into shape and ultimately found success as a walk-on at the University of Kansas, earning a scholarship his junior year.
Following his football career, Hendrick Motorsports came calling, and an unexpected career in NASCAR followed.
Learn more about Semke's path to the No. 9 team from the athlete himself in the video above.