Former Dawg makes sure pit crews at Hendrick Motorsports have plenty of gas
Former Bulldog Darius Dewberry will tell you he wasn’t much of a NASCAR fan during the years he played football for Georgia from 2006 to 2009.
“About the only thing I knew about NASCAR was Talladega Nights,” he said.
That’s obviously changed.
For the past five years, Dewberry has served as part of the three-man strength and conditioning crew at Hendrick Motor Sports, where he helps to make sure that the pit crews who work for drivers Chase Elliott, Kasay Kahne, Jimmie Johnson and the soon-to-retire Dale Earnhardt Jr. are able to operate in peak condition.
Credit former Bulldog strength and conditioning coach Dave Van Halanger for helping Dewberry get his foot in the door.
It was Van Halanger who recommended the former player to Mark Morrison, the head strength and conditioning coach at Hendrick Motor Sports. Morrison interned for Van Halanger while at Florida State.
It’s a career switch Dewberry has never regretted.
“I love it,” said Dewberry, who was working at UGA on the grounds crew before this opportunity arose. “Obviously, this (working in NASCAR) was never in the plans, but it’s great.”
Like strength staffs often have in football, the three members of the Hendrick Motorsports staff have specific responsibilities.
“It’s kind of like football, big skill and linemen,” he explained. “I do big skill, which is more of your running back and linebacker drills. Those are the guys that carry the tires. They’re running out there with 80 pounds out there, so they have to be kind of strong. The jack men, those are the bigger, stronger guys, the guys who are changing the tires are more like you’re DBs or quarterbacks.”
Coincidently enough, many on the pit crews at Hendrick did just that.
Former football players from Alabama, Clemson, North Carolina, Nebraska, UNLV and Virginia Tech are part of the various teams, along with former wrestlers from the likes of Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Michigan. Sprinkle in a few ex-soccer players, and you’ll find that former athletes on pit crews working for Hendrick Motor Sports run the gamut.
It’s not an accident that’s the case.
Keith Flynn is the pit crew developer for Hendrick Motorsports, and he’ll go around to various colleges where he actively recruits athletes to work for the racing team.
Once prospects are identified, they are put through a “combine” to determine which ones can make the grade.
“We go after former athletes, not the guys who are going to the NFL per se, but guys who won’t be moving on to the pros,” Dewberry explained. “But all these guys have worked on teams before, and that’s very important to what we do.”
That’s one reason Dewberry feels like he fits in so well.
“Just like football or wresting, you’ve got to trust that the other guy is going to do his job,” Dewberry said. “I just love being part of the team.”