TRUCKS: Coulter Juggling Recent Success With Back-To-School Rush

Camping World Trucks

TRUCKS: Coulter Juggling Recent Success With Back-To-School Rush

Classes resume for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ most recent winner, mechanical engineering major...

Megan Englehart | Posted August 15, 2012 Charlotte, NC

Joey Coulter, (Right) driver of the No. 22 RCR/darrellgwynnfoundation.com Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane with team owner Richard Childress (Left) after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Pocono Mountains 125. (Photo: Getty Images)

The whole world knows what Joey Coulter did last summer… and it was something no other college student in America was able to accomplish.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver and mechanical engineering major won his career-first NASCAR national series race two weeks ago at Pocono Raceway, giving him quite a story to share when classes resume next Monday.

The Richard Childress Racing (RCR) driver rides a wave of momentum into Saturday’s race at Michigan International Speedway (12:30 p.m. ET on SPEED; NCWTS Setup with Krista Voda at 12 p.m. ET), a track at which he scored a top-10 finish last year in both the Truck Series and the ARCA Racing Series.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that it’s back to the grind Monday for the University of North Carolina-Charlotte (UNCC) college junior after a summer off that afforded him more time to focus on his racing career. Cue the juggling act.

“The trick is to get the best balance possible while both racing and school are in full swing,” said Coulter, who holds two top-five and six top-10 finishes in 11 races this year. “During the racing season, I try to ensure I’m not missing a lot on the school side, but when summer rolls around, I spend much more time in the shop, going over notes and watching film. I definitely can dedicate extra time to racing during the summer.”

Coulter, whose classes are scheduled on Mondays and Wednesdays, already is planning how he can best utilize his time outside the classroom for regular trips to RCR.

“Once the semester starts, I’ll try to get to the shop the two days I’m not in class each week,” the Miami Springs, Fla., native said. “I like to practice pit stops with the guys and just catch up with my crew chief as much as possible.”

His team engineer, Matt McCall, also holds a mechanical engineering degree and is a driver to boot, to which Coulter points as a substantial benefit for all involved.

“My engineering experience is a huge help when it comes to relating to my crew chief and engineer, and since my engineer, Matt McCall, also is a driver, I’ve seen it pay off for him as well,” Coulter, 22, explained. “That’s the level I want to achieve. I want to be equipped to be both the driver and the engineer if needed to help bridge the gap. In a lot of cases, I’ve worked with engineers who aren’t drivers and they’re super-smart, great engineers. But they don’t always see things from the driver’s perspective, whereas Matt can relate to anything I tell him.”

The 2011 Truck Series rookie-of-the-year also says he is pursuing his engineering degree as a fallback plan should driving not pan out for him.

“As tough as the sport is now in with finding sponsors and getting myself and my team out there, having a mechanical engineering degree is a good back-up plan for me,” Coulter added. “I want to be in racing regardless of what happens with driving. I’m putting everything into driving, but if it can’t be a driver, I’m not going to disappear and sit on the couch the rest of my life. I want to do something in the sport and really be good at it.”

“While a lot of what he is learning in mechanical engineering isn’t necessarily what we’re working on at the track, it all applies somehow,” stated Harold Holly, Coulter’s crew chief. “Joey going through those drills every day is a huge help. He understands what we’re doing. He is able to talk with the engineers, listen to the technical side of everything and put it all together.”

After his win at Pocono, which put Coulter in Victory Lane before rookie teammate Ty Dillon, it is likely he will continue to apply that engineering knowledge behind the wheel instead of under the truck.

“Coulter is the real deal and I love how his team has come together; how he and Harold Holly have grown together and have gotten their communication down pat,” said SPEED reporter Ray Dunlap. “They have been in a position to win three or four times this season, so I don’t think Pocono will be their last win. Joey certainly has impressed. Many people were surprised he got his first Truck Series win before Ty Dillon did, but both will play a big role in the future of RCR.”

Now that the sophomore driver has broken through, his team’s goals have changed. The No. 22 Rip It Energy Chevrolet team posted a top-10 finish last year at Michigan, but that won’t suffice this time around.

“It’s kind of hard for us not to think that with as well as Pocono went, we’re headed to Michigan looking for the same outcome,” Coulter explained. “They say after you win your first one, the second one is easier. We’re fired up and riding the wave. In order to get back in the championship fight, we’ve got to win the same amount of races, if not more, than the No. 31 truck (James Buescher).”

But winning that first one for legendary car owner Richard Childress was something Coulter never will forget.

“That was just huge for me,” Coulter said on NASCAR Race Hub on SPEED. “It was a big deal just to get the opportunity to drive for him, but to bring home a trophy for him was twice as good.”