NASCAR has always been a tight knit group of people, who over time, find themselves helping one another in their racing endeavors in one way or another. This sentiment rings true for Joe Lax and his history with “The Man In Black”.
Lax, was a young racer from Virginia, who had dreams of making it in NASCAR. The only problem was that he only had a hundred dollars in his pocket and was not tied into the community of NASCAR; that was until he was introduced to Dale Earnhardt Sr., and the two instantly hit it off. Earnhardt provided a place on his ranch for Lax to live and to follow his dream of working in NASCAR. Within weeks, Lax found himself beginning his career gainfully employed within the NASCAR community and he feels he owes that all to the late Dale Earnhardt.
Lax, will now have the opportunity to repay his debt to the man that help give him his break into the sport, by becoming the crew chief for his grandson Jeffrey Earnhardt, twenty years after he began his career in NASCAR. Lax will head up the # 1 Fuel Doctor Chevy in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series during 2011.
Lax, a long time veteran of the sport, has worked with some of the great organizations that were once prominent teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, such as Billy Hagan Racing, Don Beverly Racing, A.G. Dillard Motorsports and Joe Bessey Motorsports. Lax also spent time working at Hendrick Motorsports and Bill Davis Racing, where he received his first Daytona 500 victory with Ward Burton in 2002. Lax worked as Mike Skinners Crew Chief at BDR in during the 2008 season in the NCWTS. The Lax-Earnhardt journey came full circle in December 2010 when Rick Ware Racing reached out to have Lax join the team as Jeffrey’s crew chief for the #1 Fuel Doctor Chevy.
“I am excited about accepting the crew chief position with Jeffery and Fuel Doctor Racing. I’m looking forward to working with Jeffrey and all the guys at Rick Ware Racing. I am sure with the Earnhardt lineage, the talent and desire is already in him. Knowing what I do about his grandfather’s competitive spirit I am sure we will all enjoy the show.” Said Lax.
“I am excited about having Joe Lax on board with the #1 Fuel Doctor truck. Joe has obviously been a long time veteran of this sport, so his experience will be a great addition to our team. I am also looking forward to hearing some of the stories he can share with me about my grandpa, and how it came to be that he lived on his ranch for a year when I was just born”. Said Earnhardt.
When the green flag drops on February 18th, 2011 at the NextEra Energy Resources 250 (live 7:30pm EST on SPEED TV) the next chapter will begin in the Earnhardt-Lax story.
For more information visit www.wareracing.com or you can also follow the team on Twitter at @rickwareracing
For more information on Jeffrey Earnhardt visit www.jeffreyearnhardt.com.
