Tavo "C.T." Hellmund gets a test

[fastoval]

Got this from Jayski's site Good Luck Tavo

 

 

New Blood

Young drivers to get chance to show their skills at GM test

 

 

By Mike Mulhern

JOURNAL REPORTER

 

 

Related Information

 

• Ross Thompson: He raced SCCA and progressed into NASCAR West, has been close to people at GM for a while and has been trying to get a test like the one he had at Caraway Speedway last month.

 

• Tavo "CT" Hellmund: A Mexican-born driver who has been around Winston West and who was close to GM's Herb Fishel for a while. He has had a couple of tests, including one at Virginia International Raceway last year. The testing at Caraway gave him an opportunity to get on an oval track and let people see what he can do.

 

• Woody Howard: Joe Gibbs brought Howard, a Virginia racer, to the table. Gibbs' men have a lot of confidence in him and want to see what he can do in heavier cars with more horsepower.

 

• Stephen Leicht: He has worked with Howard Lettow, a legendary crew chief who brought Jimmie Johnson up through ASA.

 

• Travis Kittleson: He has raced ASA and run some Busch races. He's a GM Racing pick.

 

• Ryan Moore: He's from Dale Earnhardt Inc., has done very well up north, and DEI has some Busch races planned for him.

 

• Kyle Krisiloff: He's a development driver for Hendrick Motorsports.

 

• Willie Allen: Car owner David Dollar has had his eye on Allen.

 

• Aric Almirola: He's a development driver for Joe Gibbs who has done very well in weekly racing. This was his first shot at a heavy NASCAR-type vehicle.

 

• Chris Bristol: Another development driver for Joe Gibbs.

 

• Jarrit Johnson: Jimmie's brother and a development driver for Rick Hendrick; he's also scheduled for some Truck races later this year.

 

• Brandon Ward: A second Richard Childress pick.

 

• Curtis Truex: He races against Ryan Moore, and DEI wants to compare to him to the others at the May tests.

 

 

 

SOPHIA

 

When Tavo Hellmund, a soft-spoken, lanky, blond-haired kid, was growing up in Mexico City, NASCAR wasn't much to talk about. But once he moved way up the road to Austin, Texas, he got the fever.

 

So here he is on a warm afternoon in late May, at General Motors' Area 51 - Caraway Speedway, way back down in the woods from Shepherd's Mountain. He's talking softly with fellow racer Ross Thompson, just in from Phoenix, about the unexpected turn of events that brought them and 10 others to Caraway for GM's first computer-data driver auditions.

 

With the stakes as high as they are, these guys should be nervous. After all, their careers are on the line in this three-day series of tests of 13 candidates by GM racing engineers.

 

Hellmund and Thompson clearly understand the stakes. They're the long-shot free agents in this game, the most savvy about the business perhaps.

 

But the way that the NASCAR game is played today is more for demographic reach and entertainment sizzle than pure racing competence.

 

Bobby Isaac never would have made it in this world.

 

So here is the other side of this particular cultural divide:

 

Woody Howard, lean, wiry and hungry, like a younger Greg Biffle, cooling his feet sitting behind the wheel of a car after driving down from Chesapeake, Va.. Trying to appear cool, and, like a good boxer, doing his best to manage the surging adrenalin rush. He's from the Joe Gibbs camp ... tentatively.

 

Stephen Leicht, happy and carefree, wandering around the infield curiously, beaming like a kid on the midway. Only 18, Leicht seems under the least pressure. But then, he's a kid that Richard Childress has his eyes on.

 

NASCAR veteran Dennis Setzer and chief mechanic Randy Goss set up and baseline the testing truck, then each driver gets an hour and two sets of tires to show his best stuff ... while Pat Suhy, the head of GM's NASCAR field operations, listens intently on the radio to the point-counterpoint, judging not only how fast these guys can drive but how well they can communicate about the chassis.

 

"How could you not be nervous at something like this," Leicht says, but with a laugh. "We've got all of GM watching.

 

"It's a chance to really get there, to get to where you want to be. Ever since I was 5, Dale Earnhardt was my hero. I watched him and said 'Man, I wish I could race with him.'

 

"And this is a good step toward getting there."

 

For Suhy, this is a new program. GM is stepping up its farm-team scouting operations with some full-blown, data-acquisition testing runs of prospective new drivers.

 

Ten of the men here this particular week are loosely affiliated with Nextel Cup team owners. But Thompson and Hellmund are not. They'll have to fight their way into consideration.

 

Hellmund, born and raised in Mexico City, lives in Austin and once caught the eye of GM's Herb Fishel, when Fishel, a Winston-Salem native, was the head of GM's racing operations. "I had the NASCAR dream before it became fashionable with the 'diversity initiative,'" Hellmund said. "I've been racing short-track stuff, and winning at every level.

 

"I was one of those guys who has been designated as 'a guy who can drive but who doesn't have money.'

 

"I got hooked up with a Cup team about five years ago, and that looked like it would be a good opportunity. But the owner ran into problems, so I wasted two or three years, then went back to Texas to run some Winston West.

 

"You know how it is - it's a very political game, and about who you know. So I'm grateful to get this opportunity. I haven't been in a race car since Colorado National, so I'm glad they'll give us a few laps to knock the rust off before they start evaluating us.

 

"For me, a kid from Mexico City, to actually get a shot with a GM team, at least a test, and in front of the right people, is an honor. I don't know if some of the younger guys - Ross and I have been working our whole lives at this to get a shot like this - can really put a value on this and appreciate what it means."

 

Hellmund was set to drive a Busch car in the Mexico City 200 in March. "But marketing and some other issues prevented that," he said. "I did spot for Ron Fellows. But obviously I was disappointed in missing that event. That's a very important race.

 

"I don't what will come of this, or what the real objective of this is, other than to get data on various drivers. But I'll just try to do as good a job as possible ... and hope someone sees the value in having a kid who's semi-blond and from Mexico City.

 

"I'm not picky. I'll drive anything. If it's a tricycle on the moon, I'll do it."

 

Thompson, although he has a full-blown game face on, insists: "There is no pressure. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, without a question.

 

"When we showed up, Randy said 'Just go have fun.'

 

"Pressure is what you put on yourself, and I don't have any pressure on myself.

 

"CT (Hellmund's nickname) and I probably don't know the full story of what the real objective of this test is. Everyone else is under contract to a team. So you just have to take this as the chance of a lifetime. Let's just go out and do our craft."

 

Thompson, a road racer by trade who in 1998 had a Trans-Am series run, ran Winston West for a while and won a NASCAR Southwest Tour race.

 

"But then I got out of the sport. Basically out of necessity - couldn't make money at it," he said.

 

"I had made money out of it for seven years, but.... So I made a choice. And everything happens for a reason.

 

"I started a business. Now I've got good partners, and the company runs itself.

 

"Once I understood what it means to have a manufacturer's involvement in this sport, once I understood what it meant to have a manufacturer involved, I went back to knocking on doors and calling folks I used to know. And I was invited to this test.

 

"This business is about relationships, let's face it.

 

"GM Racing invited me. It's who you know in this deal. And I'm grateful to be here, very fortunate."

 

And next?

 

"You show up with your helmet and get the job done they want you to do," Thompson says hopefully.

 

Howard, 23, started with karts at 8, moved up to Legends at 16, then Late Model Stocks. "This year I was lucky enough to get signed up with Gibbs, and we'll start out with the Hooter's Pro Cup."

 

Today? "I've never driven a truck before. Never been here before," Howard said. "So this is awesome to be able to get this opportunity. I'm thrilled. Maybe I can impress them. There are a lot of good drivers here.

 

"I'm not even sure what this is for, though. They're calling this an 'evaluation,' and hopefully I'll get a good one, and it will lead to something."

 

Leicht, the youngest on today's slate, is running the full American StockCar League (ASL) tour. A native of Milwaukee, Leicht now lives in Asheville. Teaching him the ropes is veteran Howard Lettow, who worked with current NASCAR stars Jimmie Johnson and David Stremme.

 

"When Richard heard about this test, he said 'Let's see what he's got," Leicht said. That put Leicht's name on Suhy's clipboard.

 

The promise, if Leicht's numbers suit Childress? "They could throw me in some ARCA races or some Busch races, or a GM-affiliated Truck ride. It would just depend on what they have going," Leicht said.

 

So Leicht is here with a game plan. "You don't know these drivers that well, because you've never raced with them, and they come from all over the country. So you're anxious to see what they've got.

 

"And you have to work your strategy - OK, this guy isn't that consistent, so let's try to be more consistent and hit our marks better.

 

"Your times don't have to be super-fast, but just keep them in the ballpark. That's what they're looking for.

 

"We're definitely competing against each other. So use any advantage you have, on the track, the way you look, the way your times look....

 

Suhy explained: "We've seen our teams struggle, and other manufacturers struggle, with looking at drivers at various tracks in races and trying to make something happen: 'Hey he looks like a good candidate.'"

 

When Suhy organized this particular test, each NASCAR GM team picked two candidates.

 

"And we ourselves had a handful of guys we've been looking at on and off a couple years, me and (GM's chief talent scout) Ray Smith and Doug Duchardt (former head of GM Racing). We really wanted to give our independent guys a shot," Suhy said.

 

Each driver gets two sets of new tires, the first, to get a feel for the track "We want feedback from them, to see if they all feel the same changes we make," Suhy said.

 

"But we really want to watch them get the truck set-up with Randy."

 

• Mike Mulhern can be reached at mmulhern@wsjournal.com

[tqj3]

The things you have to do in this game when you're not some 18-year-old "whiz kid." Looks like Tavo is working the Mexico City connection...

Good press, though.

[REBELRACER]

thats what i was thinking too...........i guess it is another marketing advantage for him.........hell he might as well exploit that aspect, if it works go for it.................it seems to be working for that drive for diversity driver with the waste management racing team...........being hispanic helped him get that seat, the rest is going to be up to him to stay in it................