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7th Heaven: Puchalski Caps Another Year With Another Ring

For the past seven years, Marc Puchalski’s racing season has ended in the same way, with his team celebrating a NASCAR championship.

Puchalski is a mechanic for Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet team, which capped off the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season with its record-tying third consecutive title. Immediately prior to joining Hendrick Motorsports, Puchalski worked for Andy Santerre during Santerre’s run of four straight NASCAR Camping World Series East championships.

Seven years. Seven NASCAR rings for the 38-year-old Puchalski.

“It’s pretty amazing really,” said Puchalski. “It’s hard to believe.”

As attention turns to the beginning of the 2009 season and up-and-coming drivers such as Joey Logano and Austin Dillon make their way from NASCAR’s touring and weekly series to the national level  – joining the likes of Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Carl Edwards as drivers who have gotten their start on the lower rungs of NASCAR’s ladder – Puchalski is a reminder that it’s not just drivers who are looking to make the next step.

“Marc’s story is a great example of the men and women in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garages and shops that have gotten their start at short tracks around the country,” said Jim Hunter, NASCAR’s vice president of corporate communication. “His success is a testament to the hard work and dedication it takes to climb to the top of this sport.”

Puchalski got his start far from the North Carolina hub of racing.

Originally from California, Puchalski went to high school in Wethersfield, Conn. A self-professed ‘hands on person,’ Puchalski was going part-time to a welding school when he saw an ad in the paper for a NASCAR Busch North team looking for a mechanic/fabricator. He gave them a call, and three weeks later he was working for Tom Bolles’ team in the series that has evolved into the NASCAR Camping World Series East.

Puchalski went on to work for several years for Connecticut-based car owner Ted Marsh, before joining Santerre’s team.

While most of the series was based in the northeast at the time, Santerre’s shop was in North Carolina and he would make the long-haul on weekends to the track, where he was joined by Puchalski and Co.

“He was a one-man show down there,” Puchalski said. “On the weekends it was break time for him. He’s take it easy, and we’d take care of the cars. There was a group of us from Connecticut and Rhode Island. Because he was such a good driver, he always took care of his equipment.”

In 2002, Santerre drove to his first of four straight NASCAR championships.

“That first one was pretty special,” Puchalski said.

After championship No. 3, Puchalski was offered a job at the shop by Santerre and moved down to North Carolina.

“He was a big asset to my team and a big part of the reason we won four championships in a row,” Santerre said. “He's a good all-around worker; he can do everything you need on a race car. I'm really proud of him and proud to say we worked together. He was a great asset to me and I know he's a great asset to Hendrick Motorsports”

Santerre retired from driving after the 2005 championship season. Puchalski had gotten to know some contacts with Hendrick Motorsports through one of the guys who painted all of Santerre’s race cars. When a job came open, Puchalski put his name in for the position, and landed the gig.

“I got pretty lucky,” Puchalski said. “I met all the right people and was in all the right places, it seems.”

Pausing, Puchalski reflects on where he’s been – and all the people who work on race cars across the country at their local home track.

“I have a ton of respect for all those guys,” Puchalski said. “I know what they go through.”

As a mechanic with the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet team, Puchalski is responsible for helping prepare parts such as the fuel cell for the weekend. And on race weekend, his attention turns to the front suspension and the brakes.

“It’s a whole new level, but it’s really the exact same thing,” said Puchalski. “It’s just more people involved.”

With the added responsibilities comes added pressure. And in the Chase for the Sprint Cup format, where Johnson has been unmatched over the past three season, it takes a complete team effort to avoid even the tiniest mistake that can spell disaster.

“It’s pretty amazing because at any given time, something can ruin your whole day,” Puchalski said. “It could happen to anybody. Anything can happen. It’s pretty stressful, the last 10 races, hoping you did your stuff right, and everybody did their stuff right, and everything stays together.”

The offseason, though, is a chance to celebrate past accomplishments and look forward to new challenges.

For Puchalski, that means trying to add another ring to his collection.

And he’s in the right place to do it.

“I love that place, I love the people there,” Puchalski said of Hendrick Motorsports. “It’s everything that you thought it could be.

“Coming from that little welding school in Connecticut to this – that was the whole goal. I worked hard up there to get to this point, and when you finally get here, it’s pretty cool.

“Just the people and the effort – it’s just awesome.”