Just about every little boy grows up with dreams of being a race car driver, but just a tiny sliver of those dreamers ever get beyond racing go-karts. Few, if any teens dream of becoming a race car crew chief, though the job offers a lot more than you might think. Not only do you have a front-row seat for the action, but you arguably shoulder more responsibility for victory or defeat than even the driver.
The final race of the American Le Mans Series wrapped up this weekend with Petit Le Mans, and Mobil 1’s The Grid [1] did an interview with Corvette Racing Crew Chief Dan Binks. It’s the end of an era not just for ALMS, but Binks and the Corvette Racing crew as well.
Binks job includes overseeing a lot of the day-to-day activity of the team, everything from managing other crew members to scheduling truck arrivals and departures. He is the cog that ensures all the other cogs move when and how they’re supposed to, and this carries over onto race day when some of the most crucial decisions fall on him. Specifically, he is in charge of the #73 car, driven by Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen.
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But before Binks ever goes to the track, there is a lot of preparation that Binks has to oversee to ensure the team is up-to-snuff and doing everything the way they’re supposed to. Once race day itself comes, Binks is the voice in the driver’s ear, giving him all the info he needs, and he says that he’d rather a pit stop go long than go wrong. There’s a lot riding on Binks on race day, and we’re sure he’s looking forward to the 2014 Corvette C7.R making its big debut next year so he can carry on the winning tradition he has helped build at Corvette Racing.