He’s been with the same company for nearly 20 years, 19 to be exact. However, when the checkered flag fell at Homestead-Miami Speedway a few weeks ago veteran crew chief Steve Letarte climbed down from the pit box for what is most likely the final time. Letarte announced earlier this season that 2014 would be his last season with the famed Hendrick Motorsports organization. In the wake of the new NASCAR TV deal, Letarte will be moving to the broadcast booth in 2015 for NBC. Tuesday Letarte opened up in an “exit interview” video posted by Hendrick Motorsports. In part 1 he talked about his tenure.
“Well, it’s really hard to acknowledge,” Letarte said. “I always ask the people out there what were you doing in 1995, because I was here. When you’ve been here as long as I have and you’ve worked here as long as I have, it’s awkward to talk about. For 19 years I’ve been driving here to come to work; for 19 years I’ve been on the road, I’ve been at racetracks all over the country, loving what I am doing., what I think is the best job in the world.”
“But over those 19 years you make sacrifices,” he added. “You know I was able to bet married and have kids but there’s been a lot of things along the way that I’ve had to pass up and now is kind of the time to go back and make up some of those missed opportunities.” MORE>>>
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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