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Our Fans<br />
DREAM JOB FOR<br />
A NASCAR FAN<br />
<strong>UAW</strong> member Gary Alred loves going to work<br />
Gary Alred is living his dream.<br />
We go wherever<br />
there’s a race —<br />
Dover, Talladega,<br />
Daytona and,<br />
“of course, Vegas.<br />
“<br />
If you’re a lifetime NASCAR fan<br />
— and a <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong><br />
truck driver — what would<br />
you say is your dream job? Gary<br />
Alred has the answer: his job.<br />
Since August 2005, the <strong>UAW</strong> member<br />
has been assigned to the <strong>UAW</strong>-<br />
Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> National Training<br />
Center’s NASCAR Exhibit (see page 27).<br />
That means if it’s NASCAR season, his<br />
job changes from hauling auto parts for<br />
Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> Transport in Detroit to<br />
hauling the NTC’s racing exhibit. “We<br />
go wherever there’s a race — Dover, Talladega,<br />
Daytona and, of course, Vegas,”<br />
explains Alred, who put in for the special<br />
NASCAR duty last year.<br />
His NASCAR assignment is more<br />
than the perfect job for Alred. It’s also<br />
making him very popular at home,<br />
where his wife, Jill, is a loyal race<br />
watcher as well. “Every Sunday, my<br />
wife has to watch NASCAR or record<br />
it,” Alred says. “That’s just how it is. I<br />
know better than to make any plans<br />
on a Sunday.”<br />
In fact, following NASCAR has officially<br />
be<strong>com</strong>e a tradition in the Alred<br />
clan. “My dad was a racecar<br />
fan — any kind of racing,”<br />
Alred recalls. “He<br />
used to take me to the track<br />
at Waterford Hills [Mich.],<br />
and I’ve been watching the<br />
races ever since. And now<br />
my son is a big fan too.”<br />
Talking racing <strong>com</strong>es<br />
naturally to Alred, so it’s<br />
no surprise that meeting the<br />
fans is one of his favorite<br />
things about working at the<br />
races. “The fans really enjoy<br />
the exhibit,” says Alred, a<br />
<strong>UAW</strong> Local 212 member and<br />
Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> Transport<br />
driver since 1977. “They pose<br />
next to the cars and we take<br />
their picture, then give them a<br />
free snapshot. It’s fun.”<br />
In fact, the only time<br />
you’ll ever see Alred leave<br />
his post is during his favorite<br />
part of the NASCAR ritual:<br />
the flyover. “When we<br />
hear the national anthem,<br />
we stop for a minute and watch the<br />
flyover,” explains Alred. “Then we<br />
close the exhibit down and go watch<br />
the race.”<br />
And what does Alred say is the best<br />
perk of his job, aside from going to the<br />
races? The NASCAR hats, T-shirts and<br />
jackets? The travel? “It’s the truck,” he<br />
says, referring to his top-of-the-line<br />
Freightliner Coronado. “It’s red to<br />
match the NASCAR displays we haul,<br />
and a really nice ride. I suppose I’m just<br />
a driver at heart.” ■ — S.C. Biemesderfer<br />
DWIGHT CENDROWSKI<br />
10 www.uawdcx.<strong>com</strong>
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