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Jul 03, 2023

Grounds team labors to make Darlington Raceway immaculate

Jake Evans, left, works with coworker Saturday to make sure pins are where they need to be to secure stairs that allow people to walk onto the track. Senior Manager of Facility Operations Jake Evans

Jake Evans, left, works with coworker Saturday to make sure pins are where they need to be to secure stairs that allow people to walk onto the track.

Senior Manager of Facility Operations Jake Evans works to make sure Darlington Raceway is prepared to play host to race fans.

FLORENCE, S.C. — When race fans arrive at Darlington Raceway for the Labor Day Race Weekend, they’ll find a neat and tidy, well-kept and clean facility ready to play host to a legion of fans.

That the track is prepared is no accident, it is the work of Senior Manager of Facility Operations Jake Evans and the hard work of his four-person crew who work year round to maintain the facility — but especially the weeks preceding and following NASCAR events.

No small feat for the Labor Day weekend, which has been preceded by either 100-degree days or close-to-100 degree days and the heat advisories that accompany them.

“We start at 7 a.m. until. I kind of use my judgment on the heat. I think 98 is what Alexa told me this morning, but with the heat index it’s a lot hotter. Gotta keep the guys motivated and morale up,” Evans said as he handled a Tuesday 9 a.m. interview.

By that time, he and his crew had been at it two hours.

When the temperature is hottest, he tries to schedule such tasks as preparing guest suites for the race — a task that takes place in air-conditioned comfort.

“Sometimes we’re not that lucky to have such, so we have to keep drinking water,” Evans said.

“It varies from day to day, what’s on the punch list. We could be spraying ditches, cleaning, weed eating, cleaning toilets, it doesn’t matter, we have to do it all,” Evans said.

Race weekend prep and cleanup is a months-long campaign that shifts from the off-season work to a time of making lists and checking them twice.

“Usually about two months out, things start to shift to where we could do one thing one day and closer to the race a dozen things. There are smaller, minute things; it’s just the tedious details we have to get through to make it race ready for the fans,” Evans said.

“We joke two weeks after the race, you wouldn’t know a race was run,” he said of cleanup, which starts before the last fans have left the stands.

“It’s a little easier now that we have two races to keep it maintained for that second crown jewel, the Southern 500. It’s just staying on top of everything,” he said.

Those tasks include scheduling contractors to lend specialties to the effort.

“The landscaper started yesterday, throwing mulch and freshening up the flower beds, pruning, cutting, trimming,” he said.

“We work really hard to make sure the fans get the best experience when they come to Darlington, but I think the most difficult thing is time management and the heat.”

“People start rolling in, when outside vendors start rolling in, we have generators being placed, porta potties being placed, that’s when everything starts to break,” Evans said. “People start to notice things. Stuff that’s been out of sight, out of mind for us, people start catching. That’s when we have to put it out and make it right.”

Though the crew is well versed in plumbing when problems are big or a race close, that’s when they call in a plumber to save time.

“Last winter was hard on us and we relied on the plumber pretty heavily,” he said of the winter cold.

While the maintenance crew handles plenty of plumbing, electricity is an entirely different story.

“Ninety-five percent of the electrical stuff, I delegate that to the professionals. I grew up building houses and learned from my mistakes but still don’t like to get tickled,” he said.

As race weekend nears, Evans and his staff roll into 24-hour operations to field problem calls as they roll in.

“Those calls could come at three in the afternoon or three in the morning. There is somebody here 24/7 starting two weeks out. Someone is here on property to put out any fires that pop up after hours.”

Then there are the campers.

“That’s when things get real. That’s when you start seeing smiling faces, when you get some gratification out of the hard work we’ve put in to make the entire property race ready. When campers start coming in, they tear up some stuff, but it’s more positive than negative. That when I feel like it’s showtime,” Evans said.

“Bathrooms, shower houses, infield — that’s when it pays off. When the infield’s full and everybody’s having a good time, that’s when we can sit back and enjoy the hours we’ve put in,” Evans said.

Not everything on site works with the maintenance crew. Some things work against them.

“In the South we have the pests of fire ants, hornets and wasps — they are always the enemy at that time,” Evans said. “Everything else is kinda dealt with, handled by (race weekend). We spray ahead of them, well in advance, but they’re pests.”

Because they’re pests, Evans said his crew will probably be eradicating stinging pests throughout the weekend.

Infield chores extend well beyond the area’s pests — there are RVs to park.

Not every guest who arrives in a Class A motorhome is capable of parking it in the claustrophobic confines of an infield camping space.

“We typically let guest services handle all that, but we help when we can,” Evans said. “I’ve done it before, but I’m not the best. We have a guy that I rely on and if push comes to shove and we need somebody to maneuver something in tight spaces. (The guests are) always grateful.”

In his dozen-or-so years in the job, Evans said he has seen a change in the infield

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve noticed a change from popup tents and your popup campers to somebody renting three or four adjacent spots and throwing the biggest party the infield’s seen. It evolves every year,” he said.

The track is about 600 acres of land and Evans and his crew are responsible for all of them, whether they be asphalt, grass or reeds and water.

“We have some protected wetlands on the back of the property. Beavers, otters, deer, feral pigs — I’ve seen all of those,” Evans said of the wildlife that calls the track home. “Beavers and the wetlands are the biggest issue we have. You can tear a dam down one night and 24 hours later, they’re building back.”

Evans said he and his crew have soft spots for the animals.

“We had to catch a wild dog, a stray, one race weekend. I don’t think I’ve ever had to catch a dog before and of course it would happen race weekend and people are watching,” Evans said. “(The race fans are) pitching in, trying to help. I was raised with pets and I personally have a soft side, so we’re very careful and handle those things appropriately.”

Evans said he’s heard stories about deer getting onto the track but hasn’t witnessed that himself.

“I think it’s we’re out there weed eating, last-minute touchups with paint, inside and outside, prepping more suites in the afternoon and cutting more grass. It’s hot, it’s been dry but grass still grows,” Evans said.

“I’ve enjoyed every bit of it. I take pride in the work around here,” the Coker grad said. When the fans roll in, all that hard work you forget about and it’s worth it to see fans park their campers and start to have a good time as soon as they come through the tunnel.

“We’re known as one of the Crown Jewels on the circuit and everybody loves Darlington. We have to keep the property looking immaculate,” he said of his team’s task. “They’re some of the hardest-working people I’ve ever worked with.”

For the week before the race, Evans will call the track his home and live in his RV.

“Starting Sunday I’ll be here 24/7. When you have a wife and kids, it’s really hard,” he said. “I’ll be here eight days before I get to go home.”

Online/News Editor Editor Matt Robertson is a veteran journalist who has fulfilled just about every role that a newspaper has and now serves as the Editor of the Morning News’ newsroom by maintaining SCNow.com and the Morning News print edition.

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