Wes Hopkins came to the Ultra Motorsports team last September and the Team ASE Dodge won three races to close out the season, including a victory at Darlington, SC - Hopkins' home track. Close Finishes Photo

Every job has its challenges. As a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series tire changer, two of those work-related hurdles for Wes Hopkins are chasing a 3,400-pound vehicle sliding away from or dodging it as it speeds right at him.

"There's some obstacles back there and I have taken my share of spills for different reasons," said Hopkins, the rear tire changers on the No. 2 Team ASE Dodge driven by Jimmy Spencer. "When you're changing the rears, you're chasing the truck half the time as it slides to a stop in the pit box. I've also had a lot of close calls coming around the back of the truck and seeing another truck coming out of its pit stop and right at you. You really have to be watching and checking up to keep from getting run over."

Think about that. Very few people go to work each day thinking one of their main goals will be to not get run over by a truck. Literally.

For Hopkins, it's all in a day's work.

"It's still exciting to go over the wall even though I have been doing this for a while now," stated Hopkins. "I don't get as nervous as I used to. You have to block those nerves out because you'll mess up if you don't. You just have to do everything the way you do in practice - nice and smooth - and everything will work out. It's those 16 seconds of adrenaline that is why most people do this. It's why I do it. Jumping over the wall is excellent."

Hopkins, 33, grew up in Florence, SC. Living a stone's throw from NASCAR hallowed ground - Darlington Raceway - Hopkins acquired a love for cars at an early age but didn't make it to one of the top levels in motorsports until later in life.

"I always had a fascination with cars growing up," said Hopkins. "My brother in law hung out with some racers that competed at Florence Speedway, so I used to hang around race shops as a kid. I loved big engine racecars. When I got older, I knew I wanted to work on racecars, so I worked really hard to get into racing."

Wes Hopkins is shown here changing the left rear tire on Jimmy Spencer's No. 2 Team ASE Dodge during a pit stop at a recent NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Hopkins says, "Jumping over the wall is excellent. Close Finishes Photo

That opportunity didn't come for Hopkins until he was in his mid-20s when he finally broke into NASCAR working for free on Randy Humphrey's Goody's Dash team. Hopkins stuck with the team for more than a year and a half before getting the opportunity to move to the No. 75 Spears Manufacturing NASCAR Camping World Truck Series effort.

For the next three seasons, Hopkins served as an every-day mechanic on the Spears entry that saw several different drivers take the seat including Marty Houston, Billy Bigley and current pilot David Starr.

In addition to his mechanical skills, Hopkins started to contribute to the team during the race as well.

"I went over the wall as a tire carrier the first year I was in the Truck Series with the Spears truck," said Hopkins. "I wanted to go over the wall. I really didn't want to do this unless I could go over the wall. Carrying tires isn't easy, but it is the quickest thing you can learn on a pit crew other than catch can. I always knew I wanted to be a tire changer, so I spent a lot of breaks and lunches just hitting lug nuts. I knew I would eventually have the opportunity to change tires, so I just kept on working until I got good enough to do it. I'm not the best tire changer by any means, but even now I have that job, I still work to get better and better."

After his experience at the Spears truck, Hopkins' career took a different direction with stints at Braun and IMI Racing in the Busch Series before landing at Ultra Motorsports and the No. 2 Team ASE Dodge last September.

"Winning with the Spears truck in Las Vegas was a real highlight," said Hopkins. "That was my first win and that will always be special. But when I started here last September, we went on to win three races before the end of the year. Winning at Darlington was extremely special because that's my hometown track growing up in Florence. It's been great here so far."

During the week, Hopkins is heavily involved in several areas of the No. 2 Team ASE Dodge including engine installation and chassis set up.

Wes Hopkins is a general mechanic on the No. 2 Team ASE Dodge specializing in the engine bay and chassis set-up areas. Here, Hopkins works on an engine install on the Ultra Motorsports entry. Close Finishes Photo

"I've been doing the engine install a long time," said Hopkins. "On the set-up deal, I paid attention and tried to learn all I could. Set-up isn't all that hard. You basically have to make sure all of your measurements are right, but once you learn it, it's not that tough. There's a lot more involved things on a race car than that."

Like going over the wall on the weekends.

As the rear tire changer, Hopkins has significantly different challenges than those of the front tire changer.

"When you're changing the front tires, the truck comes to you," said Hopkins. "That's the biggest difference. The front changer has probably hit four lug nuts by the time I hit my knees on the right side of the truck. It takes me longer to get there because I'm chasing the truck, but I make up my time because the jackman pulls the tire for me. All I do is lean back and keep my gun ready in hand. The front changer has to pull his own tire and by the time he sets the tire down and picks his air gun back up, I've caught up. By the time we're done on the right, we should be getting up on together and heading to the left side."

But that's only half the battle on a four-tire pit stop.

"As the back changer, you have to run around the gas man and the catch can man to get to the left side of the truck," stated Hopkins. "Sometimes you'll turn the corner really hauling butt and not see a puddle of gas. Man, that's slick city. I've taken some pretty good spills, but I've never been injured. Fortunately, I've been able to avoid that so far."

Away from the track, Hopkins is looking for a new house in the Huntersville, NC area and spends time tinkering on a pet Nissan 300 and riding dirt bikes.

"I really love the area," said Hopkins of the lake-based community located north of Charlotte. "And the Nissan - it seems like I am always putting something new, something fun on it."

Whether it's digging in his roots with a new home or digging deep to execute a great pit stop, Hopkins has a clear vision as to what he wants in the future.

"I just want to get better," stated Hopkins. "In every way. I want to be a better changer and I want to learn more about these trucks. I definitely want to learn how to make the truck better on the racetrack. My goal isn't to become a crew chief. You have to have the mentality, the people skills and the know-how. That takes years and years. I came to this sport late. I'm a little behind some of these crew chiefs who have been in this since they were teenagers. It takes 15 to 20 years to learn some of that stuff. I'm 33 and been in this only six years. I still have time to learn, I'm still young. It's just a lot of information to absorb in a little amount of time. Everything is always changing. I'm just going to learn as much as I can and change with it."