Story by: Langley Austin ~ [email protected]

Gastonia, NC(April 15, 2011) — In the world of big league Late Model Stock Car racing, things are almost never certain.

Relationships you make today, are the bad break-ups of tomorrow … We’ve seen examples of those relationships made this winter, having already unraveled after just a couple of races. In Late Model Stock Car racing, crew chiefs and driver development programs constantly feel the pressure, but never more so than in the UARA-STARS Series. There, every young driver is the next big thing … every Dad thinks his son is the best driver out there and everyone of them are doing whatever they have to do to put them in the best position.

Just this week, Nick Hutchins was the victim of one of those situations. Hutchins had moved to Fat Head Racing, the most successful Driver Development Program in the UARA this season after coming off of a tough season with Kyle Grissom. Hutchins credentials paved his way to the top of UARA racing from taking a young Jake Crum to the UARA-STARS Series Championship in 2008 to winning multiple races with now part-time ARCA driver, Brandon McReynolds.

Hutchins and Fat Head Racing looked to be a match made in heaven, but as we reported on RACE22.com earlier this week, the young crew chief found himself without a job after a single bad run at Kingsport Speedway last weekend. It caught everyone outside of the situation off guard, but internally he, Bassett and FHR owner, Jamie Yelton saw it coming. This left Hutchins out of job and Bassett with a new crew chief on the shortest turnaround in the UARA schedule, but both appear to be moving on and making the best of the situation.

Bassett as we reported in the original article has picked up part-time NASCAR Nationwide Series driver and full-time fabricator, Chris Lawson as his new crew chief. The timing of the release from Fat Head Racing for Hutchins may have been perfect timing for something like this to take place as it enabled him to have conversations with a couple of teams looking for a an experienced crew chief.

The timing of the move by Fat Head Racing has allowed Hutchins to reunite with with one of his former drivers. Brandon McReynolds, son of NASCAR on Fox TV analyst and former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew chief, Larry McReynolds, doesn’t run his Late Model Stock Car very often, but with an invite to the Denny Hamlin Showdown coming up, he was in need of a crew chief.

McReynolds, didn’t have to look very far to find someone to turn the wrenches on his Dodge car as he and Hutchins have had a successful history together. As, Hutchins found out that he wasn’t going to be with Fat Head Racing any longer, one of his first phone calls was to his old friend, who he knew was likely in need of crew chief.

“I’m going to be doing Brandon’s(McReynolds) deal at Richmond,” said Hutchins during a phone interview. “He needed someone to do this deal that they could trust and someone that they knew they could get results with. I have always enjoyed working with Brandon and his father and this will be a good chance for him to shine at Richmond.”

Hutchins is excited to return to McReynolds, Inc. as a crew chief, even if it is only a one-race deal.

“I’ve learned it’s better to work peacefully with people who trust you and don’t second guess your decisions all the time. You can’t do this deal and not be trusted and I didn’t stick to my guns(in the FHR deal).”

Coming back to work for McReynolds is one thing, but with it being only a one-race deal, Hutchins had to find something else that would be more full-time. He also found out that an old friend could use some help and he struck a deal to help him.

“I found out who my friends really were,” explained Hutchins. “There are still people who support me and are behind me and I’m glad to be back with them, so I’m going to help David Mercer with Scott Turlington’s team in the UARA. David wants to eventually expand to a third team and I’ll be the crew chief, but for now I’m going to car chief, Turlington’s deal and see if I can help him.”

The opportunity with Mercer is a perfect situation for Hutchins as he explained that he and Mercer like to do things similar.

“He and I like to do things the same way. We’re on the same page when it comes to setting up these cars and it wasn’t like that at FHR. This is already a better situation and I’m back among my friends.”

Hopefully Hutchins and McReynolds will have success in their one-off deal at Richmond International Raceway in the Denny Hamlin Showdown and things will go right for Hutchins at Mercer Race Car Engineering. It’s good to see the young crew chief land on his feet and keep swinging after a bad break-up with his previous employer.