LOUDON, N.H. (WWLP) – Darrin Russell works on Ryan Blaney’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car for Penske Racing. The Sunderland native looked forward to coming back home last week to New Hampshire Motor Speedway as his parents and older brother still live in Massachusetts and that when he comes to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, he will camp with them. He told 22News how much nicer it was to be in colder weather.
“It’s much nicer to be in colder weather compared to what we have been through the past few weeks in Kentucky and Daytona and all that so it’s been nice,” said Russell.
What made Russell decide to do this was when he knew some people that had a body shop and his brother’s car needed some work and they had a short track car inside their shop.
“They asked me if I wanted to help them on it so I started working on it. Did that for a few years,” said Russell.
Russell raced in the Strictly Stock division at Monadnock for two years before he went to college. After graduating, he knew he wanted to get into the higher levels of racing. He moved to North Carolina then which he felt he was the right place, right time to do so.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races 36 weeks out of the year. Russell told 22News that he still enjoys it like he did his first day.
“It’s a little harder when you have a family at home. I waited as long as I could to have a family because I enjoy this. I enjoyed the traveling and all. My five-year-old son, he loves coming to Charlotte. Martinsville. He loves it. Its kind of nice to see a smile on his face when I do get to bring him to the track,” said Russell.
Russell told 22News that the schedule at times is grueling where someone might feel burnt out.
“The team that we have right now, you can’t go from the race track to the hotel, race track to the hotel. Our team we like to do some extra stuff with going out and just having a good time. Whenever we’re in a city, we always find our best restaurants. I’ve met people all over the country so we go visit friends. We do a lot of stuff and that was one of the cool things working with Kurt Busch. He always wanted to do something fun and he always opened it up to everybody on the team so we would go ride doom buggies in the sand dunes. We fly to races early. Go to Homestead early. Go fishing. That was one good thing about Kurt is he took care of his guys and we always did something fun,” said Russell.
Russell works for car owner Roger Penske of Penske Racing.
“He’s got a big corporation but he knows everybody’s name. He’s just a phenomenal guy. He’s enjoyable to work with him. I’ve been working with him for the past 13 years. Really Really good guys,” said Russell.
Russell has worked with many drivers in NASCAR. He worked with NASCAR Hall Of Fame driver Darrell Waltrip in his first year and to Russell he felt it was cool because of all the history he has and one of the fun things was during a rain delay listening to all the stories Waltrip had.
Russell also worked for the Wood Brothers with Ryan Blaney.
“The stories that those guys tell is pretty entertaining sitting around listening to them,” said Russell.
With New Hampshire Motor Speedway now only having one Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Russell know its one less chance to see his family when he comes up here. He will hang out and have a chance to grill. Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace came and ate with the Russell family.
Russell’s first win was at Richmond Raceway with Kasey Kahne when he was driving for Evernham Motorsports back in 2004. Russell told 22News that the win was pretty wild.
“Just as exciting for me as it was for him being both of our first cup races we won and then we won a handful more after that. It was pretty nice,” said Russell.
Russell has a total of 20 NASCAR wins in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series.
One of his most impactful achievement in racing was when he got his friend’s name Greg Belanger on the windshield for the 2017 Coca-Cola 600. Russell and Belanger went to high school together.
Belanger lost his life in Iraq fighting for his country when a roadside bomb hit his Hum-V.
Russell lives in North Carolina with his wife and their two kids a 5-year-old son Ryder, and their 9-month-old daughter Lily.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Pocono Raceway this weekend.
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