Crew Member Spotlight: Germain Racing Tire Specialist Bryan Kincheloe

By Ben White

Bryan Kincheloe, tire specialist for Germain Racing and driver Ty Dillon, saw his first NASCAR race 22 years ago during at leisurely weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He traveled a long way from home to watch the Winston Cup guys fight for the win on the high banks of the 1.5-mile superspeedway.

Kincheloe set out to pursue a career in law enforcement, receiving his degree in Criminal Justice from Kansas State in 1998. That was his career path until he realized his heart was in racing. Like so many others before him, the Glen Elder, Kan. native eventually packed his car with all of his belongings and headed east to become a crew member in NASCAR’s premier series.

“My first year in NASCAR was in 2002 and that was with Roush-Fenway Racing,” Kincheloe said. “I’ve also worked at RCR Enterprises and Michael Waltrip Racing as well as a couple of smaller Xfinity Series teams when it was the Busch Series.”

His role with the team is to keep tires in tip-top shape under the No. 13 Chevrolets during practice, qualifying and races on a variety of short tracks, intermediates, superspeedways and even road courses twice per season.

“When we get here to the track, we measure them for stagger, Kincheloe said. “We put them in sets of four and do tire pressures, tire temperatures and tire wears. All of that is on us. What I enjoy most about doing this is that I’m kind of on my own. I don’t have a boss other than the crew chief (Booty Barker). I get to my own thing, really.

“During any given weekend, there is a lot of repetition. You do a lot of the same things. The air pressures and things like that are always changing.”

QUOTE: “Usually, if the car is a few pit stalls away during pit stops and the crew chief yells to take a pound of air out of the right rear, you’ve got to go fast. So that’s a pretty good example of pressure situation to be in.”

EXTRA LAPS WITH BRYAN KINCHELOE

RELATONSHIP: Single

CHILDREN: Bailey (20)

HOMETOWN: Glen Elder, Kan.

FAVORITE VACATION SPOT: The Bahamas

FAVORITE SEASON: Fall

FAVORITE HOLIDAY: Thanksgiving

FAVORITE TV SHOW: Deadliest Catch

FAVOROTE MOVIE: Slap Shot

FAVORITE MUSIC: Country