Victory Lane

Championship crew chief Rich Lushes joins Davey Segal (7:10) to discuss his storied career in motorsports that culminated in NASCAR's ultimate prize last season with Ben Rhodes and ThorSport Racing. He chats about his early days at the track and father's ownership of a local Ohio short track, why and when he realized driving wasn't the path for him, the culture of racing in Ohio where ThorSport is based and why the team likes avoiding "the swamp" in North Carolina. Lushes has helped multiple young drivers blossom into short track and NASCAR stars, including the likes of Landon Cassill and Erik Jones. He recalls stories of the then teenagers honing their craft in the shop and on track before moving onto bigger and better things in NASCAR. While successful, including an ARCA championship with Frank Kimmel in 2013, Lushes had never been a crew chief at the NASCAR level until 2018. He got his chance with Myatt Snider, but was demoted the following year. He gets real about his feelings in the two years that foll