MOORESVILLE NC (4-3/4-10) - I was very humbled and appreciative when I was asked to write about the "A Day in the Life" of myself.

Before I get into what I do on a daily basis, I guess I should explain how I was able to land a career in racing. In 1997 at the age of 14, thanks to my mom I was a huge NASCAR fan. For my 14th birthday, my parents flew me to Tennessee to be with one of their friends Kevin Litwin, who at the time was a Motorsports reporter for Car Country News who had access to the Fairgrounds Speedway at Nashville. I attended the 1997 NASCAR Nationwide Series there as a fan of Todd Bodine.

Bodine treated me excellent and asked me what I wanted to do. I told him I wanted to work in Motorsports. Of course, I didn't know what I wanted to do at that time, but I knew I wanted to be at the track every weekend. Todd and I kept in touch through my high school years and I tracked him down at a race two years later and told him I wanted to be a writer. He granted me my first shot, writing for his fan club and then the rest they say is history. I've been writing ever since.

I've been working in the ARCA Racing Series since 2001 (the same year, I joined CATCHFENCE.com, one of the best motorsports related websites around!) but found my home at Sheltra Motorsports in 2007 where I handle the Operations Manager and Public Relations duties for veteran driver Patrick Sheltra.

Believe it or not - I keep extremely busy with all the tasks that I have to do at Sheltra Motorsports. During non-race weeks I arrive at the office just before 8:00 a.m. and try and plan my day.

The fun or challenges (depending) on what day it is trying to keep to your schedule. I usually try the night before I leave or while I am at home (that's another thing, if you work in the racing industry, especially as a pr person, your day usually doesn't die at 5:00 p.m.).

I don't have a set time where I sit at the office on just work solely on public relations tasks or operations managers task, I just try to come in every day and focus on the priorities for that day and try to multi-task as the day moves forward.

Being a public relations representative is a lot of fun. I am told all the time how lucky I truly am and believe me I don't take any of it for granted. Since being at Sheltra Motorsports, I've been able to work with some incredible people at the shop or with our marketing partners and even with someone of a celebrity status.

My main focus when I'm concentrating on pr stuff is keeping Patrick's name out there and diving into corners where others may not have reached. For example, last year while on the road "The Real World: Brooklyn" was airing on MTV. One of the housemates Scott Herman seemed to be a really good guy and always giving back. After lots of digging and searching we were able to get in-touch with him and invite him to Talladega Superspeedway last April. He flew down and had a blast.  It did just as much for him as it did for our team. The local Alabama papers, on-line media and even SPEED showed interest in our guest, so I considered it one of our many PR success stories that I've had. 

A public relations representative like myself in the ARCA Racing Series just doesn't write. I also handle some of the marketing responsibilities while also working actively with our marketing partners whether they are for a full-season or race-to-race partnership. Putting the releases together, working with their company representatives, designing cars, putting together proposals, drawing out paint schemes, showing frequent and valuable return on investments. It can seem daunting, challenging and even scary but I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world.

The challenges I face are nothing like a crew chief or a driver but acting as the spokesperson for Sheltra Motorsports - I am always running that extra mile to keep our team ahead in the spotlight, whether that would be with press releases, contests, appearances, etc but over the years I've tried to become a perfectionist and while I don't always succeed - I'm usually happy with the way everything turns out.

Working with a driver like Patrick (Sheltra) is a blessing. He is a young 23-year old who is large on life. From racing to hunting to cooking and everything in-between he's one of the main reasons I enjoy doing what I do on a daily basis. We keep two bonds which is important for any public relations representative. There's the business bond (where I tell him like it is or how it should be) and there's the friendship bond (where we can hang out or talk about anything besides racing). When you worked with a driver like Patrick for as long as I have - you feel like you've made an impact. He tells me I have and that gives me the strength and drive to keep doing what I am doing. 

Unlike a bigger team in the NASCAR division, you sometimes have to take on multiple duties in ARCA and at Sheltra Motorsports is no exception.

When not focusing on just Patrick, I turn my focus over to the team. I handle all the travel, accounts payable, accounts receivable and answer the phones. Sometimes it can be overwhelming but I've learned to adapt to the responsibilities I have been given and working with someone down to earth like our crew chief / team manger  Jon Wolfe makes my life a little easier.

Away from the shop and once at the track - my role changes slightly. I focus on taking care of Patrick, his family and any marketing partner representatives.  When Patrick is in the car or gelling with the team - I'm social and working in the media center with the media and / or ARCA public relations representatives keeping up to date with everything that is going on in the world of ARCA.

On any given weekend when possible, I'll send out practice, qualifying and sometimes quick-race recaps depending on how well we finished to give the local and national media some much needed content. At the hotel on nights, I'm trying to prepare for the next race and trying to keep ahead of the ballgame.

It's a very busy life as a public relations representative but it's worth every second of it. I often get praised about the hard work I do on and off the race track with Sheltra Motorsports and I tell everyone that it does not come without hard work, people that believe in you and the willingness to give back.

My biggest advice for new public relations representatives coming into ARCA (or even racing for that matter) is to never give up. Trust in yourself and know that those who you are working for trust in you. Be appreciative and assertive and the checkered flag is yours!

More about Chris:

Favorite TV Shows: Judge Judy / True Life / Wife Swap / The Real World

Racing Mentor: Todd Bodine

Racing Nickname(s): Slinky and Knighter

Did You Know?: Outside of Sheltra Motorsports, Chris is the Director of Driver Communications and Senior New Editor / Staff Writer for CATCHFENCE.com, a position he has held since 2001. Also on Tuesday night's Chris is a co-host with Mike Harper, Lori Munro and Dennis Michelsen on RaceTalkRadio.com's Thunder Crew.

Verbal Thank-You Shout Outs: Kevin and Jenny Litwin, Todd Bodine, Lyndon Amick, Brian Rose, Tammy Brewington, Kim Crosby, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Nate Thiesse, Dexter Bean, Andy Belmont, Jimmy Foster, Bryan Gandy, David Gilliland, Johnny Leonard, Brian Scott, Howard Bixman, Robb Brent, Andy Hillenburg, Bryan Silas, Jeff Spraker, Mark Stiles, Lori and Marty Tyler, Mike Sulkowski, Greg Van Alst, Todd Gogo, Scott Herman, The Thunder Crew, Keith Strunk and last but not least The Sheltra Family.

Top 3 Music Artists: Lady Gaga; Carrie Underwood and Lady Antebellum.

Favorite Tracks in the ARCA Racing Series: Salem Speedway and Toledo Speedway, I love me some short track racing.

Other hobbies: Bowling and charity work.