<p>On the track and behind the scenes, Whiteland-based Nolen Racing is turning its 30th season into something special.</p><p>Team owner Gene Nolen lives in Johnson County, as do most of those whose job it is to build engines, change tires, help transport any one of the team’s eight cars to and from competitions or any other number of tasks.</p><p>From the 76-year-old Nolen on down, every turn of the wrench is a labor of love.</p><p>“It takes an entire team,” said Kody Swanson, the Nolen Racing driver who is dominating the USAC Silver Crown circuit this season with three victories and 393 points in only six races. “I think I have things to offer in the shop. I don’t know that it’s the most common way, but different guys we race against are pretty hands-on, too.”</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>Mostly responsible for making the car race-ready are Rick Laughlin (prep/maintenance), Bill Tranter (engines) and Kevin Noblitt (tires/prep). Laughlin, a 61-year-old Whiteland resident, is Nolen Racing’s only full-time employee.</p><p>Nolen knows the importance of finding the perfect blend of individual skill sets and personalities in pursuit of success.</p><p>Driving talent makes a difference as well.</p><p>On the track, Swanson won the Little 500 at Anderson Speedway for a second straight year driving for Nolen. Another Nolen driver, Shane Hollingsworth, finished fourth at the Little 500 in what will be his only race of the season.</p><p>In the past, Nolen Racing’s stable of drivers has been larger in number. That divided workers when it came to setting up the cars and/or getting them to the next track.</p><p>Swanson, whose full-time job is as an engineer at project manager at Alt &amp; Witzig Engineering in Carmel, is the sole focus this season. The 31-year-old’s knowledge of the inner workings of a race car are, Laughlin said, one of the reasons the team is enjoying such unprecedented success.</p><p>“He’s a very intelligent guy. Kody takes it to a new level,” Laughlin said. “Some of the guys we’ve had in the past are a little more old-school. Show up at the track with your helmet and drive. And that’s the way it all used to be.</p><p>“I think nowadays if you want to be as fast as Kody, I think you’ve got to be more like Kody.”</p><p>Hollingsworth, a sales manager at Kapp Niles, a machine tool company, has scaled back his racing in recent years to focus on family and career. He previously drove Silver Crown for Nolen Racing and he’s run every Little 500 for Nolen since 2009.</p><p>"I’ve always enjoyed this team," Hollingsworth said. "Gene has been a great owner and is just a great guy. He wants to be competitive, but he wants us to have fun doing it. That’s a great environment to work in.</p><p>Others helping work on cars at Nolen Racing are volunteers such as Dale Latty, 65, a retired electrician who lives in Fishers. Latty makes the hour’s drive to the Nolen Racing garages a few times a week.</p><p>“I just love the sport,” Latty said. “I do basic maintenance and help Rick with whatever needs done. I’ll keep doing it as long as I can. It’s fun.”</p><p>Putting together the right collection of persons to work on any of Nolen Racing’s cars (four Silver Crown, three pavement sprint and one dirt sprint) isn’t a matter of randomly pulling people off the street.</p><p>Nolen and Laughlin have to be careful.</p><p>“You have a lot of people that will tell you they know what they’re doing, and there are a whole bunch of them that aren’t quite what they represent themselves as,” Laughlin said. “In some cases it will be people we have known through racing and they’re in a situation where they’ve become available.</p><p>“You have to try them out a little bit and see. And you have to learn there are people who are better at certain things. For instance, the guy doing the tires, we want a guy who is good with the tires because you’ve got to get the sizes right.”</p><p>So far this season, everything from the tires on up has been a perfect fit for the Nolen team. In the shop, each person knows his role and, more importantly, is good at it. When the starter’s flag drops, Swanson is a skilled pit bull regardless of the surface on which he’s racing.</p><p>The result has been the team’s best season to date.</p><p>"We’ve got a lot of part-time guys, and it works pretty well. They fill the gaps that I can’t," Laughlin said. "They do it because they enjoy it. To have those folks around is a big deal. They’re a big part of this."</p>
