by Kristen Valus, FOXSports.com

Updated: October 9, 2008, 7:29 PM EST 3 comments

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The Miller Lite Race team adjusted on the car but nothing seemed to make a difference as they continue to be mystified by the tight-loose-tight condition that has plagued their Dodge all year. One of the key members of the team in charge of setting up the No. 2 car is Corey Tucker, the car chief. He was kind enough to spend some time with me explaining his job, some misconceptions about the car, as well as his racing hobby — owning several USAC National Midget teams.

Meet the Car Chief

(Kristen Valus / FOXSports.com)

Tucker has been with Penske Racing since 1999 when he worked on the rear suspension for Rusty Wallace. He continued as the "underneath" mechanic with Ryan Newman for about a year in the ARCA and Busch series. Corey came "off the road" and worked in the Penske shop doing engineering on all the cars until 2005 when he was selected to be the car chief for Newman's part time ride in the Busch series. That was a great year for that team, as they won six of the nine races they had entered. When Penske hired Kurt Busch in 2006, he became the car chief on the No. 2 car and has been ever since.

So what does a car chief do? Tucker explains every car chief's job in the garage is a little different but basically when the race car gets to the track it becomes his responsibility. He is responsible for actually setting up the car based on the decisions made by crew chief Pat Tryson and team engineer Brian Wilson. He also manages the rest of the mechanics and makes sure that they complete their jobs to perfection.

Once the car is pushed out onto pit road before the race, Tucker "hands the car off" to Tryson and Busch. If there are problems on the racetrack, Tucker will occasionally go over-the-wall to fix body damage or damaged parts.

Tucker travels with the team to the track each week usually on Thursday evening and is at the track until flying home Sunday night after the race. He has Monday off along with the rest of the traveling crew and works at the Penske shop from 7a to 4p Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. At the shop, Tucker works with his right hand man Jeffrey Thousand setting up the cars for the next weeks race and working on the chassis. Tucker said he can always count on Jeffrey to get the No. 2 car setup perfectly before it is loaded on the team hauler and the guys at the shop do excellent work and are always way ahead making his life very easy.

I asked Tucker what he thought about NASCAR fining and suspending the car chief for the first time ever earlier this year. He said that it makes sense to him that NASCAR is working down the hierarchy of who is in charge of the car to try to hurt leadership and decision making when teams are caught breaking the rules. He said he wasn't worried about being fined or suspended because the Penske teams pride themselves on winning by playing within the rules.

He admits they are struggling to set up the COT car because of the dynamics of the car itself. The car has a much higher center of gravity which makes it drive "top heavy" making it very difficult to turn. As a result the team is trying to get as much weight towards the bottom of the car as possible but they don't have much wiggle room here. Also, NASCAR has limited the amount they can "travel" the front suspension. On the old car they had a range of 6.5 inches whereas today they only have a range of 3.5 inches. He also said it is a misconception that the car is 300 pounds heavier on the left side now. NASCAR dictates that the car weight be 3500 pounds total and sets the right side weight based on the weight of each driver. The No. 2 car has to weigh 1700 pounds on the right side making the left side only 100 pounds heavier. Team Penske is working very hard improving their COT program and are now racing their "second generation" COT cars with improved chassis geometry.

USAC or Bust!

Tucker recently started another "racing life" ... owning and building USAC National Midget cars. He enjoys building the cars by himself in his 40x60 foot garage at his house in North Carolina. His goal is to run a full-time USAC National Midget team. Ryan Newman introduced him to the World of Outlaws and USAC racing and in 2003 Tucker partnered up with fellow Penske employee Aron Oakley who drove in the Ford Focus series for several years. He also built the No. 39 USAC National Midget that Ryan Newman drove for a couple of races several years ago. In 2007, Tucker entered his first car into the Chili Bowl driven by Randy Hannigan and by the following year he had three cars in the event.

(Kristen Valus / FOXSports.com)

Tucker recently teamed up with the young talented driver, Bryan Clauson, who is just returning to dirt track Midget racing after breaking his neck in the 2008 Chili Bowl. Tucker provided Clauson with a car to race at Indiana Midget week. Last week at Kokomo, Indiana, Clauson put the No. 47 into Victory Lane for Corey's first USAC National Midget win and Bryan's first win on dirt since his injury.

Corey has big plans for this year's Chili Bowl as he hopes to have five cars in the field! He will field the No. 14 with Jason Meyers driving, the No. 47 for Clauson, the No. 97 for Jerry Higbie, Jr., the No. 39 for Billy Wilburn (who currently works at Petty Enterprises) and the No. 39 (driver TBD). So watch for Corey's teams later this year in the Chili Bowl! Corey has decided to get back behind the wheel himself at Turkey Night at Irwindale Speedway near Fontana, CA over Thanksgiving. He will race in the Ford Focus series with Charles and Mike Meier as his owners.

So if you're in the LA area go support Corey at your local track and tell him I sent ya!