Former Sprint Cup crew chief Michael “Fatback” McSwain was in the garage at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, looking for work, but not the kind he used to do when he was atop the pit box for drivers like Bobby Labonte and Ricky Rudd. McSwain, a devoutly religious man and the father of two young children, decided last year that he wanted to get off the crew chief treadmill and the savage grind of 38 races per year and day after day of testing. To that end, he’s become something of a jack-of-all-trades, doing some media work – he’s looking for more – auctioning memorabilia on eBay and other odds and ends.

“I’m doing a little bit of everything, anything I can do to generate income,” said McSwain. “I’m in the process of building a tire store and front-end alignment shop in Dallas, N.C. I’ve been doing a little bit of TV stuff, some one-off shows, some fill-in work. … Anything I can do to generate enough income to stay home with my family.” McSwain was optimistic about the next phase of his life. “It’s a big, old world, there’s a lot of opportunities out there,” he said. “I started in this business at the bottom, so I’ll start my next venture at the bottom.”