NASCAR crew chief spends time off track helping animals

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (WGHP) — The NASCAR Cup Series season is a busy one.

It runs from February to November, so a NASCAR crew chief goes non-stop nearly year-round to make sure the team’s race cars are well prepared.

But for Mike Kelley, the crew chief of the number 47 car at JTG Daugherty Racing, there’s an escape that helps him decompress from his daily stress. Kelley spends his free time helping his wife at Lake Norman Humane where she is the director of operations.

“My wife will attempt to save every animal that is out there,” Kelley said. “This is what she does for passion, and this is what I do to support her.”

He sweeps the floors, cleans the cages, fixes things and picks up donations. Last year, the shelter helped nearly 800 animals.

“Animal rescue is 24/7. I can put our race cars on jack stands, and I can go home … Animal rescue never ends,” Kelley said. “We see the worst of the worst in animals, and we see the worst of the worst in what people do to animals.”

The Kelleys have three rescue dogs of their own. He loves the greeting he gets when returning home from a race.

“They don’t know I won Daytona or finished last at Homestead. When I come home, they treat me the same … My dogs are there to greet me, and I wouldn’t change that for anything in the world,” he said.

You can find more information about Lake Norman Humane here.

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