Race Cars and Wild Ideas

With a little space, time and creativity, Jeremy Casperson transforms fields and streets into NASCAR racetracks.

Florida Tech June 8, 2023

By Erin Alvarado

Jeremy Casperson ’10 has spent most of his life at the racetrack. Growing up with a race car driver as a mom, he spent many years following the sport and attending events but never thought he’d work in the industry.

Then, in February 2021, he stumbled upon a job opportunity with NASCAR, a rarity, as the company had not hired an external candidate in over 18 years. With his background in construction engineering and inspection, plus his love of the sport, he was selected as the director of civil engineering.

While attending Florida Tech, Casperson was an active member of the men’s tennis team and admits he was not the “greatest student.” Enjoying time at the beach and with his teammates often took priority over his studies. It was not until professor Paul Cosentino saw his potential that Casperson started to excel.

“I didn’t apply myself as much as I should have. He saw straight through that and pushed me. He untapped that potential that I had,” Casperson says. “He is somebody that I greatly admire. I’m not sure that he ever really knew that he did that for me.”

Since starting his career with NASCAR, Casperson’s favorite part of his job has been organizing and managing pop-up events. For the past two years, he has also led the team that retrofits Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for NASCAR’s Cup Series Busch Light Clash. To make this event possible, Casperson and his team had six weeks to construct a quarter-mile racetrack inside the landmark stadium.

Casperson cites Los Angeles’ unpredictable weather as the biggest challenge of the transformation process. Leading up to the 2022 event, California experienced record rainfall that caused him and his team to adapt and overcome. But, he says, it was all worth it.

“The Saturday of race weekend, when you’re sitting in the stands, and the cars come out of the tunnel usually used by the football players, and they start running 75 to 80 miles an hour around the track that used to be an end zone, it’s the most fulfilling feeling that I’ve had.”

This year, as the winners were celebrating their victories, Casperson and his team were in the background, starting the two-week teardown process and heading to their next event, NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race Weekend, a first-of-its-kind for the company that will take place the first weekend in July.

Managing the logistics of turning Grant Park into a race fan’s dream is no easy task. Working closely with the city and state governments, Casperson and his team are building the racetrack, all the event facilities, the grandstands and the spectating suites.

“People come to you with a wild idea, like Chicago, and initially, you just shake your head. ’You can’t be serious!’ And then, you start to figure it out, and it’s exciting to see it all come together for the fans.”

Q&A
Degree: Civil Engineering, B.S.
Last TV Show You Binged: “The League”
Dream Vacation: Bali
Role Model(s): My parents
Favorite Weekend Activities: Golfing, fishing, kayaking and spending time with my wife and two children
Favorite Florida Tech Memory: The time I got to spend with my tennis teammates and participating in Florida Tech’s Northrop Grumman Engineering and Science Student Design Showcase.