For all the work put into a pursuit, there’s no guarantee that the journey will go as envisioned. Life can take someone along a different path.
Dan Jansen never could have imagined that a speedskating career, which featured heartbreaking and heartwarming moments in the Olympics, could lead him to NASCAR. But the 1994 Olympic gold medalist is among those helping train Chevrolet’s NASACR drivers, working alongside former racers Josh Wise and Scott Speed.
“That’s what I think Josh is really good at, assembling people like that,” said former Cup champion Kyle Larson, who leads the series standings at the Olympic break and trains with Jansen. “ … Bringing Dan in, who has competed at a super high level and represented a country, I think having the diverse people and backgrounds is really what makes Josh’s company elevate. He’s assembled a great team, and Dan is one of many people that helps push us all to get better.”
Few can match the experiences Jansen has had, understanding pressure to perform, winning championships, not meeting expectations and going back again to claim a title that had eluded him.
His Olympic speedskating gold medal in 1994 at Lillehammer in the 1,000 meters capped a 10-year quest.
He did not medal in the 1984 Olympics, finishing fourth in the 500 meters. His sister Jane died of leukemia before he competed in the 500 meter final in the 1988 Olympics. He fell in that race and later in the 1,000 meters, failing to medal. He was fourth in the 1992 Olympics in the 500 meter and also did not medal in the 1,000 meters.
In 1994, he did not medal in the 500 meters, leaving the 1,000-meter race as his last chance to do so. He set a world record in that gold-winning performance. Afterward, he skated a victory lap with infant daughter Jane, named for Jansen’s sister, and later received a congratulatory call from President Bill Clinton.
Jansen says it wasn’t until about eight years ago that his path brought him to NASCAR. He had moved to the Charlotte region to be closer to his daughters.
Team Penske asked him to speak to their employees at a year-end meeting. A couple of weeks later, he got a call from someone who had heard his speech and asked him about mental training for young drivers.
Jansen agreed with a provision.
“It has to include the physical side as well,” Jansen said. “I don’t believe you get better with just the physical or just control side. You have to combine them.”
Left to right: Dan Jansen, Kyle Larson, Scott Speed, Josh Wise and Connor Zilisch after riding up to the summit of Mt. Mitchell, which at 6,684 feet is the highest vantage point east of the Mississippi River. Photo: Chevrolet
Left to right: Dan Jansen, Kyle Larson, Scott Speed, Josh Wise and Connor Zilisch after riding to the summit of Mt. Mitchell, which at 6,684 feet is the highest vantage point east of the Mississippi River. Photo: Chevrolet
Jansen started working with drivers in the Brad Keselowski Racing program in the Truck Series. Among the drivers he worked with were Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Hemric.
Such programs went away due to the COVID-19 pandemic but Jansen later got in contact with Josh Wise.
“I had been hearing about Josh Wise for a while,” Jansen told NBC Sports about Wise and his driver optimization program. “People were asking me if I knew him and I think vice versa. So finally, it worked out.
“We met and it was just instant in terms of we have very similar philosophies in terms of making drivers better humans, not just better drivers. I think if you’re a better athlete, you’re better at everything.”
Even with his background, Jansen had to learn some of the nuances of auto racing.
“No matter how great of a driver you are, or how strong you are, or how fit you are, or mentally tough you are, so much of it depends on others, depends on luck, depends on somebody makes a move and you get taken out and it’s not your fault, it just happens,” Jansen told NBC Sports. “That’s week after week sometimes.
“It gets frustrating for the guys. So we also have to keep them just patient to know that they’re doing the right things and that it’s racing. It is what it is. You’re going to get those breaks.”
That’s an area where Jansen can make an impact with a younger driver.
“I’ve noticed it a lot with the veterans vs. the young drivers,” Jansen said. “The vets, they come in week after week and whatever happened on Sunday, they’re just like this is another week, whether they won or got knocked out,” Jansen said. “They’re never too excited one way or the other. Some of the young guys come in and they’ll tell you everything that went wrong and what happened and why they got in this position.
“They’re going to learn, but you try to help them along the way. Look, I’m a piece of this wheel that we have, a great team. Josh Wise is unbelievable, Scott Speed. It’s really fun to be on the same page with these guys and different ways to look at training athletes that I think everybody can benefit from.”
This year presented a new challenge for Wise, Jansen and Speed with Larson seeking to run in both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.
Some of Larson’s training was structured so he could handle the demands of the month of May and potentially driving 1,100 miles in the same day. While Larson never got the chance to do both races — the start of the Indy 500 was delayed by rain and the 600 was stopped because of rain before he got into the Cup car — Larson benefitted from the training.
“He has no idea how strong he is for his body type and size,” Jansen said of Larson. “He’s incredibly strong. Not like weightlifting strong. He’ll make fun of himself because he can’t benchpress a lot but with the body to weight ratio, he can do things most can’t.
“For instance, most people can’t do a pistol squat, meaning you’re on one leg, you go all the way down, touch your butt to your ankle and then get up. Most people can’t do one. He can do 20 straight on each leg.”
Larson smiled when told of Jansen’s praise for his ability to do pistol squats.
“I can do a lot of pistol squats,” Larson said. “I could go on and on and on, but I’m pretty weak at most everything else.”
Larson is among a couple of dozen drivers Jansen works with. That can be challenging because the drivers vary in age, strength, experience and approach to working out.
“The outline is similar for all of them, but the specifics are different,” Jansen said of creating workout plans for the drivers. “Even week to week or day to day is different for many of them. When I skated, I didn’t have sponsor commitments to take care of, all these meetings they have all the time. I had to go to the track or the weight room, or wherever it was, and I had to work out and train and train and train. Go home and eat and sleep and do it again. … They have these commitments. … Everyone is different even in the way they go about the training.”
Another challenge is keeping the training fresh so a driver doesn’t get bored with a program but can still be invigorated by it.
Jansen notes that it doesn’t matter the program, Ross Chastain is ready to go.
“Unless there is something going on with an appearance, Ross is there every day,” Jansen said. “I have to hold him back. He will do the workout and want to do more.”
Chastain smiles when asked about Jansen.
“I love Dan,” Chastain said “Gosh, he’s motivating just seeing what he’s done in his life and to go win gold and hear his stories of how he got there and the trials and the failures and the successes to get there.
“It’s incredible. I don’t think my legs will ever be that strong, but I’m going to keep trying.”
With Jansen pushing, it’s easier to do just that.
2. Silly Season continues
The news Thursday that Corey LaJoie would not return to the No. 7 car at Spire Motorsports after this season continues what has been a busy Silly Season.
Consider what has happened:
— Stewart-Haas Racing announced it will cease operations after this season, forcing Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson, Josh Berry, Ryan Preece, Cole Custer and Riley Herbst to find new rides.
— Front Row Motorsports announced that it purchased one of the SHR charters. No other sales have been announced but Trackhouse Racing and 23XI Racing are expected to expand and each make use of what had been an SHR charter.
— Martin Truex Jr. announced that this will be his final full-time season in the No. 19 at Joe Gibbs Racing. Briscoe will take over that ride next season.
— Michael McDowell announced that he will leave Front Row Motorsports after this season and join Spire Motorsports in 2025.
— Gragson will move to Front Row Motorsports next season, joining Todd Gilliland. One more seat has yet to be filled at Front Row.
— Josh Berry will replace Harrison Burton in the No. 21 at Wood Brothers Racing in 2025.
— Cole Custer will return to Cup and drive for Haas Factory Team. Gene Haas, co-owner of SHR with Tony Stewart, is keeping one Cup charter to remain in that series. The team has not announced who will be in its two Xfinity cars, although it has acknowledged interest in Hailie Deegan, who parted ways with AM Racing in July.
3. Time away from NASCAR
The Olympic break gives competitors and teams a rare chance to take a break from the sport during the season.
“Our strategy so far, has been to tell people, please go home, please take a vacation, but not force it,” RFK Racing co-owner Brad Keselowski said. “We kind of learned the hard way that forcing people to take vacations is sometimes not always good for them.
“Sometimes they get more mad at you than if you just told them we have to work. So everybody will kind of figure out their own thing with kind of a heavy nod of, please go take some time off and come back well rested.”
The Cup Series is back in action Aug. 11 at Richmond Raceway. The Xfinity Series returns Aug. 17 at Michigan International Speedway. The Craftsman Truck Series resumes Aug. 10 at Richmond.
“I think the more that we spend time away from the race track, the hungrier our fans are to have us come back,” Chase Elliott said. “I think you see that with football and some other sports that have a little bit longer break. When it comes back, you’re fired up for it more.
“So I think some of those things can be exemplified here a little better, but extremely important to have a break for everybody involved. Just kind of hit that reset button and get ready for the second half.”
4. Close race for regular season title
Four drivers are within 43 points of the lead with four races left in the regular season. That’s the closest points race for the Cup regular season championship in the era of stage racing, which began in 2017.
Kyle Larson is the points leader after his victory last weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Chase Elliott trails Larson by 10 points. Tyler Reddick is 15 points behind Larson. Denny Hamlin trails Larson by 43 points.
Last year, the top three were within 43 points with four races left in the regular season.
Martin Truex Jr. was the points leader. He led Hamlin by 39 points and William Byron by 43 points. Hamlin won the regular-season title. Truex was second and Byron third. Only Byron made it to the championship race at Phoenix last year. Eventual champion Ryan Blaney was ninth in the points at this time last year.
5. Numbers to know
3 — Positions gained in the points (from eighth to fifth) by Ryan Blaney in the last three races.
4 — Times Daniel Hemric has placed 28th this season. He’s finished 18th three different times and ninth three other times. So, in nearly half of the 22 races this season, Hemric has finished either ninth, 18th or 28th.
26.4 — Percent of laps led this season by Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson. Hamlin has led a series-high 772 laps. Larson has led 763 laps.
40.9 — Percent of races Hendrick Motorsports has won this season (nine of 22). Kyle Larson has four wins, William Byron has three wins, Chase Elliott has one win and Alex Bowman has one win.