MARTIN CONNELLEY
MARTIN CONNELLEY had just finished work , a day that started at 6 a . m . and went much the same as his typical day as a UPS delivery driver . ¶ But there was no time to relax , no time to put his feet up , relax and enjoy a peaceful evening . Connelley doesn ’ t experience peaceful evenings . His mind simply won ’ t allow it . In fact , there ’ s a sign menacingly staring at him every time he enters his race shop . ¶ “ I ’ ve got a sign that says , ‘ Every time you sit down , somebody is working to beat you .’ Every time I come in here , and I sit down , and I ’ m just tired , I look up at that and say , ‘ I got to get back up and keep swinging the hammer on this thing . Somebody else is doing it .’ I don ’ t believe in excuses ,” Connelley says . ¶ There are no excuses on this night and , besides , he already had other plans . More than 17 hours after he woke that morning , Connelley and his crew chief , Eric Mitchell , started loading
their ProCharger-powered silver Mustang onto the trailer at 11 p . m ., and left for Virginia Motorsports Park outside Richmond just shy of midnight .
A little more than eight hours later — and 20 minutes after the gates opened at 8 a . m . – Connelley arrived at VMP , maybe catching a couple of hours of sleep along the way . They unloaded the car , went right to the track , and tried to qualify in Ultra Street , which has Connelley ’ s focus these days .
He qualified 16th and advanced to the finals — making sure to finally get a good night ’ s sleep Friday night — marking his best finish of the 2021 season .
By Monday morning , Connelley was back at work , full speed ahead on whatever comes next .
“ That is more common than rare , and it ’ s probably 75 or 80 percent of the time at least ,” Connelley says of his schedule . “ We usually always
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