- steve phelps, the chief marketing officer of nascar, is a boss undercover in his own company.

- he just can't stand to watch my slowness. - the employees think he's won a fan contest to try out different jobs in nascar. his journey continues in daytona beach, florida. - it's race day today, and all the teams are loading into the track. - i'm gonna be working with the tire specialist for the double zero. i'm gonna run tires or do whatever a tire specialist does. i want to make sure i do the best job i can. - all right, man. hey, scott. scott swift, meet kevin thomas. - hey, kevin, nice to meet you. - how are you, scott? - he's the tire man for david reutimann. - awesome. - kevin's gonna be working with you today. - okay. - the most important thing that happens between a driver and his race car are the tires. you're gonna need to show him just how... how critical it is to do that job. - okay. - so, uh, good luck. - thanks. - i know you'll do well. and, uh, if not, he's gonna send me a report. - nice meeting you. - all right, you too. take care. - well, i'm in your hands, scott. - okay, we'll go over here in front of goodyear and grab the tires and start taking them to the truck.

all right, hang on. watch this. okay. - they look easy. - all right, go ahead and pull that back. - whoa, sorry. - least i got somebody helping me move. i normally have to move them one at a time, by myself. - how's life on the road? - it's--it's okay. yeah, i'm home, basically, two days a week. but i only have one day a week off. the other two days, i'm at the shop working. so, uh, it kind of sucks, like, being away from your family and everything. and then, you know, everybody else is spending fourth of july with their family going to the beach and stuff, and, you know, we're here at the racetrack, but... - yep. - i don't know, it's the life we chose, and i guess family gets used to it, so... - yeah. all the nascar folks are out there for 38 weeks a year. and it's a long, long season that they're out there and away from their families and doing their job and... - that's difficult. i certainly miss my family. and it's something that i personally deal with it

every week as well. it's just great for me to be here in the garage. it's very cool. - yeah, it is kind of neat. you know, you can get closer than you can in, say, like baseball or football or... - on the playing field, if you will. - right. - all right, we'll take these and put them behind the truck. so now the fun stuff begins. - all right. - when we get these tires, they're in no order. we have to go through and physically put 'em in sets. - okay. - we try to keep these bar code numbers as close together as we can. - okay. - because, chances are, they come out of the same mold, same batch of rubber. just try to keep everything... - as consistent as possible. - yeah. - tire specialist is a pretty complex job. - what i'm doing here is i'm measuring the tire tread depth. - yep. - the measurement scott is taking now will be cross referenced with the information he gathers in tonight's race. - and then that way, i can tell how the tire wears. - it's, um, it's a process. [beeping] - stack 'em four high. put the sticker number facing out, just like that. - gettin' steamy. - yeah, gettin' a little warm her. - here, that's upside down, bud. - sorry.

- i mean, there is some science to it. but it's not rocket science, so... i'm gonna pick up the pace here a little bit. [beep beep beep] - okay. stack that on the right side. - i've been hauling tires that are about 70, 75 pounds a piece. the weight workout, you can see by my frame that's, uh, that's not my strong suit. [grunts] - [laughs] - so you probably seen a lot of changes in 15 years. - yeah. - changes in technology. - some of 'em good, some of 'em bad. [beeping] - so if you were, uh-- if you were brian france or mike helton for a day... - ooh. - what would-- what would you change? - the sport's more commercial and corporate-driven now than it is family-oriented, and, you know, it's kind of hard to get family into the racetrack. there is opportunities to take 'em, but even if you've got your family member's name on the list, and, you know, at the last minute, xyz corporation

comes up and wants to get in as a potential sponsor, then your family doesn't get to get in. - hearing scott talking about the commercialization of the sport, it really dawned on me that that's exactly what i do. certainly turned into a big business. - yeah, pretty much. i mean, you know, it's like... $20 million plus to run one of these teams for a year. i mean, hell, my tire bill for one week for just my car is anywhere between $24,000 and $27,000... for one weekend. - wow. - so you multiply that by 36 weeks, you know? - that's a lot of money. but on the flip side of that is, you know, it is kind of nice to be able to take your wife to one of the races and, you know, spend some time with 'em. - i understand scott's concerns, but, you know, it's a two-edged sword. the commercialism pays for all the jobs that you see here, and there are tens of thousands of jobs that are part of nascar. so it's a-- it's a tough one.

[cheers and applause] this is the big race of the weekend for us. - gentlemen, start your engines. [engines revving] - [indistinct] - and i'm incredibly proud to be able to put on this uniform and hopefully help this team in some way. this is the only job i'll have that can impact the outcome of the race. so i'll go out and do the best job i can. - all right, man, you ready? it's the big race. it's go time. come on. - i did notice dion, the rear tire carrier, and his crew working mark martin's stall. this is the moment they've all been training for. - the green flag in the air, and we are underway, racing at daytona. [rock music, cars zooming] ♪ - mark martin has raced here 50 times. still never won. maybe he can break it tonight. - david reutimann has been solid here this evening.

- what these guys do, the pressure's immense. if you have bad pit stops, you can't win the race. if you have good pit stops, it gives you the opportunity to win the race. - two right-side tires. - okay? - cool. - the job that scott gave me tonight during the race is one of a tire scraper. - he needs me to clear a smooth piece of the tread, to take another measurement and compare it with the earlier readings to determine how the tire is wearing on the track. got this whole crew trying to get their driver up front, get him to win. - the tire wear looks really good. i mean, he's wearing a little bit on the right rear. but that's good. it means the car is freed up a little bit. okay. so every--right now, everything looks pretty good.

so hopefully, it'll stay that way. - it's a very sensory experience at the racetrack. - boy, you can really feel the heat coming off the tires. - yeah, it gets hot. - yeah. - the sound's incredible. you can smell the tires and the oil and the gas. it's amazing. - oh! up top. oh, hang on. - and here's a big one. - there it is. - seven, eight, nine cars involved. many which were running inside the top ten. - that's the whole field. that's the whole field. - wow. that was wicked. mark martin got a piece of the action. it's a heck of a wreck right there, boys. mark martin's car is on fire right there. it's a fireball out there. can see mark climbing out right there. - the lowe's guys come over and get him out. that's pretty cool right there, man. - i feel bad for dion, who i work with, and that whole five crew who- just a bunch of nice guys out there. and it's part of racing, and they understand that. but i'm sure they're incredibly disappointed.

- gettin' ready to roll. we've got eight laps to get it done, and it begins right now! - hey, you doing all right? - i'm all right, man. - yeah. just... [engines roaring] appreciate it, man. - all right, buddy. i'll see you. - take care. - all right, now. - david reutimann's been good tonight. he's in tenth, trying to maintain that position. not gonna do it. kevin harvick, the race leader, harvick wins at daytona! - oh, yeah! - great job, driver. great job, buddy. - you know, david got caught in the back, and looks like he finished 11th, unfortunately. you know, kind of got trapped back there. couldn't move forward and, um... you know, it's unfortunate. he was running so well all night.

and that's part of racing. hey, man, really appreciate the opportunity. you guys were awesome. everyone on the double zero and... - cool, man, glad you saw it. i'm glad you, uh-- glad you got a chance to be a part of it, so... - no, i--thanks-- you done-- you done good yourself, man. i appreciate it. - thanks, pal. - thanks for the help, and... - well, i'll tell you what. i-i am a different kind of fan tonight, 'cause... unfortunately, most fans can't do what i just did, and, uh, i sure wish there was a way that we could have every fan do what i did. great, great experiences that i had here. it's something i will never forget for the rest of my life. it was awesome. it really was. - coming up, steve summons the employees to nascar's corporate headquarters. - all the years i've been in racing, i've never seen the inside of nascar's corporate headquarters.

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- hi. how are you? - hello. - hey, kevin. - you look a little different today, kevin. - you look like you should be on the news somewhere. - [laughs] - i know you probably thought you were here to evaluate my time with you. - right. - actually... that's not why you're here. um, my name isn't kevin thomas. my name is actually steve phelps. i've gone undercover. - [chuckling] - and, uh... - yeah, right. - you are--you are part of that undercover assignment. - [laughing] - i am the chief marketing officer here at nascar. - wonderful!

- dion...going out there and trying to put that tire on, 75 pounds and trying to do the right technique, which i messed up with, but you-- - yeah. - you taught me. - and at least i got the wheel on. - yeah, you did. you did. - dion, i was really impressed with you. and i think you're a tremendous ambassador for our sport. one thing that i think would be helpful, um, is to get--is to get your thoughts and ideas moving forward. so what i've decided to do i start something called an industry council. and you're gonna be its charter member. and essentially share your ideas with us about what you think is working and what you think needs to be improved. so what are your--what are your thoughts about that? - i think that's a great idea, you know? i'm flooded with thoughts each week, you know? maybe coming from my perspective with my background that maybe we haven't tapped into yet. so, i mean... kind of excited about that idea. - that's fantastic. so, hey, one other thing that i wanted to talk to you about. i know you talked about having a bit of a shelf life with, uh, with the job that you're in.

any time in the future that you want to come work here at nascar, you just let me know. - [chuckles] appreciate that. - and give me a shout and-- and i'll get it taken care of and we'll find a job that you want to do and a job that'll work and... uh, that you'll enjoy. - makes me feel special. makes me feel good. you know, i'm still trying to swallow everything. [chuckling] - all right, my friend. you be well. - same here. - thanks so much. - no problem. - i enjoyed it. - i feel privileged and honored to know i have a future in nascar. i'm excited about the opportunity. - scott, i personally appreciate all the time you spent with me. i really appreciated you and all the folks at michael walter racing. - well, cool. - they're are a couple things that i want to do. - okay. - for you personally. first of all, you're on the road all the time. - yeah. - 38 weeks. just really, really working hard. and you talked about see if there was a way to get family to come and... - mm-hmm. - so what i want to do is to fly your family to the race of your choice,

all-expenses paid, and then credential it. - well, cool, man. i appreciate that. thanks. that was good. - you're welcome. the second thing that i want to do provide tickets to every member of your pit crew so they can bring their families to a race in 2011. - awesome, man. thank y'all. thank y'all. i appreciate that. means a lot. it's good for us to be able to speak openly and be heard. you know, and not it just be what the drivers or what the car owners or sponsors are wanting. you know, because, ultimately, we're the ones that make the sport tick. - appreciate you coming in this morning. - and i'll still call you kevin. [both laugh] - cindy and tom, i really enjoyed working with you guys. the way you interact with our fans was just in credible. i enjoyed getting out there and doing it with you as well. what i wanted to do is to provide you, cindy, with doubling, essentially, the proceeds you've made, both in the february race and in the july race to give to the-- to the girls. - yes! all right.

- which is roughly $10,000 extra. so hopefully, that will help out the girls. - that's excellent. excellent. yeah. i can't believe this. ha ha! - and, tom, i know you're a big race fan. - yep. - and you don't get to go to a lot of other markets. and you're working while the races are going on. so what we'd like to do is we'd like to send you to the championship race. - awesome! i'd be glad to go. - all expenses paid. airfare, hotel. - oh, wow. that'd be great. awesome. awesome. - it'd be a great experience for you, i think. - i've been a nascar fan since as early as i can remember. - and take your sister. - you can feel free to take your sister or anyone else. - i might have somebody else to take. [laughter] it might be sis. we'll see, we'll see. - oh, it's great. it's great. it's...for my girls. mmm. i'd do anything for my girls. i adopted three wonderful children. i couldn't have any of my own, so... they mean the world to me, pretty much. would you say something? [sniffles] so i'll stop?

- i can't come up with nothing funny to say. [laughter] i'm thinking. my brain isn't getting it. - glen, i really enjoyed working with you. - uh-huh. - your work is literally backbreaking at times, what you do, and... out there working in 100-degree weather and... the other thing, too. i appreciated you-- your sharing your story with me, and i know you've had a difficult situation with your son daniel and... - right. - the leukemia that he's fighting and... there's one thing i wanted to--to give to, uh, to daniel. uh, this was from this past weekend. and it's a helmet. - uh-huh. - and it was signed by all the drivers who participated in the coke zero 400 this past weekend. - really? - and the drivers, uh, drivers and i thought this would be a nice thing for daniel to be able to put in his room, uh... - [laughing] - and, obviously, um, really want to see daniel get better. - well, thank you so much. - you're welcome. hey, one other thing too.

anything that the speedway hasn't covered from a financial standpoint, any out-of-pocket expenses that you have, nascar wants to pay for those until daniel's better. - really? - yeah. - [choking up] um... anything that's not covered-- travel expenses, any other medical things that are not covered, we will cover for you. - you serious? - yes. - excuse me. - it's okay. - um... wow. um...okay. really? - yes. - it's--it's more than generous. it just overwhelms me. and it also... reinforces the fact that, uh, i work for a great company.

- well, i'm glad i'm the one that's able to tell you this. - [exhales] i can't thank you enou-- i mean, it's gonna take a while to digest this. steve, huh? - steve--steve it is. - [laughing] [overlapping chatter] - i'm waiting to go on to talk to the employees. uh, a little bit nervous. i feel good. - please welcome the chief marketing officer of nascar, mr. steve phelps! [cheers and applause] - thank you, daytona. thank you. um, as robin said, my name is steve phelps. and over the past week, i've been undercover. [gasps and chatter] when i started this journey, i really had two objectives. the first to try to find better ways for us to connect with our fans. and the second thing was to try to get a better sense for what goes on

with various employees within in the industry. so i had some great experiences over the past week. why don't we take a look at some, and you'll be able to have some fun at my expense, i'm sure. - all right, just like how i showed you. - it's there somewhere. - if that was the sprint cup race, you'd be fired. [laughter] - and this is something that they opened up... - whoo! - to all of us. that's not--that's not-- - "caution: hot." - yeah. [laughter] - here, that's upside down, bud. [laughter] - i mean, there's-- there's some science to it. you know, but it's not rocket science. [laughter] [cheers and applause] - it's been a great privilege for me to be out here undercover. and i learned a lot. so thanks so much. [cheers and applause] - i want to introduce you to my daughters. this is sierra. - that's great that the-- that the higher ups will come down to--

to where the rubber meets the road. and find out what it's all about in the trenches. - this is my son daniel. - hey, daniel. - how are you? it's a pleasure meeting you. - nice to meet you. - what i'll take from this week is knowing that i was able to affect some people's lives in a positive way, and that's something that i feel very fortunate to have done. - [crying] thank you. - you're very welcome. what i found working with these people is that we truly have the best fans in the world. and some of those best fans in the world are the ones that work right here anascar.

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male announcer: america is struggling to shake off the recession. public distrust of wealthy ceos remains high. but more and more bosses are looking for radical ways to reconnect with their workforce in order to find out what's really going on in their companies. each week, we follow the boss of a major corporation as they go undercover in their own company. this week... the president and ceo of the unifirst corporation, one of north america's largest producers of work wear and uniforms poses as a former shop owner looking to return to the work force. hi, mike daniels. - how are you? - nice to meet you. announcer: the boss will trade in his luxury suv and model train set