For fans that have come to the sport recently, the name Charlie Luck may not ring a bell.
For longtime NASCAR fans, they would remember him as a privateer racer who competed in the earliest years of what is now the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Luck made 106 starts in the series between 1982 and 1986. He never won a race, but had five top-five and 38 top-10 finishes with a best finish of second on two occasions. He also finished ninth in points twice (1984 and 1986).
After 1986, he disappeared from the racing scene at age 26 to throw himself into his family business, Luck Stone. Luck Stone has expanded substantially into a multi-state operation. In addition, the company has diversified into three divisions, Luck Stone, Luck Ecosystems and Luck Real Estate Ventures, all under the umbrella of The Luck Companies, where Luck currently serves as president and CEO.
A few years ago, the itch returned and Luck was back in the seat, this time in a Porsche. Over the past few years, Luck has worked his way up the ranks. Last year, Luck moved up to full GT3 competition for the first time in GT America Powered by AWS, where he won the championship. Now 62, Luck is full-time in Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS for Wright Motorsports in a Porsche 911 GT3 R in the Pro-Am class alongside Jan Heylen.
Frontstretch spoke with Luck at Watkins Glen International last month about his driving career, the draw that pulled him back to racing, balancing racing with his responsibilities at The Luck Companies, why he’s not interested in a road racing return to the Xfinity Series and more.
Phil Allaway, Frontstretch: We’re through six races so far and you and Jan Heylen are second in Pro-Am points. You swept the season opening weekend at Sonoma, but it seems like it’s been a struggle since then. How would you describe your first Pro-Am season to this point?
Charlie Luck: I’ve learned so much [so far]. Coming into this series, I’d never done a driver change. It’s amazing the [number] of details that [go into pit stops]; the pit entry, the actual driver change. We have about 37 seconds to do to get me out, [Heylen] in, buckled and everything, then launching right at the 0.0 mark on the timer in the car.
It’s very, very technical. Fortunately for us, that’s gone well. We haven’t had any pit road infractions or issues so far. Also, it’s been different because I was used to carrying the whole race on me. Now, I start today, Jan takes over. Jan starts…
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