Hello.
My name is Justin Welling, and I just wanted to let you know a little about me before you
go through the site.
I was born March 21, 1975, In South Bend Indiana. From About 1978 - 1989, I lived in
Chicago and many of its suburbs. In '89, I moved to Indianapolis with my parents and
attended Lawrence North High School where I would eventually take two years of collision
repair.
I decided against collision schooling past high school, and instead chose to try the
"climb the ladder" method by taking any job involved or associated with a body
shop. I got a job in the parts department at a Chevy dealership, which kept me in close
communication with the body shop.
After four months, I moved over to the body shop cleaning cars and sweeping floors....but
at least I was in the body shop!! After about 6 months of this, I got a job prepping cars
in the paint shop for the night shift at the dealership.
Mid-December '94, the dealership sold its body shop and I lost my job.
Early January '95, I got a job at a Pontiac dealer as a prepper, but after five months
left in search of more money. I started at a huge independent shop, but wasn't happy at
all. Just when I was considering a second job or a different line of work, A friend told
me about a position he had heard of. He mentioned "some Betten.....something'...I
think....Hauser? Racin' team or something?". Of course, I knew immediately what he
was trying to say. He had lost the number, so I called information and was stunned that
they had it.
June 12th, 1995, I started at Bettenhausen Motorsports. The difference between painting
street cars and race cars was like comparing apples to oranges. I was blown away, but determined to
learn to keep the job. Since I have started at Bettenhausen, I have done a
huge array of cars. When work slowed down for our team, we did work for
other teams to help make money for ours. I have done all
ranges of race cars. C.A.R.T, Champ Car World Series, I.R.L., N.H.R.A, Dirt cars, Midgets, Silver-crowns,
modifieds, junior sprinters, restored vintage Indy-Cars, Can-Am's, go-karts and tons more.
In racing, everything must be painted to match team colors. Just a drop in the bucket
would include: Fuel carts, scoring stands, battery carts, golf carts, scooters, floor
jacks, jack stands, car stands, cabinetry, kerosene heaters, and two wheeled dolly's. With
all of the traveling covering the whole globe for twenty races, the
equipment gets pretty scratched up and requires constant re-paints and touch ups. All this
including the cars themselves, which have sometimes four different wings or more for front
or rear, depending on the type of track, all of which must be painted and re-painted
frequently. So believe me, It is a full-time job, and often more than full-time.
I also worked for another independent shop for a brief time which produced allot of my
I.R.L. work shown, as well as the top-fuel car shown. In
April of 2002, I left racing in order to have a more normal work schedule
now that my daughters are starting to grow up! In December of that year, I started at
Indy Custom Shops in Brownsburg, IN . Here, I was finally
able to start working on hot-rods, customs, and bikes..........something
that I have always wanted to do. But even the 'dream job' didn't pan
out as expected, and the stability of the race team proved to be more than I
could turn away. In late 2003, I agreed to return to the team (then renamed Herdez Competition
following the passing of
Tony Bettenhausen), with the understanding that the hours would now be
more regulated. This year would provide my first win EVER as a team
member, when Ryan Hunter Raey would go pole to victory and lead every lap
along the way. I have been with the teams ever since.
I now tend to lean towards the custom side of painting
when not doing my full time job. Weekends, Nights, or when things slow down
at work. The teptation to open my own shop is often extremely
tempting, But the truth is that I really like my job and would hate to leave
while things are going so smoothly. But it is racing, which can be quite
unstable. So, Should it ever go away, You could almost count on Paintergeek
Paintworks to becoming a full time gig.
Thats about it for me. Thanks for coming in and reading about me, and hope you enjoy some
of the pictures posted. If you would like to ask a question about anything related to this
site, feel free to write me at Falcons66@usa.net
.
Enjoy the site!
Justin, the "Paintergeek"
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