Young Father Chases NASCAR Dream

Growing up in Beverly, kids are interested in sports such as basketball, football, hockey and lacrosse.

But for Jonathan Alcorn it was NASCAR racing. And now, as a 26-year-old, he is still working hard to break into the car racing business and sees an online contest as a way to do it.

Alcorn is a 2005 Beverly High School graduate that has entered the Peak Stock Car Dream Challenge which gives someone the chance to get a job on a NASCAR team.

"I'm not totally giving up the dream," he said during a recent interview at HMS Motorsports in Danvers, a retailer that sell motor sports equipment.

He's not sure where he caught the car racing bug, but said it was never around him. He dad is an IT project manager, his mother works at an animal shelter and his wife works at an animal shelter too.

His father found the Peak challenge website online.

"It snowballed from there until there was a legitimate chance" of being in the top 10. Entrants are ranked by the number of votes they get.

Since entering the contest he has used social media to spread the word and muster up votes. He has been "relentless" on Facebook and LinkedIn, he said, and his friends have been supportive. The top 10 are the "hot list" and the judges can choose from those contestants.

Before now, Alcorn said it has become clear to him how hard it is to get into the racing business.

"You have to know someone," he said. "It is like Hollywood acting."

He went to Sacramento, Calif, for 18 months to attend Wyotech, an automotive college and received his mechanic certificate.

"I took every course they had," he said.

He now lives in Beverly with his wife and two daughters.

Alcorn said he would take just about any job with a NASCAR team.

"Driving is the ultimate goal," he said.

To view Alcorn's profile on the Peak Stock Car Dream Challenge website and vote for him, go here.