News Archives



03-05-2009:     More Information from the IRS on COBRA Subsidies as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Click here to view.

02-25-2009:     Information on COBRA Subsidies as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Our insurance assistance partner, Janice Blackley, has provided an explanation of the COBRA subsidies offered by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Click here to view this important information.

02-10-2009:     United Family Services Offers Assistance. United Family Services has come along side DontCheckUp.com to offer assistance. The following links provide more information on the help available from UFS. These documents and their website are also accessible from our Partners page.

Job Loss Survival Skills
Downsizing Survival Skills
Economic Survival Skills
01-25-2009:     DontCheckUp.com Gathering Held in Mooresville. Ted's Famous Chicken restaurant in downtown Mooresville provided the venue for our latest gathering. Over 50 displaced workers came by to have their pictures taken for the website and to receive their discount cards. Several local media outlets were represented, including WBTV Channel 3 who did a live "On Your Side" report. Click here to view.

01-20-2009:     DontCheckUp.com Gathering scheduled for Thursday, January 22nd in Mooresville. Ted's Famous Chicken restaurant in downtown Mooresville has offered their facility for Don'tCheckUp.com to take pictures for posting with resumes and issue exclusive cards to access the discounts and resources posted on our website. Come out and network with others and meet those that have been working on your behalf through the website. The media has been invited and we need to have a good showing of support by those who are unemployed NASCAR industry workers. Ted's Famous Chicken has offered a 10% discount for our group. We thank Patty and her staff for hosting us. We will be at Ted's from 4 to 8 p.m. To help the staff, try to spread the arrival time out so they can better serve everybody. Ted's is located at 215 South Broad Street directly across from What-A-Burger in downtown Mooresville. Click here for more info on Ted's Famous Chicken. Please make an effort to be there Thursday night.

01-14-2009:     DontCheckUp.com was featured tonight on WBTV Channel 3 in Charlotte. We were also featured in a recent article on NASCAR.com and on ESPN.com. This exposure helps get the word out about the plight of displaced workers of NASCAR and our efforts to help.

01-05-2009:     We continue to increase awareness of the DontCheckUp effort in both television and print media. On Monday, the DontCheckUp effort was featured on WSOC-TV. Click here to see the article and view the video. On Friday, we received coverage on News 14. Click here to see the article and view the video. We also had coverage in at least three area newspapers on Sunday, including the Statesville Record & Landmark. Click here to view the story.

01-02-2009:     January 5th Event at the Kannapolis Train Station: This event is sponsored by the Rowan Cabarrus Community College. The location is the Kannapolis Amtrak Train Station at 201 S Main St in Kannapolis. The time is from 10AM - 12 Noon. Information will available about training and workshops that are scheduled to begin soon. Representatives from the Employment Security Commission will be available to assist you in applying for unemployment benefits. Please attend even if you do not reside in Rowan-Cabarrus. You will be directed to your local agencies for information on available resources. DontCheckUp will be there to take pictures for posting with your resume and to provide Discount Cards to those who have registered with the website. We will be able to take resumes and provide information on our partners. Please stop by to meet with us.

12-30-2008:     New email communications system: Jeff Jones at JMJ Consulting has again worked his electronic magic to allow us to communicate more effectively. Jeff continues to be a pillar of support to this group and we all owe him a debt of gratitude for his help. With the website being a public forum we needed a private way to get information to you. This email system will allow us to target messages in a timely manor to the people who are displaced, as well as help us to make sure we have correct email addresses and that the messages are getting through. If you wish not to receive any emails from DontCheckUp.com, a link will be included at the bottom of each email that you can use to unsubscribe.

12-30-2008:     I am confident everybody had as enjoyable a Christmas as possible under the circumstances. Now let's get back to work. We need to all recommit ourselves and pick up on our plan of action for the new year. With January 1, many will be eligible for unemployment benefits. If you have not yet filed for your benefits and need help doing so, there are resources available to assist. Send an email to info@dontcheckup.com and we will get you in touch with someone to help. Click here to view the full update.

12-21-2008:     More resumes have been posted and we are processing additional resumes for posting shortly. Updates have also been made to the Resources, Discounts, and Partners Pages. Please visit these pages for the updated information.

12-20-2008:     McLaughlin Young Group (www.MYGroup.com) is offering registered and approved site users FREE access to its Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Click here for more information.

12-20-2008:     Rowan-Cabarrus Community College (RCCC) has joined with the NASCAR Motorsports Task Force to identify and provide needed services to local citizens who are facing unemployment due to the recent economic restructuring of the racing industry. Please note the RCCC will be closed until January 5th, 2009. Click here for more information.

12-18-2008:     The motorsports employment task force being set up by the North Carolina Motorsports Association teams up with DontCheckUp.com. Click here to view the press release.

12-18-2008:     The motorsports employment task force being set up by the North Carolina Motorsports Association has set up a program for displaced NASCAR team workers who are having credit and mortgage problems. The workers can get help through United Family Services’ office in Cornelius. UFS is a non-profit dedicated to assisting families in need. Unemployed race team workers can contact UFS at 9624 Bailey Road, Suite 290, Cornelius, N.C. 28031, or call (704) 655-8745.
12-18-2008:     View a recent WSOCTV Channel 9 story covering more layoffs in the NASCAR community. Listen for the mention of DontCheckUp.com near the end of the report. Click here to view the story.

12-15-2008:    Our website is on-line! I think you'll agree it is a great improvement. Please do not hesitate to forward comments or suggestions to us at Info@DontCheckUp.com or via the Comment Form accessible on the Contact Us page. Special thanks to Jeff Jones of JMJ Consulting LLC for developing and maintaining this site for us.
12-14-2008:    Health Insurance Update     Click here a downloadable/printable version of this update

We have partnered with Janice Blackley to help with insurance questions. Insurance issues can be complicated and you deserve the answers that apply to your specific situation. Please contact Janice to set an appointment before you fill out ANY insurance forms. Janice has offered to consult with you even if you choose to not select from her menu of 50+ insurance companies. Janice specializes in helping employees dealing with lay offs and plant closures. She has 21+ years experience and comes highly recommended.

Her final advise to all:
- Do not loose track of your Cobra letter or North Carolina Continuation letter from smaller companies
- Retain your last medical health insurance ID card
- Locate a copy of your company’s Benefits Plan Summary form, you can get this from your HR rep at your company
- Keep possession of the Certificate of Credible Coverage that should have been mailed to you since your layoff

Janice’s contact information –
Janice Blackley 704-663-7622
Email – jgblackley@aol.com

If you or your family members have a critical medical situation or need, please contact Janice as soon as possible.
12-13-2008:    A couple of significant announcements...

First, I have failed at my attempt to run this website. So we are turning it over to the professionals at JMJ Consulting. Jeff Jones, who was most generous to help get this project started, has decided we need a more functional and organized website. He will keep it on the simple side so we can all get the most out of it. When you see it, I'm sure you will agree it is definitely the representation that you deserve. Kevin Druckenbrod, formally of JR Motorsports and a member of our group, will be working with Jeff to maintain the website as our cause gains momentum. Thank you Kevin for offering to help. His talents are many and I'm sure his unemployment will be shortlived. He was Project Manager for dalejr.com and jrnation.com so my stepping aside is a no brainer.

We have been contacted by almost 250 people who represent 21 race shops, plus NASCAR itself, that have been laid off and want to be included in our effort. We know of almost 650 actuals and estimates of over 1000 have been said to have lost their jobs. We, (DontCheckUp) and YOU need to expand our list of those needing access to what we are doing here so we can speak with as loud a voice as possible. People are paying attention, we are making progress.

Please contact as many displaced NASCAR co-workers and have them contact us through email at info@dontcheckup.com . We have several projects about to be kicked off and it would help greatly if we are able to do this in mass rather than have to do so repeatedly. If you can't contact an individual yourself, please forward a name, email or phone number to us at the above email PLEASE MAKE THIS A PERSONAL PRIORITY. We appreciate your help.

We are finalizing an information release about Health Insurance. This is a very important issue for everybody to take care of. Please check back later today or Sunday. We will post it as soon as we can.

More to follow. Have a Great Day.

12-09-2008:    Our website is getting good coverage and we are making every effort to meet with the press when offered. We are on Charlotte NPR radio WFAE 90.7 fm Wed 12/10 at 6:30 and 8:30 AM. We are working hard on an upgrade to the website we will get it rolled out as soon as we can. This will include expansion for resume posting to all displaced NASCAR workers.

We are printing www.DONTCHECKUP.com Discount Cards and will have them available shortly.

We are requesting any information on Health Insurance that may be a better choice than COBRA. Please forward contacts or information to info@dontcheckup.com.

Check back often and talk to others about what we are doing here. The more people we connect with the louder our voice will be. Given the latest round of lay offs, if you know anyone who may have just been cut please reach out and get them connected with our effort soon.

"The Past Does Not Equal The Future"

12-08-2008:    I hope everyone had a chance to read David Poole's article in the Charlotte Observer Sports section in the Sunday paper. If not, this is the link to that article. http://www.thatsracin.com/topstories/story/21482.html. Thank you David for your support.

We are gaining momentum and just need to keep working hard to make things happen for ourselves. The opening of the site to other displaced NASCAR team members has resulted in a large response of emails with resumes to be posted. Please be patient while we complete an expansion of the website that will make it easier to post more resumes.

If you could request your local merchants to consider offering a discount to the unemployed in our group. We will list them on a separate page. Discounts can amount to significant savings. Please make an effort to patronize businesses that offer their support. When you locate a business that will offer a discount, pass along the contact name, phone number and discount information to info@dontcheckup.com. If you can pass along a business card we can input the image for people to view.

We have received some information on health insurance that we will be posting. If others have found reasonable health insurance options please forward a contact to info@dontcheckup.com.

Make sure you check back this week. We have several irons in the fire that should be of interest.
12-06-2008:    The latest batch of resumes have been entered into the Motorsports Resume section. If you were a DEI/ECR employee and have submitted your resume for posting, check out the resume attached to your name and check it for accuracy. If you have sumitted yours and don't see it, please contact me by email as I have run into several conversion problems and may need you to resend it. If you have not sent yours in and intend to, please do so soon.

I have received dozens of requests from team members displaced from other motorsports companies. I am working on providing a way to include these people in this effort. If you are a NASCAR related displaced worker, you can send me your resume in either a word document or preferably a pdf file and I will include yours in the expansion of what we have going here. The DEI/ECR displaced workers who initiated this have decided we need to reach out and include other displaced industry workers. It will be our own "No Racer Left Behind"program.

We have done several interviews in the past few days. The Lake Norman Times is looking on having something in the Dec 17th edition. NPR radio WFAE 90.7 fm will be next Wednesday morning. Thank you to Lisa Miller for reaching out.

Housekeeping: If you know of anyone who is on our listing that has accepted a new position, please forward their name so we can keep our list current.

Again, call somebody to check how they are doing.

We will be posting information about area businesses that have offered to give discounts to our group. Anybody that can contact a business and secure a discount please forward tnat information to info@dontcheckup.com.
12-04-2008:    Thank you all for your patience with my returning your calls and emails. It has been busy.

A big Thanks also to the Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody radio show. They had us on yesterday at 5pm. We appreciate their help and support in getting our information out.

Resumes are continuing to stream in. We have been able to review and edit some but the number is growing quickly. Some of the resumes need more help than others. We need to realize that you only get one chance to make a first impression and if that is your resume it needs to be right. We have a meeting tonight with a local individual that has offered to help. I am very impressed with examples that have been provided for us to review. This persons background is motorsports specific. I will post what we come up with but professional assistance usually helps.

WARNING XXX WARNING XXX WARNING XXX WARNING
As in many disasters, there will be those who are out to take advantage of those in distress. Our situation may attract a specific breed of vulture. People may be contacted by individuals or "Companies" that will be offering to find you a job in motorsports or other industries for a fee. Please proceed with caution. Some may be legitimate, many will be scams. I think the best way to handle this is if you are contacted for this form of service go ahead and get their program information and contact information and tell them you will get back to them. They may try to get you to sign up with them right away for a discount DO NOT DO IT. Contact us by email at info@dontcheckup.com and we will help get you the information you need. That 1 email can save you thousands of dollars plus lawyer fees. This is exactly why this communication line has been set up. We can help protect and support each other if we remain a group while we work through these uncertain times.

On a lighter note: We have been able to connect 2 more individuals with potential work. Have not been told it was a match yet. I have a request for a design engineer with race car experience. An assistant team engineer looks like the perfect candidate. If interested email info@dontcheckup.com. We are aware of some race shop activity but really don't expect much before Jan 1. Do not let that slow you down. We need to stay active so we can be first in line for opportunity.

We have recieved dozens of resumes from other displaced race team employees. I am working to help get something along the lines of what we have here going. The number keeps growing and the industry needs to help. Everybody have a great day
12-03-2008:    We had a great day yesterday. With the launch of the website we received several media contacts on the first day. Tim Packman has been a great help in getting our message out. You should be seeing several newspaper articles and we have a tentative time of 5 pm today to be on with Sirius race radio. I will post links to any articles as we get them. With NASCAR in New York this week we even had calls of support from individuals who are there offering support and suggestions.

We also received several inquires from people looking to hire for positions. We are connecting those whose backgrounds match with the position requirements. All success stories will be posted as soon as we hear them.

With the resumes posted online for companies that are hiring to view, please let us know if you accept a position. Your success is important for everyone to hear about. It may just be the hope that they need for the day. Please share your stories with us.

ACTION ITEMS: If you have not sent your resume to be posted, please do so as soon as possible. Inputting them onto the website has been time consuming and I need to thank Tim Packman and Ashley Mosby for helping get this done. If you do not have a resume email us so we can help.

The ECR group should be applying for Unemployment Benefits about this time. If you need to be connected with people to help with this, again send an email.

Call a coworker to check to see how they are doing. Tell somebody about this site and get them connected. If you know of anyone who is already back to work please let us know.

There is a Veterans Job Fair at Lowes Speedway tomorrow December 4. This will include many companies from the Charlotte area. If you are a Veteran and would like information please send an email and include your phone number I can reach you at.
12-01-2008:    Weclome!

View our initial press release

View the Motorsports Employment Task Force press release