KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Never mind the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers, Lawrence residents Rick Bellinger and Pat Slimmer were mesmerized by the racers’ pit and garage areas Saturday as they scoured the Kansas Speedway.

“We deal with nuts and bolts and wrenches and everything all day long,” said Bellinger, who has worked 26 years at Dale and Ron’s Auto Service, 630 Conn. “But theirs is such a clean environment.

“I mean we have a clean shop, and I know Pat does too, because I’ve been there, but when you go into a garage and see a guy polishing their toolboxes? I mean, you just don’t see that every day.”

It’s also not every day that two local gear heads get to swap the grease on their hands to shake mitts with NCTS drivers as they did Saturday, when the two served as race officials for NCTS O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at the Kansas Speedway.

“It’s going to be hard to come back to races and sit in the grandstands after this,” joked Slimmer, owner of Slimmer’s Auto Service, 2030 E. 23rd, who served as the honorary starter for Saturday’s races.

But at least Slimmer had been to the 1.5-mile tri-oval track in Wyandotte County previously. It was Bellinger’s first visit.

“I really wasn’t that excited until I got here, and then seeing this thing is just amazing,” said Bellinger, who was grand marshal of the race. “The whole facility is just incredible. … I’ve been to Indy, I’ve been to a couple other tracks, but this one sure is pretty.”

Slimmer agreed, and he said that while he doesn’t exactly know why he or Bellinger were chosen by their O’Reilly salesperson to receive such an honor, he was definitely going to enjoy it.

“He asked me, ‘Hey, how would you like to go to the races?'” Slimmer said. “And I said ‘Sign me up. I’m there.'”

“It’s not everyday that your friends and family can watch you start the race that they’re watching on TV.”