Chocolate Myers doing unusual double duty

Thursday, May 7, 1998 | 5:55 a.m.

Danny "Chocolate" Myers is NASCAR's most famous crewman. Now, he plans to make history by fueling cars in two Memorial Day weekend racing classics, the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600.

"Some people said, 'Well, you know some of those drivers have been doing it.' I thought to myself that I could be the first crew member to do that," Myers said. "One thing led to another, and now I'm planning on doing it."

Myers, whose heritage includes Cherokee Indian and German blood, got his nickname while playing football at age 10. When his coach threw the dark-complexioned youngster a pass, he yelled, "Catch the ball, Chocolate Drop."

The nickname stuck for Myers, whose bushy beard, piercing eyes and 6-foot-5, 265-pound frame set him apart from virtually all who work on the world's best stock cars.

He is the son of Bobby Myers, one of NASCAR's pioneer drivers who was killed in 1957 in Darlington, S.C., at the Southern 500.

Danny Myers, 49, grew up around NASCAR people and found himself drawn to the sport from his childhood. For the past 17 years, he has worked for Richard Childress Racing, which fields cars for seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt.

Myers and Childress were friends as teen-agers growing up in Winston-Salem, N.C., and worked their way up together. Myers has been the gas man since 1988.

"I do a little of everything at the shop," he said. "I take care of all the pit equipment. I'm a general mechanic, nothing in particular. I do mostly what nobody else wants to do."

Now, the big guy is planning to do something many crewmen would relish. He's going to try for the unusual double on May 24.

That's the day Myers plans to don his fireproof suit to refuel one of A.J. Foyt's entries in the Indy 500. Then he'll hop a private jet to Charlotte, N.C., and assume his usual gas-man duties for Earnhardt in the Coca-Cola 600.

John Andretti did it as a driver in 1994. But Myers lacks the clout or income of a high-profile driver. He can't afford a helicopter to shuttle him to and from private planes.

"I was hoping Andretti would do it again, and I could ride along," Myers said. "When that didn't work out, I thought we might have to forget it. But then Featherlite came along."

The company that makes many of the trailers used in American racing will make the arrangements and pay most of Myers' bill.

The idea for the double came up after Leo Mehl, executive director of the Pep Boys Indy Racing League series, made a few phone calls and got Myers hired as fueler for Joie Chitwood's team in the IRL event last July at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

"We went down there, did it and just had a good time," Myers said. "It was really neat to work with the different guys and see how they operate."

In Winston Cup, the gas man empties 11-gallon cans into the car. In the IRL, the fuel man connects a hose to the car's fuel cell and feeds methanol from a tank in the pits.

"It's entirely different," Myers noted. "None of it is the same. It's not any easier and it's not any harder."

After the race last summer, the idea of doubling up at Indy and Charlotte just came up in conversation.

"I'm not doing this for money or anything. I'm doing it for the love of the sport and the thrill of doing two of the biggest races in the country on the same day."