To come home and perform in front of hometown family and friends, as Josh Shipplett did Saturday night, is a rare treat indeed.

“It was definitely a lot of fun coming back to where it all started,” said Shipplett, who was on the pit crew for the No. 4 car in a NASCAR Pro Cup series race. “Overall, it was a pretty good weekend.”

Shipplett had to watch in frustration from pit row as his car was spun out on the first lap, putting the team at an early disadvantage. They were slowly working their way back into contention when the car battery died midway through the race, costing them several laps before they could replace the battery. Ultimately, the team finished in 13^th place.

“It was a long night, that’s for sure,” Shipplett said.

Despite the disappointment from Saturday night’s race, auto racing has opened up all kinds of doors for Shipplett, who graduated with honors from Winder-Barrow in 2007. While he attended races at the Winder-Barrow Speedway in Winder and also came to stock car races at Lanier Speedway while growing up, it took a while for racing to become his true passion.

He played baseball at Winder-Barrow and focused on his studies, but the more he watched races, the more he wanted to try it. He visited one of NASCAR’s big-time venues when he watched qualifying for a then-NEXTEL Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and found out about a program at Lanier Technical College in Oakwood that offered a certification in motorsports vehicle technology.

Upon his graduation from high school, he had a scholarship offer from Georgia Tech to attend engineering school, but opted for the exclusive motorsports instruction – of 365 applicants, 20 were accepted -- instead. He completed the program in 18 months and immediately took off for a full-time position as a fabricator at the Richard Petty Driving Experience (a program that allows race fans to pay for experiences like driving a race car).

Now, he works as a fabricator for Redhorse Racing, and is a student at the highly selective Pit Crew University in Mooresville, N.C. At Pit Crew U, he trains three nights a week in the specialized skills race teams need out of the individuals in the pits – carrying tires, pumping fuel into cars, placing a jack under the car after it gets to its spot on pit road.

Sounds simple, until you remember that every split second matters in the pressure cooker of the pits, with drivers using pit row as a key place to gain ground in a race. Shipplett specializes in carrying an 85-pound tire to the side of the car, where a drill jockey quickly installs it during a 15-second pit stop.

“I’m probably the best tire carrier at pit school, and the top seven get chosen to be on the crews for races,” Shipplett said.

Pit Crew U. invites 300 prospective students for basic instruction, but only 40 make the cut for 5 Off 5 On, the program’s top level. Out of those students, the school will assign crews to work minor league races across the eastern United States, much like Saturday’s race in Braselton.

Shipplett was ecstatic to get to perform in a familiar race track, but said once the race starts there isn’t much time to think about who’s watching.

“You’re just thinking about your job,” he said. “Your adrenaline’s going so much you can’t remember the pit stop afterward.”

He is quick to credit is family with being completely supportive of him and his long-term goal of being on the pit crew for a top NASCAR series.

“He’s very mature for his age, and he handled himself very well,” said his father Dana Brown, who was in attendance Saturday night. “I’m very proud of him, no doubt about that.”

Brown said he had initial misgivings about his son’s decision to forgo a free education at Georgia Tech, but he said his support never wavered. Shipplett is currently working toward a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

“The way he told me [at the time of graduation from high school], Georgia Tech will always be there,” Brown said. “That’s his choice and I’ll back him up.”

Shipplett is hoping to continue to hone his craft at Pit Crew U., and ultimately he will be in the pits in front of a slightly larger crowd under the bright lights of NASCAR’s top series some day.

Sexton said his team’s strength is its pitching, and that advantage will be heightened by the fact that the City of Auburn field boasts a dirt pitching mound. Most other leagues use portable mounds for Dixie Youth competition.

“Some kids aren’t used to that and won’t be able to pitch as good, and it won’t bother our kids,” Sexton said.

For the winner-take-the-district major series, head coach Brian Swords said the matchup will feature strength on strength: Buford’s powerful bats against Winder’s pitching depth.

“We played against them in the regular season, so none of them are new to us,” Swords said. “I feel confident that we could have shut them out in the jamboree [Buford won two of the three matchups].”

The coach said he plans on starting Brendan Brown in the first game Monday, with Tristan Swords taking the ball in the second game. He said he hasn’t decided on a game three starter if one is necessary.

Swords also said he anticipates a high level of intensity from his team, despite the fact that win or lose, they’re heading to the state tournament.

“I believe in playing every game as the last game,” he said. “Plus, getting a No. 1 seed out of your district for the state tournament is really nice.”

Winder’s Dixie Youth program is no stranger to success at the state level, as the majors team made finished third a year ago.