Though he’s only had one on-track appearance so far, Vargas has spent most of his weekends at the race track this year, serving as a part of the JD Motorsports road crew and learning the race cars mechanically – not just from the driver’s seat.
That experience is something else that Vargas points to as being “very valuable” to his overall growth.
“I think the biggest thing that has helped me out a lot is that working on the cars has gotten me to work closer with my team,” he said. “Now, when I get in the car, it makes me feel like I’m one of them, and like they’ll want to put in that extra work for me. It’s a good dynamic there and it feels really good to go to JD (Motorsports) and feel as welcomed as I have there.
“I go to the shop and I’m there cracking jokes, but I’m able to go there and work on the cars as well and learn what I can about the cars, so that when I get back in the seat, I have a better idea as to what I’m talking about.”
If the immediate outpouring of support and kudos for Vargas wasn’t evident enough on social media in the hours after the Pocono Xfinity race, it became clear for him the following weekend, when he went to Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the JD Motorsports squad to work on their IMS road course cars.
Once in the grounds at IMS, the NASCAR industry followed suit with similar well wishes, something Vargas admitted he wasn’t expecting.
“All this goes to show that being behind the scenes and being at the track and being present, people see that, you know?” said Vargas. “I can’t tell you how many people at Indianapolis … probably in the 30s as far as the number of people that came up to me in the pits, from team owners to crew guys and drivers, who came up to me and told me I did a really good job the week prior at Pocono.
“It was just a really cool moment for me to have that happen, and to have the respect of my peers as well,” he continued. “So I know now that those things don’t go unnoticed, which is reassuring for me. It’s reassurance that I’m doing things right and that I’m making the right moves.”
While Vargas’ next Xfinity Series start with JD Motorsports isn’t until Kansas Speedway on July 25, his name has still been in the conversation – particularly on social media, where the self-proclaimed “chicken nugget connoisseur” even received a note from Tyson Foods.
“That was very, very unexpected,” he noted, adding that he’d love to pursue a partnership with Tyson if the circumstances develop to be able to do so – and not just because of his well-documented nugget reviews.
“It just goes to show what the power of social media can be, doesn’t it?” he noted. “When you look at what my brand has been able to accomplish and my fan base – which is still crazy to me, saying that I have a fan base – but all of that has become so loud now that organizations are noticing and teams are noticing. Companies are noticing, charities are noticing, TV stations are noticing … the list goes on and on.
“I think at the end of the day, what makes the difference between me and someone else comes down to the fans who will vouch for me and say, ‘look, this is the guy that we want in a race car,’ and to have that is far more valuable than anything else,” Vargas added.
“It’s crazy. I’m blessed and thankful for all of it.”