NASCAR driver making people look twice with surprising day job

NASCAR driver Patrick Staropoli can give you a perfect description of what drivers will see this weekend, turning laps around the Kansas Speedway. (KMBC via CNN Newsource)

KANSAS CITY, Kansas (KMBC) -- NASCAR driver Patrick Staropoli can give you a perfect description of what drivers will see this weekend, turning laps around the Kansas Speedway.

“There’s so much of this that’s hand to eye co-ordination,” Staropoli said.

He would know plenty about that. Staropoli isn’t just the driver of the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, he’s also an eye surgeon.

“You go into the clinic and you’re talking to a patient, you’re talking about their eye and what you’re going to do to help them out and the other half they want to know how the race went,” Staropoli said.

He returned to NASCAR in 2025 after putting his driving career on hold to focus on his other career.

Patrick has been a driver since he was a kid, and he always wanted to be a doctor, too. While in medical school he kept on racing, and ended up joining Big Machine Racing.

“The autograph session, I had a lot of people ask me what kind of doctor I am and if I think they could swing by for an eye exam,” he said.

At age 36, Staropoli loves bringing his two passions together.

“We try to use the racing platform to raise awareness for things that are important to us in the medical field,” he said.

Staropoli started 24th and finished 14th in the Kansas Lottery 300 on Saturday.

By Eric Graves, Alan Shope.