Yet smack in the middle of his sixth decade, Tom and his wife, Anna Lee, embarked on an adventuresome retirement career as transport drivers for Bill Davis Racing, pulling the number 22 Winston Cup show car to NASCAR races and scheduled events. In an FL50 Series Freightliner truck, dubbed a "baby Freightliner" by its owner, Bill Davis, the Welborns cruise America's interstates and zip through major cities such as Los Angeles and San Diego, California, the Dallas-Fort Worth complex, and South Bend, Indiana.

Riding on air suspension seats high above highway traffic, Tom sets the cruise control to clip off 500 miles a day in luxury comparable to a four door limousine. Under the hood, a Caterpillar engine powers a seven-speed manual transmission. A spacious back seat doubles as closet space for "working clothes," black slacks and bright pullover shirts personalized with their sponsor's logo, Caterpillar or Siemen's Electric. In a pinch, the seat folds down into a bunk.

"It's our home away from home," Anna Lee states, explaining that she and Tom spend daytime hours side by side in the truck, but sleep in motels. She notes that their trips are sometimes three days, but have been as long as three weeks.

Although Tom spent a working lifetime driving dump and bob trucks, he admits he never towed a 40-foot rig. In reference to a matching trailer big enough to haul the show car, Anna Lee reminds, "Remember what's behind you!"

In February 1999, the Welborns picked up the truck, trailer, and car in High Point, North Carolina, and barely had time to return to Heber Springs, sleep in their own bed, and pack for their assignment at a large annual farm show in Tulare, California. "We actually knew nothing about our roles," Anna Lee says with a laugh.

"We've been surprised at the attention the car draws and the excitement of people who meet us on the parking lot when we pull in," Anna Lee says.

Once the car, truck, and trailer are buffed to a high gloss, Tom and Anna Lee stand around, visit with people, and answer questions such as: "Does this car run? Does it have an engine? How much gas does it hold? Does Ward Burton drive this car? How fast will it go?"

Tom answers most of the questions. "Winston Cup is the top-of-the-line category in stock car racing," he explains to those not grounded in NASCAR. "In NASCAR competition, driver Ward Burton races the number 22 car, which is almost the exact replica of the retired yellow and black "Cat" car."

Once a spectator asked Anna Lee if the show car was naturally aspirated or fuel injected. In her sweet Southern drawl, she replied, "Just a moment and I'll get my husband to answer that for you."

Mostly, the Arkansas lady mills among people in a NASCAR hospitality tent or at a sponsor's dealership. The one question she answers without hesitation is: "Do you drive the race car?"

"Questions typically turn to how we got our 'fun' jobs," Anna Lee continues. "In our case, Tom's sister, Gail, is a partner with her husband in Bill Davis Racing. For several years, she had asked Tom to pull one of their show cars cross-country. The timing of our total retirement in 1999 made it possible.

"The job is fun. Tom had never traveled west of Oklahoma City so we're seeing new country. We've had the opportunity to see some family and friends along the way, visit a museum or two, and go to Palo Duro Canyon in West Texas.

"On Easter Sunday, we were the only ones who drove up to Amarillo's First Baptist Church in a black Freightliner truck!" she goes on. "And the people we're meeting make the whole job worthwhile." Although most of their travels are west of the Mississippi, the Welborns have summer dates at a Caterpillar Logistics Show in Joliet, Illinois. They return home for one day before heading for Mississippi's Gulf Coast.

During the winter months, the couple towed the famous "Cat" car to the 39th Calvacade of Wheels at Notre Dame University in Indiana, an exhibition for Winston Cup racers. Displaying the attention-getting truck and trailer in front of the Joyce Center on campus, the number 22 car drew its share of fans inside at the University's hockey rink. "We didn't have ice on the floor, but it snowed outside," Tom recalls.

After their dates at Notre Dame, Tom and Anna Lee towed the rig to Kansas City and set up to represent Siemen Electric at a trade show in the American Royal Complex. "Most of our dates are in cities," Tom continues. "With directions from a contact person at each event, we have no problems maneuvering through traffic to the site."

"But it's more work than we anticipated," he interjects. With no ebb in enthusiasm, the trim retiree figures up three hours of cleaning and polishing the truck, car, and trailer prior to a show, eight hours straight of talking to people, and driving 1500 hundred miles in three consecutive days.

Except at the Texas race, where accommodations are snapped up months in advance, Tom and Anna Lee select their own motels. "Sometimes, we're lucky to find something within 30 miles of a race track or dealership," Tom adds, noting that they have to consider adequate parking for the long rig. "We don't drive into just any Days Inn or McDonalds!"

The racing company arranged for their hotel in Fort Worth and advised the Welborns to pack up and load the car into the trailer after the last invited guest of Caterpillar, Siemens, and Bill Davis left the hospitality tent. Due to an anticipated four-hour wait in traffic, they pulled the rig to their overnight accommodations and watched the Texas Motor Speedway race on television.

Tom says most trips are scheduled well in advance. "There's no pattern to our travel and time at home," he states. "Although we've had only one or two trips to materialize within a few days, we have to be ready. Just because we have a week at home, we can't take off on a vacation."

The former auto parts store manager's connection with trucks and vehicle components throughout his working days facilitate his troubleshooting the mechanisms of their wheeled charges. On one trip to California, Tom discovered the air bags on the back of the big truck would not fill to make unhitching the trailer easier. Scrapping their plans to spend a free afternoon at a mall, the Welborns waited in a Freightline service garage while the mechanics replaced a rod that had worked lose on the highway. Anna Lee curled up in the truck with a book and Tom kicked tires on the big tractors, talked to drivers, and answered questions from some racing fans.

Acknowledging that he could not manage the job without his wife, Tom credits Anna Lee as a full-fledged partner in their newfound adventures. Both have to be relatively fit to clean and polish fingerprints and mud from the vehicles' exteriors. Anna Lee directs when Tom loads and unloads the race car. And just like at home, she does laundry when their travel extends into weeks.

Anna Lee has learned to read road maps and highway signs. She figures distance between cities. "But the best thing about the job is the 24 hours a day, seven days a week we're spending together," she adds, noting that their approach to retirement works only for couples who like each other--a lot.

Despite Tom's admission that climbing in and out the window of the race car requires bending in places where his body protests, he confesses the routine of driving, parking, and exhibiting the racing auto has become easier in the past two months. "After we've been at home a few days, I'm ready to get back on the road," he says, declaring amazement at his newfound confidence for driving in traffic.

At certain events, the Welborns convert a side of the trailer into an instant storefront for the tee-shirts, caps, and other racing mementos sold by Bill Davis Racing. Except for Tom's log book, Anna Lee does all the paper work related to their jobs, including the inventory and sales of the souvenirs.

In their road schedule, the Welborns allow time for the unexpected. But even their best laid plans screeched to a standstill when high winds and a sand storm closed the highway from California to Deming, New Mexico. Along with about 1,000 other tractor-trailer rigs, motorhomes, and automobiles, Tom and Anna Lee waited out the storm at Lordsburg. Just before they nabbed the last motel room in the town, Anna Lee envisioned their first night on the fold-down bunk in the truck's backseat.

Prepared to settle in for up to three days, Tom says, "When we got up the next morning, the streets looked like a ghost town. The highway had opened in the night, and almost everyone had pulled out!"

With a laugh, the Welborns say their adult children--and their almost grown-up grandchildren--envy their free-wheeling retirement job. "A neighbor looked over the rig and called us ambassadors," Anna Lee relates, affirming that they are indeed representing Bill Davis Racing, Caterpillar, and Siemens Electric.

"One of the young men at our church found out what we're doing and said, 'You are my heroes,'" she continues. "Sometimes in the thick of traffic, we feel more like road warriors.

"When I retired as a bank teller, someone asked what we were going to do," Anna Lee recalls. "I answered that I was ready for new challenges, travel, and spending more time with family. Never did I think the travel would involve pulling a race car down the highway!"

Editor's note: As part of our new motorsports program, we are scouting for "show-car" jobs and other similar opportunities. However, as was the case with the Welborns, these jobs are rarely advertised to the general public. If you are interested in motorsports jobs, I suggest you enter Awesome Applicants™ and specify your interest in motorsports on the form. Remember, some of these jobs require a demanding travel schedule. It can be a lot of fun, but it's hard work too.