Kevin Cram remembers the highlight of his summer vacations as a child: traveling north from Massachusetts to Vermont to visit dirt tracks.
That Cram racing lineage — and passion for racing — spans multiple generations. Kevin’s NASCAR roots date back to the formation of the Craftsman Truck Series, winning the series’ second championship as the truck chief for Ron Hornaday Jr. with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Two years later, he guided Stacy Compton to a pair of truck wins as a crew chief.
RELATED: Kevin Cram crew chief stats | Dawson Cram racing stats
Dodge got wind of Kevin’s success and wanted him to be involved with the manufacturer’s move to the Cup Series in 2001, spearheaded by Ray Evernham and Bill Elliott. Chip Ganassi also approached Kevin to crew chief Sterling Marlin, which quickly turned into a job with Jason Leffler. After failing to qualify for two races, change was needed. His last Cup stint came in 2002 with Casey Atwood, lasting just four races.
With three children — including an infant Dawson Cram — Kevin needed a break.
“[My] professional racing deal was very insecure, so I decided that I wasn’t going to wake up and be divorced and not have a relationship with my children chasing what I started,” Kevin said.
Kevin remained distant from the national scene, sprinkling in 18 starts as a crew chief in the Xfinity Series for Johnny Borneman III between 2008 and 2010. The most races he did in a single season was at the truck level in 2006, calling the shots for Steve Park, a two-time Cup Series victor, in 10 events.
Meanwhile, Dawson began racing back home. His racing journey began at just 5 years old while living in California. After moving to North Carolina, his passion became serious, splitting time between asphalt and dirt.
“I didn’t like [racing] at first,” Dawson recalled of his first time racing. “I don’t remember a whole lot about it, but after a few times of driving, I started loving it. When I was 8, I moved back to North Carolina and started racing bandoleros. By that point, I loved it, and it was my entire life. I didn’t do anything but race.”
Admittedly, Dawson hasn’t tried to accomplish much professionally outside of racing. Having to go through NASCAR’s approval process, he was given the nod to attempt his first truck race at 16 years old at the famed Martinsville Speedway. His references put him over the edge, having Hornaday, Dennis Setzer and Don Hawk in his corner.
After getting approved, Dawson needed to find a truck to run. A deal with D.J. Copp went awry, leading to a last-minute conversation with Carl Long. Ultimately, Dawson ended up having to bring a superspeedway truck to Martinsville to try and qualify for his debut. His driving coach was short-track ace Josh Berry.
“We were fast enough to make the race, but we blew the motor in practice,” Dawson remembered. “We were sitting there picking up the pieces, and that’s all the money we had to do that. People started calling and said, ‘That was cool what you did, are you going to do it again?’ Enough people called that we were able to do it again, and I ran my first race a few months later with Mark Beaver.”
Dawson finished 17th in his NASCAR debut.
Between 2018 and 2019, Dawson ran a quartet of truck races before running the bulk of the 2020 schedule. The Crams took over the Long Motorsports truck team during the COVID-19 pandemic and were locked into each race they showed up to. Kevin made his NASCAR return and crew chiefed for his son.
“Me and my dad have definitely been a packaged pair,” Dawson said. “There is no way I would be able to be where I am today without him because if you look at anybody in the top three series, they are offering something to these teams. I don’t have the funds to offer these teams, but I have someone that has years and years of quality experience and quality knowledge.”
Since 2020, Kevin has been around for all 54 of Dawson’s NASCAR starts. His 26 Xfinity Series starts have come with five different race teams. Without an unlimited number of resources behind him, Dawson has scratched and clawed for every opportunity.
“He understands what I’m going through and the struggles of this sport,” Dawson said of his father. “To want to do this is hard. The only reason that I’m still here is because of my passion. He understands that passion because he has it too.”
Dawson knows his father’s knowledge about race cars is invaluable. The adjustments made are almost always in the right direction. Having an established relationship allows them to be blunt with one another without taking anything personally.
“We mesh together fine,” Dawson said. “I know there are people that can’t work with their dad that have a similar situation to me, but we’ve never had big arguments on the radio, and we understand what’s happening. It’s good because I can say almost anything I want to him and he’s not going to take it the wrong way.”
Racing together has allowed the father and son duo to become closer on and off the track.
“Dawson doesn’t do much without asking me if this is the right choice,” Kevin said. “Racing has provided that relationship. That’s probably what I value the most, and the fact that I can help him chase his dreams.”
MORE: 2024 Xfinity Series schedule | How to get notified for 2025 schedule release
Dawson holds his relationship with his father in high regard.
“It’s been awesome and means the world to me to spend this time with him,” Dawson quipped. “Getting to drive for some other people and seeing what it’s like, I cherish what we’ve been able to do. If it all ended tomorrow, I wouldn’t say I’d be OK with it because I have goals, but I appreciate what I’ve been able to do.”
Dawson has a four-race sponsorship deal lined up, beginning next month at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Xfinity Series. He has competed in 14 races this season, scoring a pair of 22nd-place finishes for JD Motorsports.
