From Mike Schmidt to Paul Newman: Anecdotes From Jeff Bray’s Career

Jeff Bray, right, Keuka College's head athletic trainer/assistant athletic director, has worked as an athletic trainer for dozens of auto races, including an open wheel race when he met Helio Castroneves, an IndyCar driver and three-time Indy 500 champion.

By John Boccacino/Sports Information Director

Growing up on his parents’ gas station in Sterling, Kansas, Jeff Bray was surrounded by automobiles at an early age, so it should come as no surprise that the longtime Keuka College head athletic trainer/assistant athletic director considers himself an avid “Gear Head,” an affectionate term used to describe diehard motorsports fans.

Bray was bitten by the auto racing bug and has been going to the local and national speedways for as long as he can remember.

“I got into cars and into racing because I grew up on a gas station, and my wife [Kristen] says if you cut me I’ll probably bleed motor oil, and she believes that,” Bray recalled with a laugh and a smile.

“My parents had a friend who raced cars, and my dad provided tires for him, so I grew up thinking [that driver] was Zeus-like, he was awesome behind the wheel. Watching the Indy 500 was always the best day of the year, better than Christmas for me, and I lived for Memorial Day.”

For the last 18 years, Bray has carved time into his busy Keuka College schedule to work as an athletic trainer at dozens of races each year, including NASCAR, Indy Car and the American Le Mans Series. His efforts have taken him across the world assisting on race days.

“I’ve never had a bad day at the racetrack in 18 years,” said Bray, who is celebrating his 20th year at Keuka College and who resides in Penn Yan with wife, Kristen, son Tyler, 15, and daughter Kelly, 13.

“Even when things haven’t gone right, I’m still at the racetrack and that’s what keeps me going, I am fortunate to ply my trade into something I’m passionate about.”