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During the race, pit road can be a busy place.  Under cautions, it’s not uncommon for 30 or more cars to hit pit road for service.  When that happens, teams are at the mercy of those around them in regard to how they can get in and out of their pit stall.  But during green flag pit stops, crew chiefs actually work together to give their drivers the best chance of getting on and off pit road quickly.  By coordinating with their neighbors on when they come in for service, crew chiefs can ensure their drivers have a clean shot in and out of their pit stall.

What you often hear about, is crew chiefs coordinating with each other during superspeedway races like we just had at Talladega.  In those cases, they are usually trying to work out drafting deals and figure out when they can come to pit road with their partners.  But this type of collaboration isn’t just limited to Daytona and Talladega.  It actually happens almost every week.

Once you are aware of what is going on, these interactions between rival crew chiefs can be interesting to witness.  In the days of advanced technology with computers and digital radios, guys are usually reduced to yelling, hand signals, and sending runners from pit box to pit box.

Since the teams aren’t wired together, and with noise being an obstacle, the first challenge is getting your neighbor’s attention.  From there, the goal is to figure out when the cars to your left and right are coming to pit road so you can come the lap before or after.  By working together to stagger pit stops, everybody gets the best possible chance to gain or maintain track position.

It’s the little intricacies like this that make racing truly interesting.  When I talk to new race fans, and those attending races for the first time, they often say that they didn’t realize how complex and involved it all was.  The quote is usually something like “I just thought it was guys going in circles.”  Those of us in the sport and the educated race fan know different.  These interactions between rival crew chiefs are a small, but vital aspect to giving a driver the best possible chance to win.

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By now, I’m sure most of you have heard the audio from Bristol earlier in the season where Lance McGrew keys his mic and tells Dale Jr. to not lay down on him.  The team was facing some adversity with track position, and McGrew was afraid Dale Jr. had thrown in the towel for the race.  In typical Earnhardt fashion, Jr. responds angrily with a few choice words for his crew chief, and tells him not to talk about this stuff on the radio.  While it may have been a stupid thing to say, McGrew’s fears were not unfounded.  There are plenty of drivers out there who, when faced with adversity, will just plain give up.

I’m not going to name any names in this post, but I’m sure if you pay attention to the drivers and get to listen to some scanner audio, you could probably figure it out for yourself.  To me personally, there isn’t a bigger sin in any form of competition than to give up.  If somebody is just going to give up when the going gets tough, then they shouldn’t be be competing.

I don’t know at what point a driver decides that this is okay behavior, but somewhere along the way some decide that unless the car is handling perfect and the race is playing out in their favor, they can lay down.  It’s sort of a “well since the car sucks and we aren’t going to win anyway, I don’t need to try” attitude.  For those who work long hours and bust their asses to build race cars, it’s pretty much a giant slap in the face.

What’s interesting to note about drivers and adversity, is that while some choose to give up, there are others who fight harder.  That’s the guy I want to work with.  It’s a horrible cliche, but “when the going gets tough, the tough get going” describes these guys.  We’ve seen plenty of times over the years where a driver got flat, or had a bad pit stop, or was involved in a wreck, only to fight back and finish top ten, top five, or even win.

The fact that this happens at all really makes me ill.  It makes me feel bad for the guys that work on the teams with these drivers.  How do you possibly stay motivated to perform at your best when you know your driver is just out there riding around waiting for the race to end?

So to all the race drivers out there, remember that it’s not just about you.  If you want max effort from your crew all the time, then you should give them nothing less than max effort behind the wheel.  Anything less is unacceptable.

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