As we get ready for Darlington this week, pit crew coaches across the sport are preparing their crews for what will be a busy night of work. The Lady in Black is a unique track and it creates a lot of challenges for the teams. From it’s abrasive surface and looming walls, to it’s uncommon shape, Darlington always demands a lot from the pit crews.
Since the track was repaved in 2008, the surface hasn’t been quite as hard on tires as it had been previously. Fresh asphalt and a smoother surface are the reasons why. But as the asphalt continues to age, it will start to return to it’s historically abrasive self. This means lap times are sure to fall off quickly as the tires wear, which will place a large premium on fresh tires. Drivers and crew chiefs will want to take advantage of every opportunity to come get four fresh skins, and that equates to a lot of pit stops. With fuel mileage already dictating somewhere in the neighborhood of eight pit stops, you can be sure pit road is going to be a busy place all night.
Just like we saw last weekend at Richmond, this weekend’s race will start in the early evening, and end late under the lights. As the race progresses, you’ll see the handling characteristics of the cars change based on the track’s conditions. The teams build adjustability into the cars, especially on nights like this, so they can keep up with the changing race track. And it will be on the pit crews to execute those changes. Besides bolting on four fresh tires, crews will be making trackbar and wedge adjustments, pushing in and pulling out spring rubbers, possibly adding grill tape, and adding or removing front shims. A stop without some sort of adjustment becomes the exception, not the norm, even for the fast cars.
If there is one thing everybody always remembers about this track, it’s that famous “Darlington Stripe.” The fastest way around the track requires the cars to run right up against the wall through the corners, and that leads to plenty of chances for drivers to hit said wall. Besides making adjustments and changing tires, many pit crews will be tasked with fixing and clearing bent sheet metal from these brushes with the red and white retaining wall. Darlington is a fast race track, and aerodynamics are important here. Damaged front fenders will make any race car handle poorly on a fast track.
The pit work I’ve talked about in this post is not really any different than what is expected out of teams on a weekly basis, but Darlington seems to amp up the importance. Whoever comes home with the win on Saturday night (and Friday night) will most certainly have had a very good night on pit road. Why? Because the Lady in Black always seems to penalize mistakes just a little bit more.
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As we get ready to head to Talladega this weekend, pit crew coaches across the sport will spend the week preaching to their crews about the importance of not making mistakes. Even if it means pit stops take a few extra seconds than normal, it’s more important to get things right, than it is to have quick stops. Why? Because pit stops in the new era of superspeedway racing really don’t matter.
In a world where races often have multiple leaders per lap, the importance of track position has been lowered. Cars can go from the back to the front, or front to the back, very quickly. Having blazing fast pit stops and picking up spots on pit road is really not worth the risk of possibly having dropped lugnuts, loose wheels, and other mistakes. Obviously crew chiefs don’t want slow stops, but there is less of a focus on being quick, and more of a focus on being mistake free.
Besides the nature of the racing, another reason why pit stops mean less has to do with the tires. Now that both Daytona and Talladega have new surfaces, tire wear over the course of a race has become a non-issue. Some even said that it may have been possible to run the entire Daytona 500 on one set of tires! In any case, crew chiefs want to spend the least amount of time on pit road possible, and if they don’t need to take tires, they won’t. At Daytona in February, this led to a lot of fuel only and two tire pit stops.
Something else to keep in mind when watching pit stops this weekend, is that some teams will set the cars up to maximize speed on track, and in turn sacrifice speed on pit road. What I am referring to specifically is the shock package that some teams use. We’ve seen in the past that the front tire changers and carriers will struggle with the right front. When the car is jacked up, the shock won’t bleed down and it causes the right front tire to stay up in the fender. It makes it very difficult for the changers to get the old tire off, and for the carriers to get the new tire in. Not every team has this problem, but it can significantly slow down pit stops for the teams that do.
Like I’ve said here before, races can’t necessarily be won on pit road, but they can certainly be lost there. This weekend, crews will be doing everything possible to ensure the race is decided on the track and not on pit road.
So far this season, we’ve seen everything from tire carriers becoming catch can guys, to second gas men, and tire changers and jackmen hanging tires. This new fueling system has the teams trying absolutely anything to figure out a way to make pit stops faster. At this point however, the only thing the teams are really sure about is that these new style gas cans require serious precision.
We saw our first real victim of the problems that can arise with the new cans on Sunday at Las Vegas. While running third part way through the Kobalt Tools 400, Greg Biffle’s #16 Ford ran out of fuel. The culprit? A mistake by the team’s gas man on the previous pit stop led to a less than full fuel cell. And if you were watching the race, you saw the result. The mistake ruined Biffle’s day, and relegated him to a 28th place finish.
The way the new dry break systems are designed, gas men must be near perfect when they make their “sticks.” Anything less than that will result in air in the lines and in the can, and an incomplete fill. Because of this, you can be sure Biffle won’t be the last victim.
Besides the potential problems, you’ve been able to see now just how much slower these new cans cause pit stops to be. Both Phoenix and Las Vegas gave us accurate views, as the races put the teams in situations where they needed tires and full loads of fuel. And trust me, the drivers and crew chiefs are not happy about the now slower stops. There has been no shortage of whining and butt chewings by both groups.
As the season progresses, teams will start to get some of the kinks worked out of the new system, and you’ll see less and less errors. But for now, expect there to be more victims, and more upset drivers. You can also be sure that pit crew coaches won’t be getting much sleep.
Want some more information about the new fueling system? Check out the system’s builder Schultz Products.
Beginning in Daytona, for the first time in recent memory, there won’t be seven guys stepping off the wall to perform a pit stop. The time has finally come to bid farewell to the most forgettable, and apparently most replaceable, member of the pit crew, the catch can man.
As we told you first early last year, NASCAR is removing the catch can in favor of a self-venting gas can (aka closed loop fueling system). The new can has been in place in the Truck Series for the last year.
This move of course represents a big game changer for the sport’s top series. While it’s been implemented elsewhere, Cup crews are still working hard to figure out the best way to perform stops.
The catch can position was much more than what the name suggested. In addition to being in place to catch fuel overflow, the position was also responsible for making adjustments, holding the first can of fuel, and on occasion pulling tires. Those roles are now falling to the six guys who remain.
This move also means pit stops are going to be slower. The new can doesn’t drain as quickly as the old ones – that’s good news for the guys that now have a lot more to do.
From the get go, NASCAR has billed this as a safety advancement and a cost saving measure. On paper those things sound good and look good. Most catch can guys throughout the sport got paid for what they did. It also took 43 people off pit road. Surely an advancement for safety.
Then again, behind the wall, teams now need two people to hand/catch the fuel cans (before one was enough). And a lot of the pit support guys get paid for their work on pit road. Add on top of that the cost of switching over cans and the time and resources that are being spent to make this way of doing things work and the cost savings are not so much – especially in the short run.
How about safety? Well you certainly have fewer people on pit road now. But this new self venting can is much more difficult to plug. That means more spilled fuel and more potential for fire. How would you like to be the rear tire changer who gets drenched in racing fuel?
This move really never made a whole lot of sense, and it’s not that the cans don’t work, it’s that the reasons for doing this really worked better in theory than in practice. It is what it is though.
Personally, it saddens me to see the end of seven man pit crews – it’s the end of an era. Rest in peace catch can position. I know I’ll miss you.
Caught beneath all the hustle and bustle of last week’s Sprint Media Tour was a very interesting bit about Hendrick Motorsports and their pit crew situation for 2011 (see articles here and here). Specifically, that Chad Knaus and his shop mate Steve Letarte had yet to really solidify their starting pit crew lineups for the season. In an attempt to build depth for their over-the-wall crews, no doubt in response to last season’s debacle at Texas, Knaus and Letarte have put together the equivalent of three full crews. Supposedly this will allow them to have capable guys available at the track in the event of injuries or performance issues. Does this sound like trouble to anyone else?
Having backup pit crew guys is not a new phenomenon. I actually wrote about it early last year (see post here). There is too much at stake during these races to not have some sort of a contingency plan. But it appears to me that Knaus and Letarte may have taken this too far.
What I see here, is two race teams with three pit crews. And you have Knaus saying he has yet to settle on a lineup (let me remind you that the Budweiser Shootout is 11 days away). With all the changes coming to the Cup Series this season in regards to the new fuel cans and procedures, these guys need all the time they can get to work through the difficulties of the new system. The fact that Knaus can’t point to six guys and say “yup, that’s my pit crew” should worry 48 fans.
I also question whether having a third pit crew looking over your shoulder at all times is really good for morale. I’m all for competition and having to earn your spot, but having another starting lineup hanging around will screw with your head. Doing what we do can be a big head game as it is, without adding the extra pressure.
It’s also important to note that the really good pit crews are those that have had continuity, and have had ample time to work together and get to know each other. I don’t know how you build any of that when you are constantly plugging in guys and facing the possibility of a different six every week.
I realize that I probably shouldn’t question the guy who’s been the man in charge of the team that’s won the last five straight championships. Don’t get me wrong, I think Knaus is a really smart guy. You don’t get to where he is unless you know a thing or two about people and race cars. I just wonder if maybe he has over thought this situation because of his team’s issues last season.
Only time will tell if Knaus’ plan will pay dividends, but on initial inspection, I’m not sold.
If there is one thing that is for certain once the season ends, it’s that you won’t find half as much information about the sport to consume. The media/blog/social media coverage of the sport slows way down, which one would expect. Just as an example, over the last few weeks our NASCAR-Media list on Twitter has been home to more tweets about football and partying in Las Vegas then it has about anything regarding racing. But just because the media slows down, doesn’t mean the teams do. While the fans count the days until Daytona, the teams are hard at work.
It will certainly be a bit of a busy off season for Nationwide and Cup teams, as they are dealing with new car configurations. The Cup teams must replace all the noises on their race cars to the new splitter-less piece. This means extra time for body and paint guys, and extra time for engineers working in wind tunnels and with simulations. For the NNS teams, they now must focus 100% of their attention towards turning their entire fleets over to their version of the COT. The new car will be used at all NNS races in 2011.
Besides building and improving on their race vehicles, teams will also take this time to clean and prepare pit boxes, tool boxes, and transporters for next season. Anything that is broken will be prepared, and new and improved systems of organization will be implemented.
Changes to the race cars aren’t the only challenges for teams to work on this off season. With the elimination of the catch can, pit crews in both the NNS and Cup Series will spend their down time learning how to make these new style pit stops as fast as possible. A little time to rest up and maybe heal will precede countless hours in the gym and in the practice areas.
The little bit of team business you have probably heard about over the last week or so involves employee layoffs. Three teams of note who’ve had sizeable layoffs this season are Richard Petty Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing, and Penske Racing. And while those teams may have made the biggest cuts, other teams have laid employees off as well. This is both a symptom of the economy and of the reality of racing. Teams have always used the off season to make changes to their staffs because of cost cutting, or making room for new hires. One way in which teams can improve is to bring in better or more qualified people, and sometimes that means others will need to be let go. That goes for both the business and competition sides of the sport.
On the flip side, displaced crew members have the next two months to work the phones and use their connections to try and land with a new team for next season. Some will be successful, and others will find homes in other industries.
For teams and drivers that haven’t secured plans for the 2011 season by now, the next two months will be used to try and put deals together. There are always plenty of drivers looking for a ride, and many teams, especially those at the lower levels, are looking to track down sponsors and funding for the future. For many, frustrating days and sleepless nights are ahead.
With very few off weeks during the season, the time between Homestead and Daytona also affords many race team employees the opportunity to finally take vacations. Whether for the holidays to see friends and family, or to just unwind, now is the time for people to get away. In no time, we’ll be back to the grind again.
As the winter days seem to slowly pass, know that the teams are hard at work during this “off season.” There is a lot to do, and the clock is ticking.
After several bad pit stops during the Texas race led to Chad Knaus replacing his own pit crew with that of the 24, Hendrick Motorsports announced today that the switch is now permanent. The seven over-the-wall guys for the 24 will pit the 48 for Phoenix and Homestead, and vice versa.
Now, being a tire changer myself, I have to say that I feel for guys when they get the boot. In my own career I’ve not only had bad races, but I also know what it feels like to be replaced. And trust me, it really sucks. What we always have to remember though, is that at the end of the day, this is a business, and sometimes changes are warranted.
In the case of the 48, pit stops have often been a weakness this season. And with a championship on the line, these teams must pull out all the stops. It certainly isn’t the first time we’ve seen an entire crew replaced (see Kevin Harvick), but it is definitely the first time we’ve seen one replaced mid-race. It also isn’t uncommon for teams to change one piece, say a changer or carrier, but again, it usually doesn’t happen mid-race.
Opportunities to score valuable points are running out, and in defense of Knaus and Johnson, they needed better than they were getting. The 24 bunch was available because of the wreck with Burton, so the swap was made. I do want to point out though, that if Gordon doesn’t get wrecked, this change probably never happens. It would be extremely disruptive to both teams to try and swap while the race was going on. And especially if Jeff Gordon was in contention for the win, there is no way Steve Letarte or Gordon sign off on such a change. That isn’t to say that it wouldn’t have happened on Monday anyway, but definitely not during the race.
Once the change was made, it was only a matter of time before HMS announced the swap was permanent. I’m not sure those seven guys could have come back to the 48 and been able to do the job after being replaced, and the powers that be at Hendrick seem to understand that.
While I do believe the 24 crew to be a bit stronger then the 48, let’s not get too down on that bunch. Gordon’s chances at winning a race are certainly not in jeopardy now because he has the 48 crew. Let’s remember that this is pretty much the same pit crew that Johnson was able to win championships with in both 2008 and 2009. They must be doing something right.
At the end of the day, NASCAR is a performance based business. If those of us who are in these positions come to a point where our performance just isn’t up to par, we can be sure that changes will be made. There is just too much at stake. I don’t know for certain what the future holds for the pit crews at Hendrick Motorsports, but don’t be surprised if we see some big changes and new faces for 2011.
As pit crew members, we always have to be ready for anything. We’ve got to keep our eyes open for other cars (and our own) on pit road so as to not get hit during a stop. We have to be prepared to fix crash damage at a moment’s notice. We have to make spring rubber, track bar, wedge, and a myriad of other adjustments. And we have to be be ready to change up the play at any time.
On Saturday at Gateway, we saw just one of these instances. Towards the end of the Nationwide Series race, a caution brought most of the teams to pit road. With it being late in the race, teams were going to try different strategies to try and win the race. Justin Allgaier, who’d had a dominate car all day, was one of the cars on pit road.
As the car entered the stall, the crew was prepared to do a two tire pit stop. While the team worked on the right side however, crew chief Chad Walter changed his mind and decided they needed to get four tires. The crew made the adjustment on the fly, and sent Allgaier back onto the track with fresh rubber all the way around.
If you watched the race and this specific pit stop, you may have noticed the stop was a bit slower then usual. This is a symptom of the crew chief’s audible. When you step off the wall prepared to do one job, and end up having to do another, it will take a split second to make the change in your head. In this case though, the crew did the best they could with the situation they were presented with. Their left side tires were close (a sign of a well prepared team) and they completed the stop.
Allgaier went on to finish third in the race, and while it may appear that Walter screwed up, remember that it’s easy to be a Monday morning quarterback. He made a quick assessment of what the other teams were doing during their pit stops (Allgaier was the #1 pit stall, so Walter had time to see the other strategies) and tried to make the best call to help Allgaier win. He took a shot, and in this case it didn’t work out.
This situation was a perfect example of why crews have to be ready for anything. Sometimes we may not know what work we have to do until the car is a stall or two away. And sometimes changes are made mid-stop. But these are the types of stops that always separate the good from the bad.
We had a question this week in our Ask The Insiders post about what the new six man pit stops will look like and I wanted to take this opportunity to expand a little further on my answer.
Last weekend at California NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston confirmed to Scene Daily that both the Cup and Nationwide Series would eliminate the catch can man position for the 2011 season. This confirms what we initially told you back in April. We knew for certain a few weeks ago that NASCAR would be getting rid of the catch can for the Nationwide Series, but NASCAR was back and forth about the Cup Series. We know now that it’s gone completely.
The elimination of the catch can means that all teams will now go to the new self-venting fuel cans like the Truck Series has been using all season. (See it in action here.)
I’m still not entirely clear if this move means we are only allowed six guys over the wall, because I’ve heard some talk that NASCAR may still allow seven. Either way though, pit stops will change, but not drastically. There will still be two tire changers, two tire carriers, and a jackman. And the actual tire changing part of the pit stop won’t change.
What eliminating the catch can position does do is change how many of the adjustments get made. With a seven man crew, the catch can guy makes most of the wedge and track bar adjustments with extended length wrenches. Now, the tire carriers will be tasked with making those adjustments. This will no doubt slow stops down when significant adjustments are needed.
Stops will also slow down, at least at first, because the fueling will take longer with only one crew guy handling the duties. We’ve seen in the Truck Series this season that stop times often get extended when a full fuel load is used. It takes a while to dump both cans, and the gas men must take the old can back to the wall before getting the second. In the past that first can would stay plugged in, thanks to the catch can guy, while the gas man went back for the second can.
It’s interesting to note though that the last two major changes to pit stops (longer studs in the Cup Series and different tire rolling rules) did slow stop times down initially, but after some time to perfect the technique, the times did come back down. I don’t expect this change to be any different.
I also wanted to say that while I’ve heard what NASCAR’s reasoning is for making this change, I don’t necessarily agree. The money that teams could possibly save by having one less guy over the wall is really a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things. The few thousand dollars a year won’t make or break any team, and instead of charging $30,000 less for a sponsorship, teams will just spend that money elsewhere. NASCAR is right in trying to help the teams with budget problems, but this isn’t the way to do it.
As a tire changer I have basically two jobs: take the lugnuts off and put the lugnuts on. Sounds simple enough right? Well don’t forget that during a pit stop there are 20 lugnuts to hit, that is 10 off and 10 back on. So in essence, that’s 20 chances to screw up. And trust me, there are a lot of ways to screw it up.
At Bristol, even though Jamie McMurray finished third, it was a tough night for his guys. After one round of pit stops under caution, McMurray had to bring his car back to pit road because the rear changer knocked off lugnuts. Meet tire changer deadly sin number one. When a new tire gets hung on the hub, the lugnuts sit on the end of the studs and wait for us to come back and tighten them up. On your way to getting them tight quickly, it only takes a small miss to knock one off. And sometimes the jackman is paying attention and sees you knock one off, so you can fix it without coming back to pit road. There are plenty of cases though, where a changer knocks one off, the official sees it, and the jackman sends the car. The team has just bought their driver a return trip to pit road. These situations aren’t exactly conducive to job security.
What’s interesting to note though, is that there are actually a lot of cases where a lugnut gets knocked off but the official doesn’t see it, and the car heads back to the race with only four. Things happen so quickly during a stop, that if a changer knocks one off, but is a good actor, the official won’t notice. Often times the official only knows a lug is missing because the changer was fumbling around.
The next deadly sin will also ruin a race for a team, and could cost the changer his job. This sin is usually predicated by a short radio message that goes like this: “I’ve got a vibration.” Those are words dreaded by every changer on pit road. Why? Because that can mean loose lugnuts. There are a ton of reasons why lugnuts could be left loose or come loose, but in any case, it’s really bad when they do. The vibration comes from the fact that the loose wheel is now wobbling on the hub, destroying both the wheel and the studs. And every changer has had those pit stops in his career where when he got done, he said a little prayer and thought “wow, I hope those are tight.” You then spend the next 60 laps praying that the car makes it to the next pit stop without hearing that dreaded message.
The other two sins I will mention here will kill pit stop times, but unless they are repeated over and over, probably won’t completely ruin a race. They are hanging lugnuts, and hitting more then 20 during a stop.
Hanging lugnuts means you hit all five off, but for whatever reason, one (or more) doesn’t come all the way off the stud. It’s a horrible feeling to grab a hold of the wheel to pull it off, only to be jarred by a stuck lugnut that won’t allow the wheel to come off. The next course of action is to either pick the gun back up and hit the offending nut off, or try and spin it with your fingers. And we will call attempting to spin the lug with your fingers deadly sin 3-B. Crew chiefs and pit crew coaches alike will chew some ass over that tactic because sometimes the lugnut might be stuck and your fingers aren’t strong enough to spin it off. Or maybe it took 10 turns to get the lug off. Either way, you just killed the stop.
In practices and at the races, we are always told to “just hit 20.” Only hitting 20 lugnuts is what we all strive for. Sometimes though, that just doesn’t happen. Instead of hitting five, it’s not uncommon for a changer to hit six, or seven, or eight off. There are again a million reasons why this could happen, but every extra hit means the pit stop is longer by two to three tenths of a second. So if I miss one time during each pattern, that’s four extra hits for the whole stop, which just cost my team one second in the pits.
These are all deadly sins because if done enough, they will all lead to a changers demise. And trust me, having to explain why you just screwed up a race is not exactly a fun conversation. No race can ever be won in the pits, but it certainly can be lost.