The Pit Crew Challenge is always a highlight of All-Star week in Charlotte and this year failed to disappoint. The ever growing, ever evolving event in, I believe, its fifth year in Charlotte, featured NASCAR’s premiere teams competing for a year of bragging rights. This year featured an even more flashy set, a band and an unexpectedly angry David Poole.

The Pit Crew Challenge, if you’re not familiar, is a bracket style single elimination showdown with all of the previous winners of the All-Star Race, the previous year’s winners, and previous winners of the challenge. The floor of the event is set up with two lanes and pit walls with four different cars on each side. There is a car for the front changer and carrier, rear changer and carrier, jackman, and gas man and catch can guy. A clock counts down and when the buzzer buzzes each part of the crew begins their stop. When they finish they have to leap over their respective pit wall and race to a car waiting at the end of the lane. The crew then must push the car across a finish line at the opposite side of the floor.

The event began this year with the #42 Chip Ganassi Racing team getting destroyed by the Martin Truex team. Throughout the event there were two very close runs, and a questionable hub on the left side of the floor. The evening saw several penalties on the car being used for rear changes. From the stands it appeared that the studs were being pushed back from the carrier slamming the tire on, ultimately leading to loose lugnuts and penalties. None of the teams involved seemed to have a problem with it, but NASCAR should do a better job of creating a level playing field. Ultimately the final round came down to the #11 Denny Hamlin car and the #83 car of Brian Vickers. The #83 team wasn’t the fastest team on the floor, but no one could keep up with their speed and athleticism when it came time to push the car. Coupled with the fact that the #11 team had just come off their semi-final run, the #83 crew dominated.

One person not happy with the evening’s festivities was Charlotte Observer writer David Poole. From what early on appeared to be live blogging, he expressed his utter disdain for the event, and for an unnamed Speed personality. He referred to the personality, who I believe to be Rutledge Wood as “the world’s largest waste of protoplasm,” who he didn’t like, “because, well, basically he annoys me as much as any person on the planet does these days.” While I would agree with Mr. Poole that Rutledge Wood is far from an enjoyable personality, I can’t say that I agree with his comments that were, at best, mean spirited. He expressed his hatred for Thundersticks and referred to the scantly clad young ladies who danced with the band as “speed hoochies.” In fact the women were Craftsman “hoochies,” they weren’t from Speed. I’m not really sure what set Mr. Poole, for whom I have great respect, off on this tyraid, but it looks incredibly unprofessional and hurts his journalistic integrity. Perhaps it was the fact NASCAR would not let him on the floor, I don’t know, whatever the case, he may want to reconsider these posts.

Overall a great a event this year. If you haven’t been and find yourself in Charlotte during All-Star week next year, I highly recommend it.

Racing is back home in Charlotte for the next two weeks.  The Truck Series and All Star race are this weekend, followed by the Coke 600 next weekend.  Its always a big couple of weeks here in town and our local population always swells a little bit.  I thought since maybe some of our readers are maybe either already in town, or might be coming to town that I would let you know about some other cool stuff to check out while you are in town for the week (or two).

I know that visiting the race shops that are in and around Charlotte is always a fan favorite.  The problem is, is that many don’t know where they are or how to find them.  Some are located in business parks like Lakeside in Mooresville and out at the Dragstrip off Hwy 150.  But many are scattered.  RaceShops.com is a great website to stop by if you are planning on visiting.  They have information on a lot of the shops in the area.  Also, if you want to maybe check out some pit stop practices, a few good shops to stop by are Roush-Fenway and Ganassi in Concord, Waltrip RaceWorld in Cornelius, Team Rensi and CJM Racing in Lakeside, and the PIT School off Talbert Rd. in Mooresville.  They all have practice areas accessible to the public and while I don’t know specific times for practices, they all have them throughout the day.

Some great events to check out while you are in town include Speed Street, the Pit Crew Challenge (which is tonight), Ganassi Racing’s Fan Day, Northern Tool’s Go Kart event with Erik Darnell, and don’t forget Hendrick Motorsports just reopened their Museum.

These races are always special to us because our families and friends get to attend the races, and a lot of the guys that work in the shop that don’t go to the track every weekend get to watch.  Its going to be a great couple of weeks, and I hope you enjoy your time in Charlotte!

Have you ever had one of those days where no matter what you did, everything just went completely wrong?  And it is so bad that even the people around you start to struggle too?  We had one of those days not too long ago.  It was sort of the opposite of the story I discussed in Second is the First Loser.  It is strange how a day that started out so promising could end so badly.

After having a couple of decent practice sessions, our driver went out for qualifying and promptly put our number towards the top of the scoring pylon.  We all felt confident in the driver and our piece at the start of the race.  But those feelings of confidence soon faded.

Right from the outset of the race the driver let us know that the handling wasn’t to his liking.  We fell to around mid pack before a series of pit stops would bury us for the day.  After getting penalized for a pit road violation and making the wrong adjustment during a stop, we found ourselves a lap down.  A pretty significant hole to climb out of to say the least.  We were fortunate enough to get the lucky dog soon after, but it wasn’t enough to turn the tide for us.  On a subsequent caution, our driver didn’t come to pit road when instructed to do so by our crew chief.  I knew we were in trouble after that.  We were deep in the field at that point, and being involved in two wrecks in the closing laps of the race would send us packing.

We came home with a torn up race vehicle and a bad finish.  Not to mention an upset driver and a livid crew chief.  It was a perfect example of the saying “you can’t win the race on pit road, but you certainly can lose it.”  I felt bad for everyone involved, because if we had done our job, our race would have ended up a lot better.

When races like this happen though, you have to learn from your mistakes, hope you don’t get fired, and move on.  Because (I’m going to end this with a cheesy quote) there is always next weekend, and anything can happen on any given Sunday (or Friday, or Saturday for that matter).

I know a lot of you have probably seen the video of Danica Patrick hitting a Dale Coyne crew member last week during Indy 500 practice.  And I also know that you’ve probably seen a few NASCAR crew guys hit on pit road this season during races.  Journo hit on this topic in his post Staying Safe at the Track but I wanted to offer my perspective on the situations.

The Danica Patrick incident is one in which the crew member just wasn’t paying enough attention.  He most likely had a headset on and didn’t hear her coming, but at the very least, you’ve got to keep your head up.  If you get complacent for a second, it will bite you.  He didn’t see her until it was too late and he ended up with some pretty severe injuries.  Hopefully he will have a full recovery.

Guys getting hit on pit road during a race is a little bit different.  In some cases it can be attributed to not being aware of your surroundings, but a lot of times you see it coming and there isn’t a whole lot you can do.  We’ve seen a few times this year where two cars will be entering their stalls together and they are pitted side by side.  The front car will drive through the still behind its own most times, and the team pitting the car in that stall is at risk.  They are jumping off the wall to service their own car and end up in the path of the car in front.  I think the position in the worst spot is usually the jackman.  He ends up trying to shoot through a small gap between the two cars to be in the right position for the stop, and sometimes there just isn’t enough room.

I can’t speak for everyone, but in my own situation, I don’t even think about getting hit or the dangers.  I’ve got a job to do and when I step off the wall all my focus is on that job.  I think the day you start letting the dangers affect you, is the day you need to find something else to do.  That being said though, I’m not going to do something stupid that will get myself or my teammates hurt.  No pit stop is worth getting injured over.  But, like I always tell my significant other: “we’ve got helmets on, what’s the worst that could happen?”  NASCAR making pit crew guys wear helmets is probably one of the better rules they’ve created.  And honestly, we could probably get hurt pretty bad if things went south, but that is just part of the game.

Some big news about the NASCAR Nationwide Car of Tomorrow. I can confirm at least one of the big three manufacturers is using it’s pony car. Toyota as earlier confirmed is using the Camry. Sorry for the lack of specifics, but the current climate doesn’t allow me to divulge too much. Details to come soon.

No I’m not talking about a driver or drivers, but Ollen “Bruton” Smith and Howard “Humpy” Wheeler. These two men embody what is left of old NASCAR and bridge the gap to all that is new. They do it with authority and class and very often give us a lot to talk about. I thought with NASCAR returning to Charlotte this week, it would be the perfect time to salute these pillars of the NASCAR community.

In the late 1950s a young promoter and well known NASCAR driver set out to create the first speedway in the heart of motorsports. Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner had competing plans across town, but were forced to consolidate. Ultimately the men were torn apart through bankruptcy and an ousting by the board at the newly constructed (and heavily in debt) Charlotte Motor Speedway. Smith took back control of his beloved speedway in the mid-1970s, just over 10 years after he had lost it. Today his empire is now in excess of $1 billion dollars and includes 7 tracks across the country and 176 car dealerships. He is probably the most flamboyant figure in the sport; never without his Elizabeth Taylor sunglasses or his unrestrained mouth. He is liable to say or do anything as was demonstrated last year in his showdown with the city of Concord. His is the only voice of opposition to the France Family; one that they listen to and one that I would imagine they fear a little.

H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler got his nickname from his father who had a Camel cigarette habit. He is the promoter extraordinaire who, along with Bruton Smith has built Lowes Motor Speedway and Speedway Motorsports into a vast empire. He capitalized off of the the Cale Yarborough nickname for Darrell Waltrip, “Jaws,” by showing up to Charlotte with a dead shark who had a rubber chicken (symbolizing Yarborough through his sponsor Holly Farms) in its mouth. This year Wheeler is making his All-Star race picks with dogs. His style of promotion harkins back to the days of old, himself a hold over from those days. He is as flamboyant as his boss, always willing to give a soundbite and always around the SMI tracks during race weekends, making him a very accessible figure.

Both of these men compliment each other so wonderfully, it is a wonder they have had the success that they have had. They add excitement and flamboyance to any event they’re at; I wish NASCAR had more of these kind of guys today.

NASCAR Day is this Friday, May 16th.  We wanted to let you, our readers, know about it if you didn’t already.  NASCAR Day is in it’s 5th year, and is a one day celebration of the sport and its spirit.  You can get a NASCAR Day pin by making a $5 donation to the NASCAR Foundation which supports a variety of different charities including the Victory Junction Gang and Speedway Children’s Charities.  There will also be a telethon on Friday where people can call in and make donations to the foundation.  The phone number is 1-888-MAY-16TH.  You can get a NASCAR Day pin at your local Home Depot store.  Click here for more information.

This is the seventh and final post in the series Pit Road Explained.  The series breaks down all that is pit road.  Have a suggestion or question?  Email me!

First off, I’d like to apologize for this post being delayed.  An internet outage and a busy racing weekend were the contributing factors.  But I’m back and ready to roll.  So anyways, adjustments.  During the course of a race, no car is ever perfect from beginning to end.  Condition changes and strategy play a roll in what the racecar needs to be fast.  I feel like its becoming increasingly rare that we come down pit road for just four tires and fuel.  And even if we do just take tires, there was probably an air pressure change.

There are a few different options available to teams during a stop in order to correct the handling of a car.  While watching a race, you have probably heard all the different changes being discussed by crew chiefs, drivers, and the broadcasters.  The before mentioned air pressure is one.  Racing tires are actually not filled with air, but with nitrogen.  Nitrogen is a little more stable then air and less apt to pressure changes because of temperature.  Crew chiefs can put pressure in or take it out to help the handling.  The pressures are changed by our tire specialists prior to the pit stop.

If you take a look at the rear window of a racecar, you’ll notice three holes.  Two on the right side, and one on the left.  The hole on the left is for wedge adjustments as is the forward hole on the right.  The hole closer to the back on the right is for trackbar adjustments.  Wedge adjustments involve putting a wrench in the hole and turning it to add or take away weight off the spring.  Wedge adjustments affect the crossweight of a racecar.  The more rounds you hear a team call for, the worse their car is handling.  Wedge adjustments are usually made by either the tire carrier or one of the fuelers.

The trackbar locates the rear end of a car from left to right.  Raising or lowering the trackbar is done through the hole in the window also with a wrench.  Changes to the trackbar affect the roll center of the car and how it will travel through the turns.  Trackbar adjustments are also done by either the carrier or the fuelers.

If a car is handling really poorly, a crew chief can elect to add or remove spring rubbers.  Spring rubbers are formed pieces of hard rubber that will change the spring rate of the spring.  More rubbers equals a higher spring rate, and vice versa.  Rubbers fit in between the coils of a spring and are added or removed by the rear tire changer.  Most teams will zip-tie the rubbers to the coils, so all us changers have to do is reach in and pull them out or push them in.  Spring rubbers are usually only an option if the car is really bad, because they can add a significant amount of time to a pit stop.

Because of the obviously limited time we have during a pit stop, the only other common adjustment you will see is grill tape.  Tape can be added to the nose of the car to increase front downforce but will also restrict air flow to the radiator and could cause overheating.  Removing tape will cool the engine but will also hurt front downforce.  The front tire carrier will be the one to either add or remove tape.  Strips of tape on the car will normally have numbered (or lettered) tabs on them.  The crew chief will tell the carrier which number to take, and the tabs make them easier to pull.

This wraps up the series “Pit Road Explained.”  I hope I was able to help give you a better understanding of what goes on in order to keep the cars serviced and going fast.  And remember, if you have future questions about pit road, don’t hesitate to ask!

36 weekends, and countless days per year NASCAR moms give up their kids, and husbands to a sport that is incredibly time consuming. They put up with hours of conversation about strategies and the latest gossip. They listen to the day’s complaints, and reassure. They do all of this with a smile and a hint of enjoyment and encourage you to keep going. They are incredibly patient and tell you that they enjoy it as much as you do. They are the best.

There have been a slew of articles this weekend, and appearances on TV by moms of drivers. Often forgotten are the mothers and wives of crew members. While they may not have spent years watching their kids compete for wins and championships on the track, they have spent years giving away their time with their sons and daughters and husbands. The time can often get lonely, but through it all they support their loved ones to do what they enjoy.

Many years ago when my family made the decision to make NASCAR a more permanent part of our lives my mom was the biggest driving force. She encouraged my father and said whatever it was, we’ll work it out. Through the years my father or sibling being on pit road or stepping off the wall has always been a concern for her. She usually didn’t like it, but she understood. While racing was not always her favorite thing, she has learned to love it and enjoy it. She listens as we tell her about our days, or the latest piece of news we heard. She is engaged and is always excited for us when we hit another benchmark. Some weekends she spends alone, but she has adapted and I think she has come to like them a little. I know that I and the rest of my family appreciate and love her more than she’ll ever know. She is the most selfless person I know and always thinks of us before she thinks of herself. Her commitment to us, has allowed us to be committed to what we love. Her support has meant so much, I know we’ll never be able to repay her.

As mothers day comes and goes and Fox and NASCAR pay tribute to those in the spotlight, don’t forget those who support those, who support your favorite driver. They are a rare and wonderful breed. Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and Happy Mother’s Day to you and yours.

The first time I was on the infield at a racetrack my father said to me over and over again, pay attention. He wanted me to always be alert of what was going on behind me, in front of me, and beside me so that I first, stayed out of everybody’s way and second didn’t get hurt from cars going through the pits. The incident earlier today at Indianapolis where a member for Dale Coyne Racing was struck on pit road by Danica Patrick, is yet another example of the importance of always being aware of your surroundings while at a track.

From the ESPN video it appeared that the crew member for Coyne was walking along pit road to the pit stall for one of the team cars when he entered Patrick’s stall. She was entering as he was walking through and he was struck by the left front tire. He was flung into the air like a rag doll and landed on his head. A concussion and trip to the hospital later, he is going to be okay.

These events are weekly occurrences at NASCAR races, as crewmen run out onto a very hectic pit road to do stops. For instance last year Michael Waltrip’s gas man was hit in the head by an errant tire. In recent weeks we have seen guys getting hit by their own drivers, or leaping over cars to avoid getting hit. Generally this is because the crew guys aren’t paying attention (as appeared to be the case today) or because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I know of a crew guy who was hit by a car pitting behind them while he was doing his pit road duties. There wasn’t really anything he could about it because of his position on the crew.

Accidents are not just isolated to pit road. Perhaps the second most dangerous place on a track is in the infield garage area. There have been many instances through the years when drivers coming in during practice, qualifying, or during a race have hit a spectator. It is particularly dangerous in these areas because the quarters are so tight and because there are so many people in the area (something that NASCAR has been working to limit recently).

Personally, the scariest infield I have been in is Martinsville. While walking the circumference of the infield (if you could even call it that) there are two openings where the cars enter and exit the track. The entrance into the garage area isn’t too bad because there is a lot of visibility, however the exit is terrifying to cross. It is located right before turn one onto pit road. The exit is located directly behind the transporters so visibility is poor and with practice on track, you can’t hear anything. So by the time the cars come around the corner it is too late to get out of the way. Every time I am there I find myself sprinting across the opening, or just altogether avoiding it. The garage area at Martinsville is not much better as you have cars entering, exiting and jockeying to get around. It is definitely a place where you have to be on your toes.

So PAY ATTENTION at the track. They really are words to live by.

The final part of the Pit Road Explained series will be posted on Sunday. Due to an internet outage because of weather TC was not able to post. Our apologies.