Pit Road Explained: Tape Marks

Written by T.C. on May 8th, 2008

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

Colored duct tape; what an amazing product. We love this stuff. We use it for everything. And since we use it for everything, I thought it was appropriate to explain what exactly some of these marks actually mean.

The graphic above shows a picture of a typical pit stall. The orange is the different tape marks you’ll see in a pit stall. The tape spot marked “A” is where the jackman has estimated the left side jack post will be. The jack post is the jacking point on each side of the car. It just gives him a reference point during the stop. The spot marked “B” is an L-shaped mark where you want the left front tire to be when the car stops. Again, it gives the crew a reference point. The tape marked “C” is an “X” marking the exact spot you want your sign board holder to place the sign. The drivers use the sign board to estimate where they need to stop the car when they come into the stall. The last stripe of tape, marked “D” is sort of an “oh no!” mark. That stripe lets the jackman know if the car has slid to far forward in the box. If the right side jack post has slid past this stripe, he knows the car must be rolled backwards before the pit stop can begin.

All of these marks in a stall are measured precisely from various points to ensure that they are correct. If they are wrong, it could throw off an entire pit stop. And if you notice, most everyone’s marks up and down pit road should pretty much all match.

The last tape mark that I’m going to explain is shown in this picture. You’ll see a small stripe of orange tape in between 12 and 1 o’clock on the tire itself. This piece of tape will line up exactly to a specific stud hole on the wheel. These marks, which you will see on all four tires, are used by the tire carriers. The carriers use these marks to know where to grab the wheel in order to hang it correctly on the studs. The good tire carriers can pick a tire up and hang it on the studs without having to spin it to line the holes up correctly. These tape marks help them find the right way to hold the tire to do so.