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.

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